Why we love Vinyl Plank Flooring in the basement remodel
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The split level remodel has been completed and today I am sharing why we love vinyl plank flooring in the basement remodel. Not only did we use this same vinyl plank flooring in our own basement remodel, we also used it in our pool house remodel this past summer (that post is coming soon). We partnered with Select Surfaces for this basement remodel and we couldn’t be happier with how the basement floor came out.
Best Vinyl Plank Flooring
For this basement, we installed the color Morning Fog by Select Surfaces and the color is perfect!
Our flooring color has been discontinued but this plank flooring and this plank flooring are similar with easy ordering and shipping.
Vinyl Plank Flooring Review
Features that I love about this luxury vinyl flooring:
- Waterproof which makes it great for kitchens, bathrooms and basements
- Quick and easy installation
- Easy to clean and maintain
- Stain-resistant for low maintenance
- Hides slight subfloor imperfections
- affordable and looks like hardwood
Ok so are you ready for a pretty crazy before and after basement remodel?
Here is the basement before the remodel.
As you can see, the basement was indicative of a typical 1960’s split level house with a somewhat low ceiling.
The basement before was dark, dreary and in need of major TLC.
We decided to remove all the partitioning walls to create an open concept basement and add a full bathroom and laundry room.
Vinyl Plank Flooring Installation
The installation of the vinyl planks was very simple and took 2 days to install.
The first step of the installation process is to snap a chalk line along the wall to get a straight line/starting point as Jim is demonstrating below.
Start by clicking the vinyl planks together and tapping into place with a hammer.
You can use a scrap piece of flooring as a buffer to tap the planks into place. This will avoid any hammer marks on the vinyl plank flooring.
Work your way around the room until you have completed the flooring installation. It’s somewhat time consuming but a very simple process.
Here is a closeup of the morning fog color. It’s perfect for a modern farmhouse look.
We used a small pry bar lifting tool to pull the vinyl floor out from the baseboard and hammer to tap in place. The baseboard will cover any gaps.
You can also see our other basement remodel floor installation for more tips and flooring ideas. We used the color Harvest Oak in our own basement a couple years ago and the floor is still as perfect as it was the day we installed it.
As you can see, the process moves right along! The vinyl flooring can be cut with a stanley knife or with a saw.
The smaller cuts you can just use a square tool to mark your line and score the flooring with your knife and it breaks off very easily.
We used a table saw to cut longer pieces of flooring.
The flooring is very easy to work with and has a rubber like backing which provides a cushion between the concrete and floor.
How much does vinyl plank flooring cost?
This particular Morning Fog Rigid Core Vinyl Plank Flooring by Select Surfaces costs 2.49 square foot. It took approximately 1.5 days and two men installing it (about 11 hours total). So for roughly $2500 with tax, you can cover roughly 900 square feet of floor. You can also save money by installing it yourself. If you have time, I highly recommend it. It’s so simple!
As you can see, the flow of the flooring looks great and provides a fresh modern look in the basement.
The most time consuming part of the flooring installation was cutting around the lally columns and bulkhead area. Getting the cuts to line up and run straight takes a little extra time but all in all, the installation process is very simple.
Here is the basement floor after we installed the Rigid Core Vinyl Floor Planking.
As you can see, it lends a sleek modern look offering a neutral backdrop for the basement.
Pretty fabulous right?
Vinyl Plank Flooring Cleaning
The buyers who purchased this house have two little boys and this basement will serve as their playroom and I cannot think of a better flooring system for kids as it’s so easy to keep clean! I have had this same floor (in a different color) installed in our basement for almost 2 years now and we always clean it with either water and Mr. Clean or a Bona mop with Bona floor cleaner. The floor cleans so easily and drys fast. Also perfect for pets.
The lally columns are wrapped with column wood wraps that we painted white and square trim pieces were added to the top and bottom to create a custom look.
- Adding a beam to a load bearing wall
- Installing shiplap on vaulted ceiling
- 5×8 bathroom remodel
- Quality Wolf kitchen cabinet review and installation
- Why we love the vinyl plank flooring basement makeover
- why we picked prehung solid core interior doors by Masonite
- Split level exterior remodel before and after
- Split Level Kitchen Remodel before and after
- White House Black Trim Exterior Makeover amazing split level transformation
- How to modernize a split level home with black windows
The existing basement had a walk out bulkhead that was brick so we ended up tiling over the brick with gray veneer stone to freshen up the area. I will be sharing more the basement after the holidays featuring the Masonite 2 panel doors from Horner Millwork and bathroom area.
Stay tuned as I will be sharing the entire before and after of the split level renovation/remodel after the holidays. This basement remodel is nothing short of amazing in my book as it’s a drastic before and after.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Select Surfaces. All opinions and words are 100% my own.
Meet Jessica
What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.
Lovely! What brand and paint color did you use for the light blue wall color?
Hi, it’s Sherwin Williams Lullaby.
Could you share the floor plan for your lower level? We have so much unused space in our current layout.
I don’t have a floor plan but we cut the basement in half basically leaving one end unfinished for storage and created a handful of closets around the exterior of the finished part.
Hello, I might be late to that party. I apologize. I am struggling with a similar project. What are your thoughts about the transition of what appears to be different flooring colors from the stairs to the basement. We have a similar layout. We have a 70’s split and the stairs to the basement are oak. We are replacing the laminate that is currently installed and wanted to go with a different color/stain but it does not match the rest of the house and the stairs (which we can’t change) I just can’t seem to have a color that would compliment the red/yellow oak floors. I know if I like it I can do what ever I want but I don’t want it to look odd. Thank is advance!
I know what you mean! Sometimes we have replaced the stair treads or had the stair treads refinished to a similar color of the floor.