![]() Wood flooring, even most engineered wood flooring, can be refinished one to five times over the course of its life. Keep these potential drawbacks in mind as you compare your flooring options. ![]() Low Volatile Organic CompoundsĬheck any LVP before you buy, but most of it is certified to be low-VOC flooring. If it is clean and free of debris, it is ready for LVP.Īs noted, most LVP comes with a heavy-duty wear layer and is covered for both residential and commercial installation. This saves time and money because you don’t have to rip up old flooring (a huge expense when it is ceramic or stone tile) or install a new subfloor. This includes genuine wood flooring, OSB, plywood, laminate, concrete, sheet vinyl and ceramic tile. Luxury vinyl plank flooring can be installed over any floor in good condition. Worst-cases scenario is that you might have to take the floor apart, if floating, and let everything dry before re-installing it. Over concrete, sheep vinyl or ceramic tile, the subfloor would be fine through a flood. But in that case, an insurance claim would be in order. If the floor is flooded and water remains on it for days, some subfloor damage might occur. When the subfloor is wood, vinyl plank flooring will keep typical water spills from reaching it. This is one area that luxury vinyl plank flooring has the advantage over woodĮven flooring with a wood/polymer core is waterproof because the core is encased in vinyl. Wet mopping is fine too without worrying about water damage – that’s not something you can get away with on genuine wood or on most laminate floors. LVP is easy to clean and doesn’t require sealing or other time-consuming and expensive maintenance.Ī microfiber mop slightly damp with water or spray cleaner does the job for most cleaning. We recommend reading the installation guide before deciding if DIY is for you. The majority of luxury vinyl plank flooring is installed without professional assistance. See our Luxury Vinyl Flooring Price and Installation Cost guide for complete details. Most costs $1.85 to $3.50, with the most expensive costing $7.00+ per square foot.Īccessories and installation costs are extra. Vinyl plank flooring starts at about $1.00 per square foot for the cheapest stuff. Stone and concrete styles are available too. The molds used to make planks and tiles are formed from real wood and stone, so the flooring takes on that same character, the graining or texture of the real thing.Ĭolors range from off-white weathered wood looks to rich, deep browns. The design layers of most LVP/LVT are very realistic in appearance. Vinyl plank and tile flooring wouldn’t be a useful alternative to genuine wood or stone if it looked fake or “plasticky.” We’ve completed a similar Laminate Flooring Buying Guide with pros and cons that make for easy comparison. ![]() There are two basic types – Wood/polymer and Stone/polymer cores.Ī lot of homeowners and commercial business owners compare LVP with laminate, among other flooring types. Loose lay LVP is ideal for locations where the floor must be removed or taken up and reinstalled frequently. This is small, niche category of luxury vinyl plank and tile flooring.Īs the name implies, loose lay flooring has no fasteners or tongue & groove design and does not require glue. LUXE is good-quality vinyl plank flooring in the $2.50-$4.00 per square foot range. Initially, the piece can be picked up and repositioned, if installed misaligned. This installation type is usually associated with cheap carpet or vinyl tiles, but some LVP uses it.įor example, Armstrong LUXE uses a technology called FasTak, a tacky backing. Most vinyl planks and tiles with a stone-polymer core (SPC) require glue-down installation. The pieces are fully glued (called full spread), and set in place. LVP with glue-down design has edges that align closely. Gluing is usually only used in very large areas where a floating floor might be less stable or where the floor is subject to heavy, rolling loads. Most interlocking flooring can be glued, but the pieces have to be joined first. Most LVP interlocks, like tongue & groove, to form a floating floor (it’s not glued down). If there’s no pad, you might have to install underlayment before installing the LVP. LifeProof and a few other brands use HDPE pad which isn’t soft and barely reduces noise.Ī few low-cost vinyl plank flooring collections like COREtec One do not have attached pad. ![]() It is used on most COREtec cabinet and NuCore LVP. ![]() Most luxury vinyl plank flooring includes attached pad. Both types come with residential and commercial warranties – except really cheap LVP which does not have a commercial warranty. WPC cores are often associated with residential use and SPC cores are thought of as commercial flooring.īut that distinction is blurred. ![]()
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