Vinyl Flooring Expansion Gap Too Big

Stop the floor between a quarter inch and a half inch shy of the wall to allow for this natural expansion.

Vinyl flooring expansion gap too big.

If the floor is installed flush with the wall there is no room for growth in the hot months and the loose lay floor can easily buckle. Floating floor installation is also ideal when installing new laminate engineered or luxury vinyl flooring lvf over an existing floor like ours that sits atop an older tile floor. Read the manufacturer s instructions but generally 1 4 5 16 of gap along the wall measured from the bottom plate if your drywall is 1 2 off the floor as it should be is ample expansion space and easily covered by the baseboard. When installing floating vinyl floors it is necessary to allow for this expansion by leaving a gap around the perimeter of the floor or anywhere it meets another floor or vertical surface.

Floating floors are designed to allow for the seasonal expansion and contraction of the flooring planks. Vinyl is susceptible to temperature changes in its ambient environment which will cause the vinyl flooring to expand and contract with normal hot and cold fluctuations. Vinyl flooring naturally expands and contracts in the heat and cold. Vinyl plank doesn t need lots of expansion gaps.

A floating floor usually needs 5 10mm the loose planks will absorb heat and expand like any flooring material some more than others so you run the risk of it buckling. Just enough to absorb the smaller amount of expansion a bonded vinyl floor moves. You just leave 1 4 inch between the wall and planks. Ways to prevent vinyl plank buckling.