Any LVP experts out there?--Want unbiased, real info & not sales hype

8 years ago

We’ve been shopping and we’ve been doing a lot of reading about different luxury vinyl planks products. But, now that we know some things (often a lot more than the salespeople we’ve encountered) we have some points we’d like help on.

We are looking for quality flooring for a basement in a 100 year old house. In the past 30 years we had maybe 6 times where there was a teeny bit of water along one wall in the basement after very heavy rains. Now that we are doing a full gut remodel, we’ve regraded and we’ve installed interior drain tiles. So, water incursion isn’t something we’re really worried about. Our primary concern is our floor currently has a slope. Our general contractor (who based his bid on a click install) tells us it can be taken care of, but we are nervous after having read install instructions and the need for less than a 3/16” slope in 10’.

Integrated backing core vs no backing—Many stores have steered us towards Coretec because of its enhanced, more rigid backing. In our maybe-slight-slope scenario would Coretec (or a similar product) be our best bet? What are names of other brands that are similar to Coretec? Or, would we be better off with the standard no-backing, thinner LVP?
Wear layer—Looking for durability, we had been thinking of only buying a product with a wear layer of at least 20 mils. Now, we’ve read it is the actual composition of the wear layer and not the thickness that is most important. What thickness or type of wear layer is best for a lightly trafficked basement where we want to make sure the product will last and not scratch?
Shorter vs longer planks—Is this only a matter of appearance, or are there install reasons (works better on uneven floors, less installation waste) to choose one over the other?
Glue down vs click & prices for these different installs—We have been planning on a click install product. Would a glue down be a better bet in our scenario? We saw some products that could be click install or glue install. If we chose one of those, which type of application is usually most inexpensive Including installation?
The stores we’ve been visiting have told us that the manufacturer’s warranty will include labor if we use the store’s installers. If we have our contractor’s installer do it, the warranty will be different and only cover the product. Is this true?
Companies—At a certain price/quality level are products from all manufacturers essentially the same, and should we make our choice based on which design most appeals to us?

This is so confusing and such a big purchase (moneywise and appearance wise) that we want to make sure we make the right decision. Thanks much for any input you have.

I've also cross posted on Houzz under Design Dilemmas.

Featured Answer

PRO

Carpet One Columbia

8 years ago

Here's what I know:

Question 1 - You would be better off with the integrated backing. Sounds like you have a good contractor who knows the difference between flat and slope and they are addressing that. The floor will have better acoustic and thermal value let alone the advantage of being only one component. Another brand to consider would be Armstrong Rigidcore - the wear layer is better and is urethane instead of PVC. Urethane wear layers are preferred for longevity and ease of maintenance. There should be plenty of dealers who carry this and help guide you in your decision.

Question 2 - oops, I answered that in Question 1.

Question 3 - mainly a matter of appearance, design effect, desired pattern etc. Kind of lame to try to compensate for floor flatness - doesn't really work that way.

Question 4 - My opinion is that you would be better off not bonding to the substrate with adhesive. This kind of paints you into a corner if you ever have a water event. Adhesives are sensitive to moisture (always do a moisture test - even with floating, interlocking floors). I like the idea of keeping my options open if I ever need to remove that floor for any reason (reconfigure the space, water event, etc.) and not have to deal with the adhesive issue. You might get me to bend a little if you wanted to use the Armstrong Fastac LVT - it sticks - you can pull it up - and it leaves no residue at all.

Question 5 - I doubt that - but read their warranties. It is true that if you write one check for material and installation there is no finger pointing as to who is responsible. I have seen some pretty wormy circumstances when one check is written for material and one is written for installation. It really leaves you holding the bag at the end if the deal goes bad.

Question 6 - not necessarily - there is no shortcut and there is no one product that is the solution for the entire population. Every situation is different and you have got to find someone who knows what the heck they are talking about.

