We were fixing up a condo that we'd bought as an investment; mostly things like getting rid of wallpaper, painting, and upgrading fixtures - nothing that would involve a great deal of expertise, time or money. The kitchen floor was old, worn linoleum. I really wanted to have a wood floor installed; but had some reservations because of the cost and the upkeep. During one of my almost daily trips to the local home improvement superstore, I ran into a product called "Allure" that looks and feels like wood planks, but is made of synthetics.

The product claimed to be " the ultimate do it yourself flooring product" that "anyone" could install in just a few short hours. The brochure went on to say that " no messy adhesives or glue is necessary." and that, "Because of the product's flexibility the planks can be installed over uneven sub-floors or existing floors such as natural wood, concrete, vinyl, linoleum, and even ceramic."  In addition to the low cost and supposedly easy installation, I was impressed by the claims that it can be installed in moisture prone areas that traditionally have been “off limits” for traditional wood flooring and laminate products, like basements and bathrooms.

I did a little more research online and read the installation manual cover to cover. The planks secure  to each other not to the sub-floor, using a pre-glued strip. To cut a plank, you simply score it and snap. "Follow the instructions for installation", the company claimed, "and you will be enjoying your beautiful new floor in just a few hours." It sounded easy enough - even for a mechanically challenged person like me.

I was still skeptical, but decided to give it a try.

1. Buy the planks – The first step was to figure out how many planks I needed to do the job. Since this was “my project” – my husband (who was still recovering from major surgery did his very best to keep out of the way and muffle his laughter. I measured the room from every direction and angle about a dozen times, accounting for alcoves, odd shapes, etc. There are 16 planks, each measuring 36” X 6” in each package. I added 10% to my estimate – as recommended in the installation guide. I bought 7 packages and figured that I’d have a lot left over. As it turned out I finished the job with ONE plank left. Dumb luck! I should have added another 10% just to be sure.

 2. Store the planks inside for at least two days – The Company recommends that you “condition” the planks before using them by bringing them inside and storing them at room temperature (at least 65 degrees F) for a couple days before you start your installation. It seemed like everyone I read about who was unhappy with the adhesive hadn’t followed this step. When installing the plank, be sure to keep dust, dirt or foreign particles away from the adhesive “Grip Strip”. The cleaner the Grip Strip remains, the better the bond between planks. I kept all the planks in the box until I was ready to install them.

 3. The instructions mention that all you need is a utility knife and a straight edge ruler. I also got some double-sticky carpet tape (for corner pieces where the adhesive strip had to be cut off), some titanium scissors to cut curved pieces (probably not necessary), a dozen pencils for making cuts (kept breaking the leads and losing them), and (most important) two very good friends.

4. Preparing the subfloor – One of the neat things about this product is that you don’t have to do anything to the subfloor. I swept and mopped the floor. That was it. If your old floor is uneven, the installation manual has detailed instructions.

 5. Before you put down the first plank – layout a plan. I measured the floor AGAIN and put a grid down with blue painter’s tape. Check the wall you are starting from and make sure it is square to the opposite wall. Simply measure the room from opposite ends of the wall to the far wall. If the measurements are different you need to make adjustments on the first row of planks. Also you want to make sure ahead of time that you aren’t left with a final row that is too out of proportion. For example, if I’d just started laying the planks down without measuring, my last row would have been ½” wide (yuck).

6. Lay a row of loose planks without securing them to each other first to determine if you need to adjust the length of the first plank to avoid a small piece of less than 12” on the opposite wall from where you started. Leave the protective sheet of paper between each plank when you are laying the out. The adhesive is really, really strong and the planks are very hard to pry apart if you made an error. (Although a hair dryer can be used to warm the adhesive and get them apart).

7. Start your installation in a corner and proceed from the wall with the under edge facing out away from the wall. Note: Each plank has two adhesive strips, one on top of the plank (over edge) and one under the plank (under edge). You place the over edge of one plank on top of the under edge of the other. At this point in the instructions, the manufacturer said “Anyone can do it!” for about the hundredth time – it was starting to worry me.

8. When securing two planks together, you need to angle (45 degrees) the second plank into the corresponding edge. As I mentioned earlier, the over-edge always placed on top of the under-edge. The installation guide says, “Use one hand to hold the plank and the other hand to guide the edge into place for a tight fit by rolling the plank as you go. Be careful to keep the seams tight. You can push the plank slightly against the adjoining plank to create a tight seam, if necessary, after the connection has been made.” This is a little trickier than it seems – it really helped to have two people putting down each plank – one guiding the placement and the other providing the muscle to push the planks tightly together.

9. One thing that is pretty neat about this product is that it is pretty forgiving. If you screw up and the seam isn’t close enough, you can immediately pull apart the planks and do it again (and again and again). Slowly lift the top plank away from the bottom plank. If you pull too fast, you can rip the entire Grip Strip off and ruin the plank. I did this a few times before I hauled out the blow dryer and learned to be more careful.

10. Stagger planks – To make the floor look more “realistic”, we staggered the rows so that all the short edge seams weren’t in a straight line. We used a staggered random pattern with planks that were 12”, 24” or 36” long to start. Once we laid the row, we continued across the room using full-length planks.

11. Cutting planks – It was actually pretty easy to cut the planks. Simply measure and mark the plank, then using a straight edge and utility knife, score the plank and snap. The manual tells you to be sure to always cut the short side of the plank with the over edge. The remaining pieces are used on the opposite side of the room, at the end of that row. If you need to fit a plank around an irregular shape, make a pattern out of heavy paper. Place the pattern upon the plank and trace. Cut along trace lines using a utility knife or heavy duty scissors, and lay plank. This is where my new titanium scissors came in handy.

12. After installation is completed, the manufacturer recommends rolling the seams with a floor roller to insure bonding of both adhesive edges. You can rent a floor roller, but I just slid around on my butt and that seemed to do the trick. The chemical bond between the adhesive strips on the planks will get strong and stronger as you apply more pressure over time, simply by walking on the floor. Once the adhesive sets, it will never come apart (unless you heat it up with a blow dryer to over 100 degrees.)

Anyone can do it! The manufacturer's claims were true. Installation was easy. I could have done it all by myself, but it's easier and more fun having the help of friends. Start to finish, it took us less than 4 hours to do two rooms.

It looks great. The texture and feel is very realistic - it feels good to walk on. Water wipes right up and it's simple to keep it looking good. I am happy as can be!