How to prepare subfloor for click and lock Vinyl Flooring

[Karoline Kaon]

Hello BP DIY-ers,

My husband and I purchased our first home! I had this crazy idea to tackle flooring on my own. This is the beginning of DIY Floors. My plan is to install Vinyl Plank that clicks and locks. The upstairs apartment is only 532 SQ FT with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. We are only putting LVP in the two bedrooms and hallway. I have not decided whether to install carpet on the stairs or hardwood. I am thinking about contracting someone to install the flooring there because it seems a bit more involved. But if you have done it, please let me know your experience!

After a long day at work, my husband and I finished pulling out the carpet yesterday. The tack strip and staples still need to be removed. On Friday, we are going to vaccum the sand and dust from the floor. The previous owners had dogs, but once we took the carpet out, the smell was gone...at least for now. I have not gone back yet to sniff around.  Based on the BP forums, google and youtube, I noticed that a lot of people prime their subfloors. Is this necessary if the smell is not prevalent? It seems like moisture is what we want to avoid between the sub floor and vinyl plank floor. So what is the consensus? 

I have also read about leveling the floors and working with a flat surface. I noticed walking on the plywood that a few pieces are higher than the others. It seem like I can nail those pieces and it should even it out? This is a grey area that I can't really figure out what to do. I also noticed some gaps between pieces of plywood. They were extremely small probably .2mm between the plywood. But as a someone with no experience, I did raise an eyebrow.

If you look at this image in the left hand corner there is a small gap. Is that something I can nail down?

The flooring comes in on Sunday and I am hoping to pick it up and allow it to acclimate to my home for a day or two. But how do I prepare this sub floor before I lay any new vinyl plank flooring?

[JD Martin]

No, just the generic 15lb roofing felt. It comes on a big, heavy roll at Lowe's or Home Depot. 3ft x 150 ft rolls are about 15-20 bucks. One roll will last for many, many floors. It's good stuff to have around - I also use it on top of wall studs before putting up cement board for shower tile, prep window and door openings, etc.