Luxury Vinyl Flooring Buying Guide
WHAT IS LUXURY VINYL FLOORING?
Vinyl flooring has always been perfect for creating a new look or protecting an older floor against the abuse of household traffic. Now there’s a wider selection with the addition of luxury vinyl plank and tile vinyl flooring.
Individual tiles and planks allow for easier installation methods, such as “click-lock” or interlocking planks and groutable tile. The designs look like natural stone, hardwood, and ceramic tiles, and they are solid enough that they feel like “the real thing” with some extra padding to cushion your steps.
Luxury vinyl plank or tile can be used over a cement slab floor, over tile, or even mounted on a wall for a unique accent rather than painted color. Lifeproof rigid core luxury vinyl flooring is a mainstay alternative for the DIY home makeover because of the easy installation, comfortable and durable surface, and the simple maintenance.
IS ALL VINYL IS THE SAME?
There are multiple types of vinyl flooring to choose from, with variety in the color, size, shape, and how they’re installed. With so many different options, if you’re planning on a do-it-yourself project you can do in a single weekend that will look great for years to come, make sure you find the right flooring.
- Luxury Vinyl Plank– Also called LVP, luxury vinyl plank is a durable, pliable, water-resistant or even waterproof option. It can be found in a variety of high-definition patterns, including wood-look vinyl and stone-look vinyl Some offer a cork layer for additional padding and warmth, with multiple installation choices. LVP flooring options can be glued down to an existing floor, or there are selections that are click-together or peel-and-stick to make installation easy.
- Engineered Vinyl Plank – Known as EVP, engineered vinyl planks look like hardwood floor, with a longer, narrow shape in varying widths. Mix and match lengths, widths, colors, and patterns to create the look of a natural hardwood floor, with the advantage of rigid core durability, water resistance, and easy cleaning.
- Engineered Vinyl Tile– With squared sides and patterned to look like stone, marble, wood, or ceramic tile, engineered vinyl tile (or EVT) can be arranged edge to edge for a seamless look, or installed with grout to give the look and feel of tile.
- Sheet Vinyl – The classic vinyl, good for covering large floor spaces without the hassle of setting individual pieces or repeating patterns. This type of flooring provides a ready-to-go design, regardless of corners and walls. It is very sensitive to the condition of the floor under the sheeting, so it is best on level, smooth floor bases.
BENEFITS OF VINYL FLOORING
Versatile luxury vinyl flooringcan provide a permanent or a temporary design update, for any room of the house. Interlocking pieces can be floated across the floor rather than glued and they will stay solidly locked into place until pieces are removed or damaged. Luxury vinyl planks can be installed on a new floor, a cleared floor pad, or over clean and solid existing floors – wood, tile, or stone – as an update. Some LVP can even be used as wallcovering to create durable, decorative accent walls.
Luxury vinyl planks, or LVP, are built in layers, similar to hardwood laminate flooring planks, with a protective finish over multiple layers of pressed vinyl, sealed into a hardboard core, and finished with an underlayment backing. Cork or felt backing adds an extra cushion under every step, easing the impact, as well as keeping the floor a more consistent temperature than cold tile. These quieter, more sound-absorbent vinyl tiles and planks help reduce echo and noise in the home.
EVT and EVP are available as water resistant planks, so they can stand up against spills, messy pets, and rain-soaked family members. Some brands are completely waterproof and are good for high humidity areas, while others are intended for dry areas only, so check the specifications before you buy to make sure of a good fit for your household’s lifestyle.
Perhaps the most obvious benefit of luxury vinyl is the look of the planks and tiles. Because they are layered and textured, it is easy to find the perfect style to match your update plans. Luxury vinyl planks realistically imitate more expensive and difficult flooring types while offering water and scratch resistance. With higher quality, textured luxury vinyl tile, you get the look you want without the wear and tear from regular use.
Styles:
- Wood
- Stone
- Marble
- Concrete
- Ceramic/Porcelain
WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU BUY VINYL FLOORING
With the wide variety of options available from today’s vinyl flooring, there are a few key features to narrow down to guarantee the best fit in your home.
- Finish – Urethane finish and no-wax finish options are good for low traffic, dry areas, and are easy to clean. Enhanced urethane finish provides a high-gloss look and the most resilient exterior surface to help prevent scratches.
- Textured surface– The textured surface of vinyl flooring is useful in protecting the durability of the vinyl plank or tile, but also in providing a slip-resistant floor.
- Waterproof – For spaces such as basements, kitchens, entry foyers, laundry rooms, or bathrooms, look for the most water-resistant option available. Vinyl planks or tiles can be a good way to match the kitchen or bathroom floor with the colors and patterns throughout the home, or as an effective whole-home solution to dealing with humidity.
- Wear layer– Luxury vinyl tile and planks are made up of different layers to add strength. The wear layer should be the thickest of the layers, as it protects the core vinyl layer and the print layer, the two layers that provide the stability and the style of the vinyl tile or plank. A wear layer of 5 mm or more can stand up well to moderate traffic. The thicker the wear layer, the better the overall quality, so select the wear layer depth that works best for the demands of the space.
