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Basically, there are two types of wall-to-wall car­peting. Conventional carpeting is laid over a sep­arate rubber or foam padding and must be stretched and attached to tackless strips around the perimeter of the room. Cushion-backed car­peting, which has foam bonded to its backing, doesn’t need to be stretched—it’s usually glued down—so it’s generally easier to install. However, it must be destroyed to remove it. Consequently, better-quality carpeting is almost always conven­tional, and that’s the focus here.

Carpeting doesn’t ask much of subflooring, which can be slightly irregular as long as it is dry, solid, and adequately sized (58-in. plywood is typical)...

Some flooring materials are adhered only along the edges (perimeter bond), whereas others are completely glued down (full-spread adhesion). Flooring secured by full-spread adhesion is less likely to migrate or stretch and hence is more durable. Follow the installation instructions that come with your flooring. Be sure your supplier provides the manufacturer’s instructions on adhesion and seaming methods that may be unique to your resilient flooring.

Full-spread adhesion. After the resilient floor­ing is final-trimmed in place, it is typically lapped back halfway, exposing roughly half the area underneath. Using a square-notched trowel, spread a compatible adhesive on about half the floor. Unroll the lapped portion down into the adhesive, and immediately use a 100-lb...

To transfer the outline of the room to the resilient flooring, place a blade of the framing square on the scribed line and run a utility knife along the outside edge of the blade, as shown in the photo on the facing page. The mark made by the utility knife—112 in. beyond the scribed line—represents the cut-line you’ll make in the resilient flooring. But the utility knife should score the flooring
only about one-third deep. After you’ve scored with the utility knife, use a hooked knife to cut all the way through, with the scored line guiding the hooked knife. Hold the hooked knife at a slight angle, so it undercuts the edge. At some point, you’ll also trim off the flooring’s factory edge, which protects the material in transit.

Once you’ve cut the outline, remove the paper template and l...

Bring resilient flooring sheets onto the job site at least 24 hours before working with it, so it has time to acclimate to room temperatures (at least 68°F) Resilient materials are more pliable when they have warmed and less likely to crimp or crease. As you roll and unroll resilient sheets, be careful not to crimp the material, which could crease its surface and be visible forever after.

There are several ways to transfer a room’s dimensions to resilient flooring sheets, but none so accurate as creating a template, especially if there are refrigerator alcoves or base cabinets to work around. Create the template with 15-lb. felt paper, which is inexpensive and, being stiffer than rosin paper, is not likely to tear as you trans­fer the room’s outline to the resilient flooring...