By the way, the only manufacturers that are offering spiffs to sales people that I am aware of are Shaw and Mohawk.

Hope this helps.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (22)

Vith
8 years ago
Not an expert but slight slope doesn't matter, the floor just needs to be flat, as in, not large variations but one gradual slope over the whole floor is not an issue. I actually installed floating LVP over an area feathered out about 3 feet because in the kitchen was old vinyl probably asbestos so I encapsulated that with epoxy paint and it was about 1/8 higher than the rest of the area so I feathered it out and have not noticed any problems whatsoever.

Probably your largest decision is in the wear layer. LVP is usually cut with a utility knife and square straight edge then snapped. So it can be scratched just like a wood floor. The LVP I installed has a few scratches on the sheen from moving the stove around. The wood grain pattern of the floor is still great, just if you look at an angle and there is glare you can see some scuffs. Anyhow, I recommend felt bottoms for all furniture on the LVP and including the stove. Felt bottoms also make it easy to slide the stove out for cleaning behind and underneath.
needinfo1
Original Author
8 years ago
Vith--Thanks for taking the time to relate your experience with LVP. It is good to know that a gradual slope would be okay. Our contractor just told me that he plans to jack hammer out the large section that is somewhat elevated and then pour new and will also use a floor leveler. This is obviously not a brand new house with brand new, level floors.

