Click-vinyl in a weekend: the realistic checklist

Click-lock LVP is genuinely the most DIY-friendly floor on the market right now. It floats, it cuts with a utility knife, and modern rigid-core planks are forgiving of a slightly imperfect subfloor. That said, 'DIY-friendly' is not the same as 'no planning required.' Here's the checklist we give friends who are doing their first room.

Utility knife with a fresh blade (a dull blade is where injuries happen). Tapping block and pull bar — do not skip these, they're $25 total and save you from destroying plank edges. A speed square, a tape measure, a pencil, and a rubber mallet. If you have a lot of tricky cuts around door casings or toilets, rent an oscillating multi-tool for the day.

Rip up everything down to the subfloor. Vacuum twice. Check for high spots with a straight edge — anything more than 3/16" over 10 feet needs to be sanded or self-leveled before you start. Skip this step and your planks will click apart under foot traffic within a year.

In Houston we also check moisture on concrete slabs. A cheap moisture meter from Home Depot is worth its weight — anything above 4% and you want a moisture barrier underlayment, not a comfort underlayment.

Most rigid-core LVP comes with an attached IXPE or cork pad. If yours does, don't add another layer — you'll void the warranty and the floor will feel spongy underfoot. If it doesn't, a 1.5mm IXPE underlayment is plenty for most rooms.

First: the corner where you meet the previous row and the wall at the same time. Dry-fit before you click. Second: door casings — undercut them with a scrap plank as a guide and slide the flooring under, don't try to notch around. Third: the last row against the far wall, which is almost never a full plank width. Measure at both ends of the room; walls are rarely parallel.

Leave a 1/4" expansion gap on every wall. It disappears under the baseboard and stops the floor from buckling in July.