I'm not the person that the thread is directed at but I do know Amtico is expensive. Unfortunately I havn't *yet* found another LVT short of a brand named Polyflor (which I'm having a hell of a time even securing a price on here in the states) that has a shade similar to what I'm after. I was quoted 5.70ish per sq ft for Amtico for my new home. I havn't quite pulled the trigger yet as I keep hoping my supplier can nail down a price for the competing product I like... >But I do know that Amtico is on the high side..when I first suggested LVT as my desired product to my supplier said they didn't normally supply anything pricier than $4. HTH

Thanks, niteshadepromises. Another brand is Karndean but I haven't seen samples of this brand yet. If you have luck with Polyflor, be sure and post!

Here is a link that might be useful: Karndean

We went with Amtico and are very happy with it. People don't realize it isn't real wood or stone, and they esp love the "brass" inlay in the floor which is also vinyl...only thing is I'm not sure they make it any more.

Yes it is expensive...our architect told us he could've gotten us hardwood flooring for about half the price, and it must be installed by an Amtico installer or the warranty is void.

We've looked at Amtico several times. There is a store here that carries it and the owner speaks highly of the brand. Our local hospital has installed it and the store owner said they love it because it wears extremely well and they can mop it so easily to keep it clean.

It looks amazing and there are tons of choices. It has impressed us.

Yep I have a number of Karndean samples here as well. After doing a good bit of reading on GW about what folks like and didn't like about LVT, the bevel edged style came up again and again as a huge plus to help with the authenticity of the look. Finding both a bevel edge and a light wood tile color the right shade has really narrowed down the playing field. Karndean had some lovely shades but in lines without a bevel edge. It does save you a bit over amtico tho and gets high reviews

Sorry, I haven't even had a chance to return after my first question! We're using Traffic Master Allure Plus from Home Depot. I got it for under $2/sf. I have it under my desk at the office right now. I think it looks great, it's darn near indestructible, and it seems to me there is roughly zero chance of water getting through the flooring (each plank attaches with about an inch wide adhesive tab to the other planks). I also wanted a cheap material so I won't freak out about protecting it.

Hey there! I was all set to go this route with flooring as well. I got samples of Amtico, Kardean, Mannington Commercial (type under Amtico - I guess Mannington bought them out). I am sitting here looking at all the scratches I was able to produce in each piece in under 30 seconds flat. I was given a metal nail at the flooring place and told to try and go ahead and scratch it - well - in the store I could not so went home and ordered like 15 samples in all sorts of colors. Could not wait to show my husband when they arrived in mail about how strong of a material they were. I proceeded to try and scratch each piece and I did....my husband just looked at me lol. I decided against it and now I am going with porcelain hardwood look tile. This is just my opinion based on my experience.

The Allure Plus I got has a light hand-scrapped texture to it. I just went, indeed, it scratches when I try, but for the life of my I wouldn't be able to find the scratches I just made. I'd be curious what flooring does not scratch. Perhaps high-quality laminate may be more resistant to scratching? But leave a bit of water in one of those seems...

For the record, I looked at Mannington and a few other premium brands and did not think they were especially nicer than my cheapo Home Depot stuff.

I did just put in some of the allure myself, into a mudroom that is newly a mudroom (was a bedroom, now has a door to the garage and so we ripped out the carpet and put in allure).

We did it as a cheap short-term floor that was a better choice than the light beige carpet for a room that was going to be hardworking in/out floor. But, it does look nice. And, if it holds up well, it can be a longer than short-term floor. :)

Just my experience so far with Allure. (and, we DIYd it)

Does anyone have experience with using LVT over hydronic heated floors or over electric mat heat? We were about to buy the Mannington Adura when we mentioned the floor heat and the salesperson advised it might void the warranty. The Mannington warranty website doesn't mention floor heat but it seems that would be fairly common in the 'wet' areas that LVT is so highly recommended for.

You should contact Mannington directly to see how that would affect their warranty (and get it in writing).

We knew we wanted vinyl so did not do in floor heating because of fears that the heat would dry out the glue and undo the floor. I'd talk to someone in customer service to find out exactly what they do and don't allow. The floor is too expensive and fussy to lay to then screw it up with the heat.

We did LVT as well, but after about a year are noticing some issues. Namely some high traffic areas are end-buckling, and some areas around multiple wall intersections are gapping. We're okay with it overall since hardwood likely would have done the same, but it seems like with the floating floor (which ours is), that there's been some shifting around as the house dries and cures this first year. A little sad, but they've held up amazingly well with the pets and fact that we track all kinds of dirt into the house. Some scratches (we're pretty hard on floors), but the DH husband reminds me it would be WAY worse if it was real hardwood. Most people can't tell the difference to be honest.

I often specify Solidity by Metroflor

Here is a link that might be useful: Metroflor

Reno8, thank you for that recommendation. I have ordered samples.

Larkspur801, we had vinyl sheet over radiant heat floors. Did not work at all. First winter in came loose and shrunk away from edges about 4 inches! Flooring installer came out to restretch & use different adhesive. Only held until the next winter. Had to rip it out. Installed tile instead.

Renovator8, I put Solidity down in my kitchen 8 years ago. The product has worn like iron. BUT it has drastically faded in front of my low e sliding doors. Any thoughts on what to replace it with?

Here is a picture showing the fading.