I think we have decided that it is worth it to us to pay for a floor with an excellent wear layer.
0
Related Discussions
Any worm experts here?
Q
Comments (82)
"Do you care to comment, maybe in a new post, on any possible use of cowboy charcoal in a vermicompost system, especially any possible use as surface area for microbes? " Cowboy charcoal is the same as lump charcoal, right? I had never heard of it before by that name, probably because cowboys likely used found wood instead of hauling messy charcoal around. I don't think that charcoal is a bad thing, but it seems like extra effort to burn off substances that could have fueled your worms instead. Turning wood into charcoal would theoretically keep most of the ash content, but lock it away longer than a lifetime if the char was buried without further reduction. Granted, if you were doing a very long term, multigenerational project of land reclamation and had an unlimited budget, charcoal does stick around for a while and has the habit of adsorbing things that would have otherwise been washed below the root zone. Instead of washing away though, they would be locked away. From what I remember, clay has similar nutrient performance to charcoal, but you can amend the soil to forcibly unlock its treasure. "the picture clarity was excellent of the worm mating and worm kibbles and bits. " The worm kibbles and bits that I was referring to as undercooked were the cardboard bits. The cardboard looked like the dense stuff that one would find in a cereal box. I add this stuff to my bin and am not saying it's bad. Cereal boxes are often treated with a preservative called BHT. It's not considered harmful because people don't eat the boxes and BHT is the synthesized version of the natural wax found on apples. The BHT would likely repel moisture though, and thus the cardboard has not started to break down in the close-up image. As I was saying though, it really does not matter because the worms bypassed the waiting period by breeding and thus trying again when the food would be ready. "Is there a great food or bedding source for worms that is often overlooked? " You ask if there is a great food or bedding source that is often overlooked. My reply to that I've been saying over and over. Worms need space. The more space you give worms, the more they will be able to take care of themselves. The bin needs to be deep because worms will inhabit whatever depth they prefer, and different worms of the same species prefer widely varying bin microenvironments. A large bin also lets you perform hot composting right in the bin without threatening the worms or wasting the compost products or heat energy. They simply go away from what they don't like and toward what they do. I have performed this experiment in robots I've built in the past that had the equivalent of one brain cell but were fully capable of moving towards one stimulus and away from another. One braincell, but worms are smarter than that. The larger the bin, the more likely it will be outdoors where it doesn't matter if it smells a little and can manage it's own temperature in the cold. I live in zone 5 and my bin has already frozen and thawed through without apparent hardship. My bedding of most interest is fine wood chips, I have mostly newspaper and corrugated cardboard that I have put through a paper shredder that I modified, and that is acceptable bedding for outdoors. My favorite worm food input is dead animals, such as mice and frost-burned meat. "What do you think of those newfangled cloth worm bins" The cloth worm bins seem to have the advantages of a larger mass, more depth, and the much desired flow-through design. They also may keep people from digging around in them if they are awkward enough. On the downside though, their excessive exposure to air would likely make them unstable in varying conditions, inconsistent because of perimeter drying, and a maintenance hog. I don't have one of these though, so I can't tell you anything from experience. You asked something about google and freedom of information. Information is not freely available on the internet. Most of it is copyrighted property of someone and using it for your gain will land you in trouble. This is a general hindrance to the betterment of mankind. A good example is that university research is generally free information to all because universities are heavily subsidized by government and donations, but whatever company that is holding it for you to look at will nearly always require you to pay for access to it. I feel this is against the spirit of government funded education and the nature of public information. Also, I have switched from google to bing for one reason. Google has a feature where you can block up to 500 domains from your search results. This is good because they often serve up loads of spam web pages that don't hold the data that was implied. But these pages are profitable for google, so google refuses to block certain pages from their manual (pain in the butt) block list. The pages that are refused blocking are always the crappiest ones that fill pages of results going to the same place. For this reason, and because I also use Firefox browser, I have switched to Bing because I can get a Firefox addon that will force-block results of my choosing (without the pain in the butt) from Bing's search results. The addon is called "bing results remover". Google and Bing give substantially the same search results with only a general change in the brand and attitude slant. This means that google will offer more of the pages that pay it to do so and offer more bing-slandering sites, while bing search will do the very same thing in its own benefit. This is another example of how the information is not free... but at least general information is more obtainable on a search engine than raw research publications from anywhere I've seen on the internet. This is ironic since the internet was created specifically to share