Help with vinyl flooring

Hi all! We have a rental unit, and we're planning on pulling up the existing tiles and carpet (both original from when the unit was built in the 1960s, to give you some idea) and laying vinyl flooring in the kitchen and living area. (I know it's not as hard wearing as tiles, but as it's a second-floor unit, we can't put tiles down in any other than wet areas due to noise issues. And at least vinyl doesn't stain like carpet does!)

Anyhow, I know that we need to have the surface we're laying the vinyl on to be as smooth as possible. What's the easiest way to do this? I'm assuming some kind of sanding machine, but does anyone have any recommendations as to which is the most suitable? Thanks!

Depends how bad the surface is to start with - it might need nothing more than to punch the nails and a go over with a belt sander.

If more rough then regular sanding would do the job, but given that you would have to punch down all nails, hire a sander (or pay someone) you might better to just cover the lot with masonite underlay which is forgiving to minor imperfections and when installed according to instructions gives a great smooth surface for vinyl flooring or tiles.

You can glue or not - gluing will assist with noise reduction from any loose or squeaky boards, but of course is harder for later removal (but not your issue most likely).

http://www.australianhardboards.com....e_underlay.pdf

Is your subfloor concrete or timber?

If timber then you can install masonite underlay but it'll require 90+ fasteners per sheet (fine if you own a staple gun) Australian Hardboards have a new product out which is great for D.I.Y called Dual bond Masonite which can be loose laid over timber and concrete. This provides a smooth surface which can be adhered to with vinyl tiles or is great for a loose lay vinyl.

If concrete you can also use a levelling compound. Depending on how bad your slab is (units are usually pretty ordinary) and what product you want to install will define what type of ardut and how much you require. Ardex K-15 is great for 3mm thick coat (good for vinyl tiles etc) and Ardex "Feather Finish" is good to just smooth off the surace (good for loose lay)

Have fun.