Most click-floating floors fail for the same four reasons: a subfloor that is not flat, a first row laid crooked, a joint forced shut, and no room left at the walls for the surface to move. The order below is the one we use when customers ask how to install vinyl plank flooring, or click laminate, in a Toronto home. Prices come from our catalogue, and the step rules follow the guides the manufacturers publish.
Nothing is fastened down. The planks lock to each other, the surface rests on a prepared subfloor, a gap is kept at every wall, and the whole floor moves as one sheet. Miss the flatness or the gap and you get peaking at a seam. Start by browsing the SPC and LVP vinyl planks we stock.
Quick answer: the eight steps in order
- Clear the room, lift the old covering and the baseboards, and check the subfloor for flatness, moisture and loose panels.
- Let the boxes sit in the room at normal living temperature.
- Roll out underlayment, if your floor needs a separate layer.
- Measure the room across its width and decide how wide the first row will be.
- Lay the first row along the starting wall with spacers holding it off the wall.
- Work row by row, staggering the short-end joints and closing each plank as you go.
- Undercut the door frames, then cut around pipes and corners.
- Rip the last row, pull it in, take the spacers out, and fit trim and baseboards.
Subfloor, temperature and doors before the first plank
Manufacturers describe a ready subfloor in surprisingly similar words. Egger's flooring installation guide requires a subfloor that is dry, clean, free of separating agents, free of cracks, resistant to tension and pressure and level, with levelness within 2 mm per metre. Goodfellow's SPC guide asks for a clean, dry, level and structurally sound floor, with fasteners and debris removed, high spots sanded and low areas filled with a compatible levelling compound.
Our click-lock rate covers laying planks over a subfloor that already meets those conditions, so sanding, filling and levelling are priced on their own. On a concrete slab, is it dry and is it flat come first, and our laminate over concrete guide walks through the moisture test.
Even a click floor wants to settle into its room. Goodfellow's SPC guide asks for 48 hours in the installation area at a steady 18 to 25°C, with the site fully enclosed and climate controlled. Egger's laminate guide gives a lower limit instead: a room of at least 18°C, with no upper figure. Our guide to acclimation in the GTA covers the cold-weather version of this step.
Where SPC and laminate split: cutting and underlayment
All five floors below are click-lock products from our own vinyl plank collection and laminate racks, so these are today's box prices. Price per square foot is the box price divided by the coverage in the box.
| Floor | Box price | Coverage per box | Price per sq ft | What is in the box |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riche Heavy-Duty Driftwood Mist SPC | $37.24 | 16.55 sq ft | $2.25 | 8 mm plank, 20 mil wear layer, 2mm EVA pad pre-attached |
| Riche Natural Birch SPC | $44.68 | 23.64 sq ft | $1.89 | 6 mm plank, 12 mil wear layer, IXPE pad bonded to the back |
| Riche Cloud White Oak SPC | $35.31 | 14.18 sq ft | $2.49 | 9 mm plank, 20 mil wear layer, EVA pad bonded to the back |
| Egger EM3209 laminate | $40.48 | 21.42 sq ft | $1.89 | 8 mm laminate, AC3 wear rating |
| Goodfellow Canyon No.019 laminate | $69.99 | 20.18 sq ft | $3.47 | 12 mm laminate, AC5 wear rating |
Prices checked October 12, 2026. Box prices and coverage come from our current catalogue.
The pad column is what changes the job. All three SPC planks come with their pads bonded to the back, so our quotes add a separate underlayment layer to the two laminates rather than to the SPC planks.
Cutting a plank
Goodfellow's SPC guide cuts planks with a sharp utility knife and a square, scoring the surface and pressing until the plank splits along the line. MSI gives its rigid-core installers the same method and adds one step: back-cut the under pad on the bottom of the plank. EGGER's instructions list an electric jigsaw, circular or chop saw, a laminate cutter and a cutter knife. The instructions in your box still govern, because click systems differ.
Underlayment: one roll per 200 sq ft
A padless laminate needs a separate underlayment layer; a plank with a pad bonded to the back normally does not. NALFA, the laminate trade association, says that layer supports the locking system, provides moisture protection and helps level minor subfloor imperfections. On our quotes one roll costs $50.00 and covers 200 sq ft on your waste-adjusted area. MSI adds a condition for its own rigid-core planks: where extra underlayment beyond what is already attached is required, an MSI-approved underlayment should be used.
Layout and the first row
Walls are rarely straight, so the first row sets the line every other row copies. Egger's guide starts in a left-hand corner with both tongue sides of the first board facing the wall, and Goodfellow's SPC guide runs planks parallel to the most visible wall and asks you to dry lay the first few rows to confirm your layout and joint spacing before you begin.
Measure the room across its width first and work out what the last row will be. A final row narrower than 5 cm means the first row gets ripped down lengthwise, so the opening and closing rows end up similar in width.
Each plank then locks along its long edge into the row behind it and closes its short end against the plank beside it. Check the line after two or three rows, before a curved wall pushes the rest of the floor out of line.