research information. It was not freely available back then though either. "I way like your basing worm stuff answers on actual facts. " I'm basing worm stuff on my interpretation of observations, reading, and logic. If they sound more agreeable than other worm stuff, that alone does not make them actual facts. Furthermore, a fact is not guaranteed to be correct. I like to help and communicate information freely with the intention of being a good neighbor, or something similar, but I don't have anything to sell and make no money or have any financial interests related to worms or gardening besides growing food for myself and making fertilizer for my own use. " Please tell me the common species of vermicompost worms do not need grit. " I do not suspect that worms need special dietary care for their gizzards. If you suspect they do, then you can chuck some dirt on the bin. A worm gizzard is really small. At that size, it's not likely to have the same exact use as a chicken gizzard. I would not confuse the two animals. Furthermore, worms and chickens do not have a stomach like a human does. The crop and gizzard do the metering and mastication that a human uses its teeth and stomach for. "This board, or another one, used to have a lady who since moved on who provided research based worm information. Her posts are my vermicompost holy grail. Perhaps you could be this boards new her? You might need a bit of a makeover though. She was very, very sweet." Lead nitrate, arsenic, Ethylene glycol, phenylalanine aspartate, sodium saccharin and Kelly Slocum are all described as sweet. I would rather be described as bitter so as to serve as a warning that I'm not to be recklessly over-consumed, as no one should. I have no reason to be excessively nice or "sweet" and I consider that a virtue. I'm happy to learn and share what I learn. Some people think that's nice, some want that and a smile. This post was edited by buckstarchaser on Sun, Feb 24, 13 at 2:04
...See More
Anyone feel like the entire market is based on Hype
Q
Comments (16)
Good point MMELKO, I live ina na area where everyone commutes by train so had not thought of the drive. I think that may become a big factor if gas goes over about 3.50 or even a little over 3, I think that is where people start to change their habits (avoiding unessessary shopping trips) and at 4 per gallon they start car pooling and the like. Money is not tight but I know when gas prices were in the 3s last summer I really cut back on unecessary drives. As for home heating, it really depends, yes if you cannot afford the heat on a 1300 sq ft starter home with 8 foot ceilings, then yes you need to rethink your purchase. However, if the issue is a 25 ft or 14 ft vaulted ceilings on a 4500-6500 sq ft house, that can cost an extra 500 per month (over a house of the same size with ordinary ceilings). If I allocate a certain amount to my housing costs and include monthly utilities, for that 500 I can buy $75k more house. I may end up buying the vaulted ceiling one but I will buy it knowing that I am more at the mercy of oil and gas costs than in another house of similar size
...See More
Leery about Home sale
Q
Comments (16)
Thanks ncrealestateguy, that's what I was looking for....the protocol for what a realtor is suppose to legally have for this kind of thing. So we were suppose to be informed of dual agent even if the exact same realty agent wasn't being used...only the actual agency? So what happens at least in my state is that when a property falls behind in property taxes, it is published in a local paper (I guess to lure possible buyers of the tax deed). So it's possible this guy was watching the house prior to pick up the tax deed...basically buy the house from the county at 1/5 the price. OR if the realtor gave him some kind of heads up (which I point blank asked if she mentioned it and she said no), then he would know if he stretched out the closing past the deadline (which is literally a month from now) and we couldn't come up with the money, then he would be in the same position to buy the tax deed from the county at a nice discount of 1/5 the price! I don't know exactly how it works, but I was aware they do publish it in the paper before taking tax deed. Everything has lagged behind mostly because the mortgage process is not going as fast as promised (which I understand there are no promises here). That is, if there actually is a mortgage But there was quite a bit of lag time in the contract process on the buyers side. When I initially consulted with the lawyer during contract negotiations, the lawyer was so adamant that the buyer stick to the deadline, and that this deal was wishy-washy, and the buyer could walk away too easily, that I fully expected him to notify me if monies weren't received by deadline. On the 14th of oct. I was told by the realtor that the buyer was going down the following week to deposit remaining funds. I just assumed it occured. Didn't find out till Nov. 2 when I asked, that it was 10 days late. I have been distracted by preparing my house (where son is moving in) and his house (cleaning out remaining belongings, and packing). Stupid me. I was shocked when I spoke to lawyer yesterday that he doesn't even have a pre-approval letter. Lawyer said "it doesn't really provide proof that a loan will occur". But at the very least it proves that he actually has gone to a bank/mtg broker!!! An appraisal and title report were done rather quickly...probably too quickly in my book. I don't know if we're entitled to see those either. As it stands, the lawyer said he was calling yesterday to get back up documents. But I will be calling her to ask for these things, and WHY I wasn't told it was a dual agent situation. I can't believe the unprofessionalism of all these people at this point.
...See More
Those w/ floating LVP on concrete: How "perfect" are your sub floors?
Q
Comments (38)
