The bathroom is almost done! And wow, does it look great. I can’t wait to show it all to you, but I’ve still got one more little thing to do in there and that is frame out the mirror. That will be another post too! So, while we’re waiting for that, I thought I’d walk through the process of the walls and floor.
When looking at products to do this makeover, I came across the coolest vinyl plank flooring by Trafficmaster called Allure at Home Depot. The price was right at $1.79/s.f. and they are SO DIY friendly, which was a big plus.
These planks float right on top of the subfloor and it all went down fast and easy. See those gray strips on the side and top? They are sticky and join up with the backside of the next tile, which is also sticky.
No glue required on these bad boys! They work very much like peel and stick tiles. My sweet dad insisted on doing the floor himself, so I left him with it and took a few pics along the way so I could share the process with all of you.
He’s pretty methodical when it comes to starting a project and he got out his square for this. Not sure how this helped, but I think he was making sure he was staying on a straight line as the planks started going down. I know for sure that I could have done this project by myself too, but he wanted to do it and he really did a great job with it. He took the toilet out and put the flooring down under it before it was set back in, so the floor is done right. You can see a sneak peek of the finished beadboard wallpaper below.
The first row of planks go in. This product is really cool, in that those gray edges you see are sticky and the underside of the planks are also sticky and those 2 join together and create a tight bond. The planks have protective paper on the backside when you take them out of the box to protect the stickiness factor. You can see the underside of one of the planks above (black) and the idea is to alternate the planks and stagger the seams just like real hardwood as you go along, joining them together in the middle of the next plank. You keep fitting them together like a puzzle, butting them as close as you can and then cut around the doors and the edges of the wall when you get there. You’ll have 1/2 pieces at the beginning and end of the rows.
These planks can be cut with a utility knife or my dad used these heavy duty shears he had on hand. For a straight cut, the directions said to score with a utility knife and then they would snap in two.
Around the tub, he cut them to fit as tight as possible around the edge of the tub. This is where precision comes in handy. He used a small piece of wood held up against the tub to find the right angle to then draw a line on the planks to cut. Make sense? A scribing tool. My dad is pretty smart like that. The tub is angled and curved, so this created a nice line around it.
I didn’t get a ton of pics of the progress, since the body of the floor went fast after he got to moving. He worked his way over to the right of the room and finished cutting and placing the planks in place. As you get next to the wall or wherever you are ending the planks, you may have to cut one down the middle, but they cut easily and then finish off with quarter round to hide any seams.
Here’s the edge of them next to the tub. You can see he did a great job getting them close, but we did go back and add quarter round so that the seams were completely covered and finished.
Before quarter round went down.
And after. You can see the quarter round really finishes it off nicely. The color I chose is Hickory and it is in stock in my local store. They have lots of colors to choose from and some of them are special order for just a few cents more per square foot. I was very happy with this color.
Doesn’t this stuff look real in the pic?
Honestly, these products have improved SO much over the years. I have never been a fan of laminate flooring (I’m a hardwood girl all the way), but with the creation of some of these newer products and the ease of installation, I’m a big fan of this product now. These are by Trafficmaster Allure for Home Depot. They even have another similar floating product made by Allure that looks like hand scraped hardwoods and they are about $1.00 more a square foot, but still very affordable.
I found a transition strip on clearance that is made out of cork (less than $4), so thought it was the best choice of all I saw (and ironically, the cheapest!).
So, if you are looking for a DIY floor product for a bathroom or kitchen or really any area you want to cover up, I can highly recommend these Allure vinyl planks from Home Depot. And no, Home Depot doesn’t even know I exist, I’m just happy with this product. They are highly water resistant, so great for a bathroom.
They are gorgeous!
I promise I’ll show the whole bathroom next week. I wanted to wait until I get the mirror framed out to do the entire beautiful reveal and I promise you will love it too! It should give all of you with outdated bathrooms hope on improvements.
Beadboard wallpaper, chair rail, paint, vinyl plank flooring, new light fixture, and some snazzy accessories, this bath is done on a tight budget. I’ll do the breakdown on cost later too!
Congrats to Tenia, lucky #20 who won the $100 giftcard giveaway on the Apartment Guide contest. Thanks to all who entered!
Julie Size says
Beautiful! I love the look of natural wood floors.
Karen says
I’m getting ready to re-do my bathroom and my budget is so tight it pinches. LOL I’m so excited to see that you’ve incorporated the very same ideas I have with the beadboard wallpaper and the Allure floors.
I can’t wait to see the finished results!
