How to install LVP floating around a toilet

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JeffKarpster

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Sep 5, 2018
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Hello, Im installing LVP in one of our bathrooms... the toilet closet is very small... my plan was to just cut a circle around the flange even though its a floating floor..... can I do this? seems smarter rather than cutting out the shape of the toilet .. in the event of a leak. all the water will surely get under the floor.. hope this makes sense.. thanks
 
Thats is the correct way to do it. It's very difficult to cut around it and make it look good.
 
You can cut the hole and leave a 1/4" gap next to the flange and fill the void with silicone.
Same for the perimeter of the room. Silicone is messy, so if you do the perimeter, begin by masking the floor with painters tape right at the edge of your cut..... then fill the gap full of silicone. Next, use a 1" putty knife to flatten and remove the excess silicone because you don't want the silicone to harden above the floor level which would hold the base or trim from seating against the floor.
Move slow and use a lot of paper towels to wipe the excess silicone from your putty knife as you go. Use a tall paper bag or put an unfolded newspaper in the bathtub to toss each used paper towel. Once you have the gap filled, peel off the tape and put it on that newspaper. You might want to fill and scrape one wall length at a time, but leave the tape on till it's all completed. Be careful with the tape removal so the tape , coated with silicone, doesn't contact the floor.
 
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I don't think the perimeter sealing is required for LVT in wet areas, thats just laminate.
 
When the floor floods and water gets under the new so called "waterproof" floor, the plywood or OSB may take a month or four to dry out. I hate it when these new vinyl floors are called waterproof.
(I live in the land of wood substrates)
 
Well sheet vinyl is waterproof. Water will get the under anything and you can't stop it can you?.
You can't go around sealing the perimeter of floating floors because it will essentially lock the floor in place and not allow it to move, or if the wooden structure to move without separating the floor system joints.
Plus many LVT floors are composites that have various forms of wood/bamboo and recycled materials in them. So they may be subject to moisture and movement because of site conditions.
Not all of them are impervious to moisture which is why they/most want 6 mil under them.
 
You think in the land of concrete. :D
He said it's tiny, so nothing's gonna change shape. I have two baths coming up and that's what I'm planning to do. No small bathroom walls, nor the floor will ever change even 1/64th when semi-locked in with silicone.
 
Make up your mind, you just were talking about wood substrates and water getting under it.
Besides its good to explain thats just for wet areas and laminate, in which case I always do a t mold if there's a toilet bolted down on it.
Theres been lots of claims lately on LVP about end curling and moisture issues even with commercial gluedown.
 
I was talking about wood substrates, but you live in the land of concrete. It may not damage the concrete, but id the room flooded, water will get under it. If it's toilet water, will it dry out ok under the floating plank? I'd rather it just didn't get under there. Yes, a t-mold might be good. A Coretec rep told me I could silicone a bathroom at the far end of a house and not use a T-molding. I described in detail how far away it was from the kitchen. Green is the bathroom.

Is Coretec included in that curling? I've noticed it cupping on a handful of different occasions.
 

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Well I haven't heard specifically about coretec. But its core does have - which is an extruded core made from recycled wood and bamboo dust, limestone, and virgin PVC. - however they claim it is diamensionally stable and won't expand or contract under normal conditions.
 
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I was just surprised that he recommended against a T-molding, saying it wasn't really necessary. I guess that say a lot about it's stability.
Another time I was sent to repair a loose edge where a Coretec quarter round was used as a flush fit transition. The lady would not allow an overlapping trim piece. The installer "goobered" the quarter round with tons of hot glue and because the plank edge was loose (floating), it came off from movement.
I called a rep and he said I could glue that walkway opening for 6 inches or so to make it stable and secure, then re-attach the molding. He then added, that I could glue down any spot here or there that I thought might be necessary, like under a fridge or in some other doorway on the other side of the room.
I guess they are trying to say that it's stable. :D
 
My experience in flooring tells me never connect fastened flooring with floating. And never take a reps word as sancrosant.
 

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