Cheap and easy to lay; Laying your own vinyl is a cheap way to improve your flooring, reports JULIA GRAY.

Byline: JULIA GRAY

When putting down vinyl there are a few tips that will ensure the process is as painless as possible.

Start by clearing the room and unrolling the vinyl.

Trim it roughly to fit, leaving 5cm or more excess all around the edge of the room. If there are any large areas where the vinyl will be wasted, such as a fireplace hearth, roughly cut around them now, again allowing at least 5cm excess to make the vinyl more manageable.

Cut down through the excess to the floor at the corners of the room, then cut the vinyl to fit along the walls. To do this, take a block of wood and use it to press the vinyl into a crease along the bottom of the skirting boards, trimming off the excess neatly with a sharp craft knife. You may find it easier to use a metal ruler when cutting.

If you cut the vinyl too short, either pull some over from the other side of the room if possible, or hide your mistake with a piece of beading, which you can fix to the skirting board.

Awkward objects, such as toilets, can be tricky to negotiate. To fit the vinyl around something like this, cut it down from the top of the excess to the floor every few centimetres. Once you've made cuts all around the base of the object and pushed the vinyl in place, neatly trim to fit.

When you've finished laying the floor, leave it for a few days to settle, then fix it in place at the doorway with vinyl tape. Fit a metal strip to cover the join between the vinyl and the flooring on the other side of the door.

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DO IT YOURSELF... Save cash by fitting the vinyl