Took me 6 years to figure out I'd been cutting my underlayment backwards

I was over at a job in Salem helping a buddy lay some LVP and he watched me flip the roll over before cutting, then asked why I always installed the smooth side down, and suddenly I realized I'd been putting the slip layer against the subfloor this whole time.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sarah18d ago

Wait, isn't the smooth side supposed to go up against the flooring to help the LVP lock together better? Or am I the one who's been doing it wrong this whole time?

pat36018d ago

Are you sure about that though? I've always put the smooth side down against the underlayment and had zero issues with locking or gapping after a few years now. The textured side facing up gives the LVP way more grip when walking on it, especially if you have dogs or kids running around, and that rough surface actually helps hide little scratches way better over time. Plus I've seen plenty of pros online who swear by the smooth side down because it lets the planks slide a tiny bit during temperature changes, which prevents that buckling mess everyone talks about. Honestly I think the whole "smooth side up" thing might just be a marketing gimmick that got repeated too often, but hey whatever works for your floor right?