Glue or Float LVP floors

a shitty install of either method creates hard to fix issues. For example if you install floating floor in a bind, it will look great for a couple weeks then all start popping up or have giant voids under it, and the only way to fix that is to pull it all up and start over

On the other hand, a shitty glue down job can leave end joint gaps that you have to then go back and fill with a joint compound

so talk to the installer, look at his work, and go with whatever he suggests

quote:

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Won’t cost much more to have them glued so that’s not the concern, just want to do what’s best for the long run.

Appreciate any advice for those of you that have been there before!

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my sister and BIL did their own floors, they were beautiful, it was the snap together LVP and they didnt glue it because the instructions didnt say it was needed.

but after a few months, the place where you come around the kitchen counter, its a spot where you take a quick direction turn.

over time, those panels start to separate from that twisting motion of walking around the counter pushes them apart.

they will push right back in place by slapping your feet the other way, but they will move over time.

since that time, i have been a firm believer in always gluing them

Properly prepped, no reason to glue down a quality LVP floor. That's of course the part most DIY'ers skimp on, the extensive prep work required to get good results. I've done LVP in several homes and they've all come out great, never had to glue anything except transitions. Many LVP products have a subfloor layer built in and state that gluing is not recommended and will void the warranty. My current home had LVP done in all of the downstairs and upstairs hall and it was poorly done, I will have to rip up the upstairs flooring completely at some point, there's carpet that is going to be replaced anyway but the bathrooms have pretty bad floor tile work too.

We did our own Nexxacore lvp and a few months later it started to buckle in one section of the living room, and nowhere else in the house. We put a premium eco-cork 3mm underlayment with moister barrier, and were pretty careful with the install to leave ample room around the edges for expansion. I'm going to end up popping the shoe molding off and changing 3-4 rows. Its got to be binding somewhere. Hopefully I can find it.

I like to float….but be sure to get and install the rolled foam stuff that goes under it so it doesn’t make noise when you walk. You also need to be damn sure it is installed with the proper gap around the edges of the room.