master bathroom follow-up questions: flooring

28 February 2012

Please tell us more about the flooring: Does it just go right over the vinyl? What if you have boys that love to splash in the bath…is it waterproof? Is it hard to install?
This is the Allure flooring in-store at Home Depot~you can also order it online. They have added a bunch of new colors and styles…lots of good ones to choose from and most are about $1.99 sq ft. If possible, go to the store to get samples~they look so much different online! We went with the pacific pine in the master bathroom, because it had a bit of a grey undertone which is exactly what I wanted.february 2012 007 1
Here is the picture my husband took of the tools he set out to use. You see, he is logical and sets everything out beforehand. I need him: I make everything hard and run back and forth, back and forth, usually traipsing some paint along somewhere.
december 2011 002 (2) 1
1. Razor blades to score/cut the planks. You want good, sharp ones and plenty of refills to make life easier. We’ve heard some people use tin snips as well.
2. hacksaw…hmmmm not sure what he used this for. I think for the screws that were too long on the toilet? I’ll check.
3. Oh goodness, I skipped 3…on to #4! sorry.
4. this is the best saw for cutting the door moldings to make it easier for the flooring to fit underneath.
5. pry bar : to help remove baseboards
6. measure twice, cut once. He said the straight ruler makes life much, much easier.
december 2011 005 1
Basically, you just lay your planks down right over the linoleum, remove the adhesive paper, and stick them together, then lay another next to it. If you are thinking about doing it, watch some videos on youtube, read reviews, etc. to see if it’s what you want to do.
We have used this flooring in our previous home in the kitchen and in our downstairs bath. Love it…no complaints. It’s highly water resistant, but not completely waterproof. So, I throw down a couple of old towels next to the tub when my boys climb in to be safe. I think it would be great anywhere: laundry rooms, basements, etc. We chose it mainly because we didn’t want to pay labor costs to a handyman to install.
A couple more tips:
* it must be acclimated when you install it. Bring it inside, open the boxes and let it adjust to the inside temps for a couple of days. Otherwise, it may expand and buckle.
*leave a little room *about 1/8 inch at the outer edges to allow room for expansion. Our friends installed it tight, tight and it buckled in the middle a few months later.
*we did remove our toilet. It’s not hard~you’ll just need a new wax ring. Watch a youtube video~it’s not bad, I promise!
*you don’t have to remove the baseboards, but you’ll probably want to add a quarter round edge to cover the edges. We removed ours because I wanted to sand them down and re-paint them. They are a cinch to re-install with a nail gun.
We ran a bead of brown caulk where the flooring met the edge of our walk-in shower:february 2012 master bathroom after 070 1
Other people who have used allure flooring and can give more info:
after 7
We have loved it and always get lots of compliments on our “wood” floor :) Did I cover everything? Questions?
Happy Tuesday~
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14 comments

  1. I found you blog and love all your ideas! We are looking at using Allure flooring. I was wondering what kind of transition did you use to go from the bathroom floor to the carpet. Thanks!

    Good luck in Utah. We just moved from Utah and miss it.

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  2. Hi Melissa!  I have a whole month to re-paint and re-do (not spend too much money, make do with what I have, etc., etc.) and I would like to tackle the floor in my 2 bathrooms.  Can a mom and 2 teenage kids tackle this job?  Small bathrooms, have removed and reinstalled toilets...whattayathink?

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  3. melissa*320 sycamore1/8/14, 1:28 PM

    YES! You can! Watch some videos and see what you think, but I know you could all do it. If you click on the links, you'll see that women helped or did all of these. The nice thing is that if you started and realized it wasn't for you, you can return the unopened boxes. Let us know how it turns out!

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  4. Great informative post! I have a bathroom that currently has tile floors. I'm planning on remodeling & I had not considered anything other than tile floors until I read this post. Now I'm really liking the idea of the Allure flooring.

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  5. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  6. Just found your blog and love it! 

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  7. Frugalfrenchgirl1/16/14, 10:51 PM

    Hi Melissa, I love how your bathroom turned out. We just did ours as well and used the Allure flooring...I absolutely love it! It has texture and looks so realistic, yet is practical for the bathroom. Thanks for sharing, check ours out at  http://frugalfrenchgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/Bathroom if you get a chance!

    Hugs!
    Sandra

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  8. melissa*320 sycamore1/16/14, 10:57 PM

    We have not noticed any odor or indentations?? Not sure what they are talking about....

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  9. I noticed that you laid your flooring from the side wall first. Did you do that because you knew your walls were square?  We live in an old home where nothing is "square" and I learned the disadardly hard way when we were tiling our bathroom floor.  So now, with anything flooring, I always square it off and start in the middle.  Does that make sense?

    What would you recommend with less-than-square walls?
    Thanks!

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  10. I love your new bathroom! Thanks for sharing all the details on your floor - I so want wood flooring, but I'm having a hard time convincing my husband. This may be the perfect solution!

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  11. Shanel Murdock1/18/14, 9:13 AM

    After reading some reviews online...Did you find that there was an odor with the flooring?  How many boxes did you end up using? What about indentions?

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  12. Can't wait for the next update, paint color??

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  13. melissa*320 sycamore1/18/14, 9:14 AM

    I would start in the middle, just like you did. Ours were square...

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  14. Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality1/18/14, 9:46 AM

    Hey, Melissa, thanks for the shout out!  I just love, love, love your new bathroom. You did so many great things in there to update & refresh.  It looks fantastic. After redoing both my parents bathrooms, I can appreciate this update on a budget.  And I'm getting ideas for when I get my own fixer upper house which no doubt will have bad bathrooms.  Don't you love that Allure planking?  It's a great product for little $$. 

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