LVPs and Wear & Tear

[Oaktree]

When we bought this house the bedroom had nasty old linoleum over particle board on the floor. Wife wanted to use one of those engineered wood floors, I was opposed primarily because the house is 200 years old, and it would stick out like a sore thumb. Fortunately, when I pulled up that old flooring, the wide pine planks were in good shape. Sanded & refinished and they look great.

 

[mjonesnh]

Had luxury plank with SPC rigid core installed in May last year. Turned out really well. 20 mil wear layer and stone polymer composite core. Very durable and waterproof.

 

[rgr33]

We put Luxury vinyl tile in our bathrooms and mud room about 8 years ago, still looks good.

about the same time, I installed laminate flooring in the office, and it has chipped at both areas where the office chairs roll over it.

 

[westcliffe01]

Buyer beware, there are large differences in quality and robustness with this type of product. Some variations are only 1/8" thick which makes the interlocking features on the edges very thin and fragile. Some of the best products are more than 5/16" thick, have a much more robust interlocking features and the wear surface is considerably harder. But its not an inexpensive product at that point. I laid the 1/8" vinyl product in a kitchen renovation a few years ago. Was not particularly difficult to lay. Then the new side by side refrigerator was delivered and rolling it across that floor just once opened up several seams and was a nightmare to put back together. Never again.

Myself personally, I will never use the 1/8" vinyl stuff again. I would rather do ceramic tile, assuming the floor is rigid enough to make it feasible. I like homes with a slab, so thats a match. I also like radiant heat, which is again a match to the kinds of floors and finishings that I like. In my opinion, its just a fad.