Vinyl plank click lock or glue down for basement bar area???

9 years ago

We keep debating whether to use click lock (easier to pull up if get water issue since not glued to basement slab, easier to install) or glue down (less issues with cupping and shifting). Or hesitance with glue down is future removal- how labor intensive is it? Anyone familiar with removal or have a recommendation? It's about 500 sq ft area.
Thanks!

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Comments (4)

PRO
Michael Menn Ltd.
9 years ago
Once you get the first piece up, the removal after being glued is very simple and easy.
PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
9 years ago
Click together vinyl in a basement has a big advantage: cost of install is low. The reason: the vapour barrier used = super cheap. The 6mil polyethylene sheeting + red duct tape = $0.11/sf = industry standard vapour barrier.

You lay down the plastic sheeting, tape the edges and you are ready to roll. A glue down vinyl requires many more things to consider. The glue MUST PERFORM as a VAPOUR BARRIER. That gets expensive. Some of those adhesives run $1-$3/sf. Yes. DOLLARS per SQUARE FOOT! OUCH!

Now...the subfloor preparation is IDENTICAL for both installation types. Both need clean and flat. Both have the same price per square foot for the preparation.

It comes down to cost of the VAPOUR BARRIER:

6mil poly sheeting + red duct tape = $0.11/sf

High-end Resilient Flooring adhesive = $1.00 - $3.00/sf

Technically the glue down is the superior floor. Technically it is also the most difficult floor to get "right". Technically it can go wrong in any number of ways. A bad technique can negate any advantage the high-end adhesive gives you. Any glue down in a basement has this concern. That's why we invented floating floors with a plastic sheet as a vapour barrier.
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PRO
Hal Braswell Consulting
9 years ago
I have installed LVP both floating and glue down. The floating was cheap Trafficmaster Allure with a grip strip but it had a thin wearlayer and yanked it up after 7 years.

I glued down Modin Collection click lock. The 40 mil wear layer is twice the industry standard. The planks are 5 mm thick which is substantial. Planks are 9" wide x 60" long.

I love the product. Having said that, never again will I glue down LVP no matter the brand. It is a royal PIA and the install time is at minimum 3X that of simply click lock. Gluedown = pro install. If I'm going to pay an installer, it would be for a more expensive type of flooring.

Installing vinyl squares, such as a checkerboard pattern, would be the only DIY gluedown I would attempt.

Click lok installation of Modin is fast and easy, a simple DIY job.

It is only available from Flooret (on Houzz and online). About $3.50 SF.
steenamree
Original Author
9 years ago
I'm leaning toward the glue down because the area is a basement with a bar with a 40' run in 2 areas.
I am curious- do you think the difficulty doing it yourself was all plank size? We are looking at 12x24" tile with grout. We've got tons of experience with tile but this would be the first glue down so I'm making sure we look at all factors. Scared we'll bite off more than we can chew.
Thanks for the informative replies!