Where in the room is the best place to start installing a vinyl floor?

In essence, you can start wherever you like. The click system allows you to lay in any direction, but the easiest place to start will always be a straight wall. Pay extra attention to the first two rows. So long as they are dead straight with nice tight joints, you’ll have made a great start! Insert spacer blocks into the expansion joint so that everything remains firmly in place.

If you want to install a herringbone floor over several rooms (including the hallway), you’ll achieve the best result if the point is nicely centred. Measure this beforehand and start there. 

With gluedown flooring, you can generally choose where to start as well. For regular plank layouts, it’s most common to begin along a straight wall to ensure the lines run parallel. Make sure your first row is perfectly straight, as this determines the alignment of the entire floor.

For herringbone gluedown floors, installation usually starts from the center of the room. This allows you to achieve a beautifully symmetrical pattern especially important when the floor continues into multiple rooms or when you want the pattern to align with a central feature, such as a fireplace, lighting point, or doorway.

Measure the room beforehand and calculate the number of rows that you will need. Is the last row just a few centimetres in size? In that case, narrow your first row so that the last row is sufficiently wide. Create a plan beforehand so that you know what you are doing.

Try to think ahead if your are laying the floor through several rooms. How will the floor be laid in the next room? Tip: use an installation plan so that you can visualise how things will look.