All of the flooring in this post was provided by Golden Select, but all opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure statement here.
Since the day we purchased our home, I’ve been itching to replace the old shag carpeting. 5 years later, I’m so excited to say that we finally did it! We started in the bedrooms on the upper level of our home, and I’m so happy with how they turned out.
Here’s our experience using Golden Select vinyl flooring to update the bedrooms in our home.
Our home was built in the late 1970’s and was used as a rental before we purchased it. We always knew the house had good bones, but it needed a major face-lift. Neither myself or my husband are experts at home renovation, but we always take a shot at doing things ourselves.
One thing that I’ve learned about home renovation is that everything has a domino effect – to do one thing, you’ll have to do another. After 5 years of work, we realized that to move forward with any of our plans, we would need to replace the flooring. We started saving up to do one bedroom at a time and slowly make our way into the large living and dining space – all of which was covered in the same thick grey carpet.
Fast forward to March of this year when Golden Select reached out to me and asked if there were any areas in our home that needing updated flooring. Um.. yes! Huge yes!
I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to partner with Golden Select to replace the flooring on the upper level of our home with luxury vinyl – starting with the bedrooms.
Here’s what the bedrooms looked like before…
The carpet in these bedrooms was super worn down, and we knew ripping it up was going to be bad, we just didn’t know how bad. It turns out the carpet pad, glue, and the carpet itself had completely disintegrated into sand over the years. Our work was cut out for us. We starting sweeping, vacuuming, and scraping until we had a clean foundation for the new flooring.
After everything was prepped and ready, we headed to our local Costco and loaded up. We also took some time to decide which direction the flooring would be laid as well as how much we would stagger each board (both can differ based on personal preference).
We chose Golden Select vinyl plank in “Charcoal Oak” for the bedrooms.
This beautiful grey toned vinyl has a wood grain texture and is waterproof (perfect for kids). Chris and I had both heard so many people rave about how easy Golden Select flooring was to install, and we were ready to find out for ourselves.
Here’s the takeaway from our experience installing Golden Select vinyl plank flooring:
The prep work is minimal.
After you remove old flooring, you’re pretty much set. This flooring doesn’t require underlay, which is a huge money and time saver. It really seemed to adjust to any imperfections in our sub-floor with no issue. You just need to know how much flooring you need and which direction you plan to run the boards – everything else is in the instructions.
The click lock system really works.
Following the instructions, we started from the back left corner of the room and worked forward. The boards clicked together like a dream. Between all 3 bedrooms, there were maybe 4 boards that required extra elbow grease to lock into place. The click lock system made everything move extremely quickly and easily. This was our first time ever installing flooring and we were able to finish the first bedroom in 1 day.
Installation required minimal tools.
We chose to save time and use our mitre/jig saws for cuts, but you can easily score and snap these vinyl plank boards. The choice is up to you! Beyond that, all we needed was a measuring tape, permanent marker, pry bar, and tapping block. I would recommend getting some knee pads, but that’s solely based on how bad it hurt to get up after laying floor for a few hours.
You can do it yourself.
Neither Chris or myself had any prior experience installing flooring (literally none) and we managed to do this without a single issue. We usually run into some type of snag with every DIY project we do, but not this one.
The flooring is durable and easy to care for.
It’s only been a month, but we’ve really come to notice how strong the commercial grade 0.5mm wear layer really is. Our son constantly drops toys, spills his juice, and drives his cars all over his floor. It hasn’t scuffed, scratched, or dented. I can’t wait to see how it holds up in a year or so.
It’s also extremely easy to keep clean (being waterproof helps) compared to our carpet. I would never go back!
All of the technical specs for Golden Select vinyl plank flooring in “Charcoal Oak” can be found here.
…and here’s how the bedrooms look now!
I absolutely love seeing these before and after photos. The change is so drastic!
In the end, I truly fell in love with Golden Select vinyl flooring.
It was a dream to install, especially for our first experience with flooring, and it looks beautiful.
A huge thank you to Golden Select for providing us with the flooring for this project. Stay tuned, because there’s more to come!
If you’re looking to purchase Golden Select vinyl flooring, check out their website, Costco.ca, or head to your local Costco warehouse to see it yourself.