Staggering, joint closure and door frames
Staggering keeps the floor looking even and keeps the load off any single joint. Goodfellow's SPC guide asks for at least 30 cm between the short-end joints of neighbouring rows, and warns against lining them up or creating a repeating H or ladder pattern. Egger's laminate guide sets its minimum at 20 cm, and at 50 cm on its long boards.
Planks close by hand at a low angle rather than by force. If one will not sit down, lift it and look inside the groove before trying again; debris or a damaged locking edge is the usual reason. Egger's guide treats door frames as one more fixed structure: shorten them by the installation height, meaning flooring plus underlay, and install the flooring underneath the frame.
The gap at the walls and the last row
Spacers hold the first row straight while you work and set the gap at every vertical surface. Goodfellow's SPC guide leaves a minimum of 10 mm around walls, kitchen islands, staircases and columns, with spacers roughly every 20 cm.
The last row is easier than it looks. Lay a spare plank on the finished row, hold a second plank against the wall with its tongue touching, and mark along that edge; the marked width is what you cut to, less the spacers. Pull the last joints closed with a pull bar, take the spacers out and fit your trim. A floating floor should not be pinned by a cabinet leg, and Goodfellow asks for 24 hours before heavy furniture goes back on.
Buying the right number of boxes
Planks are sold in whole boxes, so the box count decides what you pay. Take a 400 sq ft room in Egger's 8 mm laminate at $40.48 for a 21.42 sq ft box. Our quotes add 5% for waste, so the buying area is 420 sq ft, and that divided by 21.42 sq ft comes to just under twenty boxes, so you buy 20. The same arithmetic covers the Riche Natural Birch SPC at $44.68 for a 23.64 sq ft box.
| 400 sq ft laminate room | Figure | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| Waste-adjusted area | 420 sq ft | 400 sq ft x 1.05 |
| Boxes of 8 mm laminate | 20 boxes | 420 sq ft divided by 21.42 sq ft, rounded up |
| Material | $809.60 | 20 x $40.48 |
| Flooring delivered in those boxes | 428.40 sq ft | 20 x 21.42 sq ft |
| Underlayment rolls | 3 rolls | 420 sq ft divided by 200 sq ft per roll, rounded up |
| Underlayment | $150.00 | 3 x $50.00 |
| Installation labour, house or basement | $630.00 | 420 sq ft x $1.50 |
| Installation labour, condo | $840.00 | 420 sq ft x $2.00 |
Those materials come to $959.60 before 13% HST. Click laminate and click vinyl are both $1.50 per sq ft in a house or basement and $2.00 per sq ft in a condo, charged on the waste-adjusted area. A single small room is priced after seeing the space rather than from the square-foot rate. Our DIY versus professional comparison sets the two side by side, and flooring installation cost in Toronto collects the rates we charge.
Four mistakes that ruin a floating floor
- Laying planks on a subfloor that is out of flatness, damp or loose.
- Starting the first row without measuring the last one.
- Lining the short-end joints up row after row until the floor looks like a grid.
- Pinning the surface with baseboard nails, a cabinet leg or a door jamb touching the planks.
Frequently asked questions about click vinyl and laminate
Can click planks go over an existing floor?
Sometimes, but the covering underneath has to be one the manufacturer approves. Goodfellow's SPC guide rules out carpet, existing hardwood, pre-existing vinyl or laminate, loose-lay and other floating floors, so those come out first.
How long do the boxes need to sit in the room?
Plan on 48 hours in the room before you start. For a Goodfellow SPC floor the guide holds that room at a stable 18 to 25°C and wants the site fully enclosed and climate controlled; Egger's laminate guide puts only a lower limit on the room, at least 18°C. Boxes that sat in a cold van take longer to warm up.
Which floor is easier for a first-timer, SPC or laminate?
For a first-timer the pad makes the bigger difference. A plank that arrives with its pad already bonded to the back skips one whole layer of work, and the SPC guide quoted above cuts planks with a utility knife. EGGER's laminate guide expects a saw instead, and a padless laminate also wants its own underlayment roll underneath.
Do I need a tapping block and a pull bar?
Both are on the hand-tool list in Goodfellow's SPC guide, which names a tapping block and a pull bar for the last row, and notes a rubber mallet as optional for tight-fitting end joints. Where they go is what matters: on the locking edge, not on the finished face.
Can click planks be floated on stairs?
Goodfellow's guide says not to float flooring on stairs: every piece has to be fully adhered with a stair-approved adhesive instead. Stairs also mean nosing, risers and individual cuts, which is why we price them from photos rather than a square-foot rate.
Get a flooring installation quote in Toronto and the GTA
If you would rather not spend the weekend on your knees, send us your room measurements and a few photos of the subfloor and the doorways, and our team will put the planks, the underlayment and the labour on one page. You can request a flooring quote here, or bring your measurements to the showroom.
Top Floorings Depot
3781 Victoria Park Avenue, Unit 1, Toronto, ON M1W 3K5
www.topfloorings.com
Call: 416-499-0117
Text: 416-770-8819