[Home](https://www.referralflooring.com/)/[Services](https://www.referralflooring.com/services)/Vinyl plank Vinyl plank, vinyl tile and VCT # Vinyl plank installation, and the part under it that decides how it lasts. Luxury vinyl plank is the usual answer for a basement, a laundry, a rental or any room where a puddle might sit for an hour. The plank itself does not care about water. The subfloor under it does, and a floating floor is only as good as the flatness of what it floats on. So the job here is the same as every other floor we lay: get the base right, then the surface takes care of itself. We install luxury vinyl plank (LVP), vinyl tile, vinyl composite tile (VCT) and sheet vinyl, floating or glued down as the product and the room require. The flatness and moisture figures below are from the national wood flooring guidelines, quoted because they are the published tolerances for comparable floating and glue-down work; your product's own instructions override them. How it goes down ## Floating or glue-down, and what each one needs. ### Floating LVP Click-lock planks, no adhesive - One large panel that must be free to move - Expansion gap at every wall and fixed object, set by the product's instructions - Nothing screwed through it: baseboard goes to the wall, not the floor - Maximum run before a transition is needed, again set by the product ### Glue-down vinyl and VCT Tile, sheet and some plank - Follows every contour of the subfloor, so the subfloor has to be right - Adhesive chosen for the product and the substrate - VCT is the hard-wearing, glue-down commercial-grade tile - Sheet vinyl is the realistic non-tile answer for a full bathroom ### Over what is already there Often yes, with conditions - Over tile, linoleum, laminate or hardwood if it is sound, dry and flat - Never over carpet: the underpad flexes and breaks the locking edges - Grout lines deep enough to telegraph get filled first - Full detail in [what can go over an existing floor](https://www.referralflooring.com/what-can-go-over-an-existing-floor) ### Included, not extra Ask what other quotes leave out - [Old floor removed](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-removal-and-disposal), gone the same day - Transitions, stair nosing and underlay where the product needs them - Baseboard and casing refitted - Furniture moved and doors cut The measurable part ## The numbers a floating floor lives or dies by. Every failure people describe on vinyl plank, lifting, peaking, seams opening, a bounce underfoot, traces back to one of the three things below. ### Flatness The published tolerance for glue-down, floating and short-fastener work is flat to within 1/8" over 6 feet, or 3/16" over 10 feet.[1] Flatness is to be measured across the span of each room to get the overall topography, not spot checked.[1] A hollow under a click floor becomes a deflection, and a deflection works the locking edge until it breaks. This is what [self-levelling and grinding](https://www.referralflooring.com/subfloor-repair-and-levelling) are for. ### What is under a waterproof floor Water that gets beneath a floating vinyl floor has nowhere to evaporate to. On wood that means swelling and eventually mould; on concrete it means a moisture problem the floor is now sealing in. So a slab is tested, not assumed: in-slab relative humidity probes to ASTM F2170, calcium chloride to ASTM F1869, or calcium carbide.[1] The guidelines also give a field check: a drop of water that beads on the concrete suggests a sealer or a waxy residue that will stop adhesive bonding.[1] ### New concrete is not ready because it is 30 days old The guidelines allow slab moisture testing to begin 30 days after placement, and state directly that this does not indicate a 30-day-old slab is ready to receive flooring.[1] On a new build or a fresh basement pour, the test result sets the date, not the calendar. ### Room to move, and a proper nosing Where a floating floor meets a step down or a landing, the guidelines describe an overlap stair nosing that must be attached to the subfloor in order to maintain adequate expansion space.[1] Fasten it through the plank instead and the floor is pinned. The same applies to a heavy island or a run of built-ins sitting on a floating floor: plan them before the floor goes down. See [cabinets first or floor first](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-order-of-work). Sources 1. National Wood Flooring Association, [Wood Flooring Installation Guidelines](https://nwfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/NWFA-Installation-Guidelines.pdf), revised 2025. Subfloor flatness tolerances for glue-down and floating installations, how flatness is measured, concrete moisture test methods and the water-drop field check, slab age, and the overlap stair nosing profile. Quoted as the published tolerances for comparable floating and glue-down work. Standards last read 9 September 2026 Choosing a plank ## The one specification to ask for. Luxury vinyl plank comes with a stated wear-layer thickness in mils, and it is the number that separates a cheap plank from a good one. Ask for it. The core (rigid, mineral or flexible) decides how much subfloor variation the plank will hide and how it takes a dent; the wear layer decides how long the printed surface survives a dog and a kitchen chair. Both come out of the box looking the same. The [choosing guide](https://www.referralflooring.com/which-flooring-to-choose) has vinyl plank against laminate in a table. Related ## Read next. - [Why a vinyl floor lifts, bounces or opens at the seamsPinch points, flatness, and water underneath. What each one looks like.](https://www.referralflooring.com/why-new-floors-squeak-cup-and-gap) - [Vinyl plank vs laminate, and the basement questionCore, wet rooms, hardness and feel underfoot, compared.](https://www.referralflooring.com/which-flooring-to-choose) - [Laminate installationThe other floating floor, and where it should not be used.](https://www.referralflooring.com/laminate-flooring-installation) - [Cleaning vinyl plankDamp, never wet. And whether vinegar is all right on vinyl.](https://www.referralflooring.com/cleaning-and-caring-for-floors) Next step ## Get the plank samples on your basement floor. Vinyl reads differently under a basement pot light than in a showroom. The samples come with the free estimate, and so does a look at the slab. [Book a free estimate](https://www.referralflooring.com/#book) [Call 289-689-4242](tel:+12896894242) Phone [289-689-4242](tel:+12896894242) Email [referralflooring@gmail.com](mailto:referralflooring@gmail.com) Warranty 1 year on floor repair and installation. Area [Burlington](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-burlington), [Hamilton](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-hamilton), [Oakville](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-oakville), [Grimsby](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-grimsby) and the [wider Golden Horseshoe](https://www.referralflooring.com/service-area). --- Source: https://www.referralflooring.com/vinyl-plank-flooring-installation