How to Install Engineered Flooring Over Vinyl

Engineered wood flooring can in installed in various ways, depending on the flooring system you're using. If you've got an old vinyl floor that you want to cover with wood, a glueless floating floor may be your best option. The engineered boards snap tightly together to create the new floor, but aren't attached to the subfloor in any way, so you don't have to worry about whether the vinyl provides a suitable anchor for nails or glue. It is important that the floor be solid and flat.

• 1

  Remove the trim from around the perimeter of the floor, using your hammer and flat bar. Don't break the trim.

• 2

  Roll out a course of moisture barrier along the edge of the vinyl floor where you're going to start. Cut it to size with your utility knife.

• 3

  Lay an engineered flooring plank at one end of the floor alongside the starting wall. Put shims between the board and the walls to create a space that will allow for floor expansion.

• 4

  Set a second board against the end of the first one and press it until it clicks into place. For some types of flooring, press the second board downward at an angle. Set spacers between the second board and the wall. Repeat the process for the rest of the boards in the first course, lining them up along the wall. Cut the final piece as needed on your miter saw to fit.

• 5

  Set the second and subsequent courses in place by attaching the long sides of the boards to one another, building course by course across the floor. Lay more moisture barrier as necessary. Stagger the ends of the boards between courses. Cut the boards by the walls as necessary. Cover the whole floor.

• 6

  Cut the boards of the final course along their lengths with a table saw to fit against the ending wall, leaving a 3/8-inch space there.

• 7

  Reinstall the floor trim, using your hammer and finishing nails. The trim should hide the spaces around by the walls.