Bonnie says
So pretty , Rhoda! You are always so thoughtful with your parents! I know your Dad was just itching to help with this & you were such a sweetie to let him help you , even though I know you were itching to try this yourself! Tell your Dad, “GREAT JOB!” for me!
Bonnie
Kristi says
We used an Allure faux wood product in our basement and are verry pleased. They are water proof and if any flooding does occur, there is no dammage to the “wood” floor. The planks can be easily removed (ours were tongue in groove, not sticky) if needed as well. It is probably good that your dad was squaring things off. My husband did not and ran into some problems at the opposite wall from where he started. He had to pull a lot up and start at the beginning again. Looks like it will be great!
Traci says
Rhoda,
I cannot get over how beautiful and real that floor looks! Amazing!
And seeing your daddy sitting there looking at that floor made me almost cry. How precious is he?!!! Daddies are the best!
Tell him I said, “Great job!”
Norma says
Just discovered your blog, the word “Allure” caught my attention! My husband and I love this stuff! He installed this in his daughters home, the kitchen, dining room, study and bathroom! Super reasonable price, forgiving of imperfect floors and looks amazingly like real wood! He also just installed a tile look in our kitchen/breakfast room. Same results of course. Easy, affordable, and great for old homes with less than perfect floors! Your pictures really show it off well!
Caroline says
Rhoda, we bought the Allure flooring as well from Home Depot. We haven’t installed it yet; as our bathroom reno isn’t at that stage. Soon though. We bought a different pattern, I was hesitant about the wood color….but now that I see yours I’m second guessing my choice. Originally I wanted bamboo flooring but the guys at Home Depot said it wasn’t a good choice. We opted to put bamboo in our hallway and will eventually go throughout the main floor. PS…Tell your Dad he did a great job!
michele says
You make putting the floor down easy. Very nice looking.
Lana says
I love that flooring material….when we get back home (which will now be in Sept. thanks to them moving up Tom’s year deployment to Afghanistan) I would like to put something other than carpet down in my rec room/guest room that’s more durable and good for crafting, etc. This may just be the item!
I can’t wait to see it finished!!!!!
OH: As soon as I get a go home date and have a couple weeks to get everything unpacked from Italy, we’d love to host you/have you stay at our house for the big Biltmore party (and just to enjoy hosting you as you are one of my favorite blog buddies!) and I’ll get some of my other local bloggie friends in on it so we have a full house/a mini blog event, too!
Hugs/love/blessings,
Lana
Christi says
I found all your tips and info today about starting out in blogland. Everything was so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing! I love that about this network of women, no one is trying to withhold info and keep their ideas to themselves, it is such an open and welcoming community!
I saw a post on Better After where they used “Tile Paint” have you considered something like that to hide the avocado tiles in your bathroom?
sandy says
Hurry up, lol! I can’t wait!
Kathy :) says
Rhoda your Dad is adorable….what a great job he did, fantastc product it really does look like hardwood !!!
I don’t think you could put this over tile though huh, eventually it would settle in the grout lines….thinking out loud here I have always wanted hard wood in our 1/2 bath… ????
Great job….
Kathy 🙂
carmen says
Hi…found you through pinterest. We are in the process of tearing out all the carpet up stairs and are looking at the Allure line of flooring. Just curious as to how it has held up…especially in a bathroom. Thanks.
Joan says
These look amazing! I am searching for flooring to install in my newly built studio, and it must stand up to all kinds of abuse, including kids and dogs. Do you think this would scratch easily?
Susan says
Just curious about how you like the flooring after “using” it for a while. I took some samples home when the Allure flooring first came out. The problem I found was that if you rub anything across it, a streak forms and you can’t get rid of it. For this reason, I did not purchase it…..again, this was several years ago so hopefully the company has improved the product.
Rhoda says
Susan, I haven’t noticed anything that left marks that wouldn’t come off. It still looks really good.
Douglas Cunningham says
I used an underlayment. I know some contracters have when laying on cement. Any comments.
Rhoda says
Hi, Douglas, I am not sure what to tell you on installing on concrete, probably check the manufacturers site for more details. We installed over plywood.
Melissa Stansell Richards says
I am new to your site (I found you thru Ana White’s site) and I have to say you made a great choice in flooring. My DH and I have put down laminate and it always seemed to chip or swell from water leaks no matter what we did. I found Allure from a DIY Tv show 2 years ago and had DH put it down in 3 upstairs rooms, including my craft room. It has been wonderful..but I wanted to tell you about an added benifit …insulation! I found my craft room was several degrees warmer (and cooler in summer) after the Alure was put down. You have a wonderful website that is so easy to navigate…and I will be using some of your ideas VERY soon! Happy New Year!
Melissa from Texas