Yikes, we just had a local Flooring Contractor begin our flooring project. We're replacing the carpet that was original to the home, and ripping out the tile in several areas to install LVP over slab. The Contractor talked a great game, telling us about his 15 years experience and his "5 Star" reviews. When I asked about getting the old carpet glue up, he assured me he had a "power scraper" that will take the glue right up. Asked about filling nail holes from tack strips, he said he had self leveling stuff to fill those. My wife and I knowing we were getting new flooring began removing old carpet and tack strips where accessible. I filled the little craters left by pulling up the tack strip and scraped up what I could with the glue. Figuring this would save some time for the contractor. Well when it came to do the actual prep, he suddenly changed tune saying he's never fills those hole in the concrete it doesn't affect the floor at all and is a waste of time. I can see that might be true with the small holes, but pulling up the tack strips left from pretty sizable "craters." The next "red flag" was when he changed his tune on scraping the glue, he claimed the underlayment would take up any imperfections and we'd never notice once the floors are in. He said something interesting, when he said that when he's installing he asks himself if the floor will feel good under foot to the customer. Which we took to mean, if the customer never knows he didn't do a proper prep or follow manufacturer installation requirements, it's a win. When it came to following Manufacturers installation procedure, he claimed that's just CYA stuff and he does it his way. Running the underlayment perpendicular to the direction of the LVP, nah, he said you don't really need to do that, besides it takes more time. Then there's the logistic accommodations we went over with him from the get go, due to our pets. He agreed to 3 phases...until he began work then he suddenly claimed he never agreed to 3 phases, just two, then went into how he's never had a client who couldn't just put the pets in carriers and put them all in one room, then he questioned why we would adopt feral cats. That was not his job to judge our choice to rescue some cats. Oh it gets worse, with him not respecting our property. When he was taking up the tile in a bathroom, he put the toilet in our Jacuzzi shower. Did not cover the glass shower doors to protect them from "flying" mastic and tile chips. When we called him on it, the excuse was "I know what that shower is made of, and putting the toilet in there won't hurt it." We said that wasn't the point, the point was you didn't respect our property. Anyway it was excuse after excuse, argument after argument about how we trying to tell him how to do his job. Well in the end he was pretty pissed off that we expected he followed through on things we discussed and do a proper surface prep, so he quit the job. We now have a living room with basically a pallet of LVP, boxes of QuietWalk and bundles of base board. We've got another contractor coming in a few days to give us a quote on completing the project.
...See More
Related Professionals
Arlington Flooring Contractors · Chelsea Flooring Contractors · Fishers Flooring Contractors · Lady Lake Flooring Contractors · Murfreesboro Flooring Contractors · Pahrump Flooring Contractors · Pearland Flooring Contractors · Wixom Flooring Contractors · Burlington General Contractors · Aberdeen General Contractors · Broadview Heights General Contractors · Browns Mills General Contractors · Cheney General Contractors · Foothill Ranch General Contractors · Gallatin General Contractors
L W
8 years ago
I have done research for LVT flooring. Finally, (oh, what the heck) placed cortec with cork backing in short strips on an entry from the garage on a tile floor. Pros: warm and soft to bare feet. Able to install click ourselves. looks good, initially. Cons: It will not hold up like solid wood. The fine print states you can re-wax it at some point! With two transition pieces and the purchase of full boxes, the cost came closer to $450 without labor for 60 sq ft. In a basement, I would place the most cost effective product for moisture environments that could be replaced if needed. Again, I have considered Adura LVT by Mannington for a family room on the main floor. Cost is a third less than wood and 50% more than carpet. Note 1/4 inch plywood would be added to current OSB for LVT. I would suggest a sit down with the warranty literature. There is potential LVT will need repair or replacement sooner than I would like. In forum for basements there are threads regarding flooring that may be helpful.
0
suser123
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
My Mom works at a flooring shop and recommended Moduleo. We like the Castle Oak. Going this weekend to see samples in person. All the pictures she sent me looked great. They have installed quite a bit in residential and commercial places. Only time will tell but no problems yet on it.
needinfo1
Original Author
8 years ago
LW--Thanks for relaying your experience with Coretec. Do you recallif you bought Coretec One or Coretec Plus? Ouch! Thanks is a lot of money for 60 sq. ft. This is exactly the kind of info I am looking for. And, I'll have to check out the basements forum on this topic.

gpeach1--You've got to be from Georgia! I'm going to also check out Moduleo. I've heard of it but haven't seen it in person.

Real comments like these help so much because one never knows if the recommendations in the flooring stores are due to an actual great product or great bonuses for employees who sell these particular products.

I appreciate the help.
0
needinfo1
Original Author
8 years ago
Carpet 1--Thanks for the extensive reply.

I do have a couple more questions regarding wear layer and its construction and durability if you have time.

We are looking for more top of the line so want a 20 mil or higher wear layer, so Armstrong Fastac is eliminated because it is only 12 mil. Above you mentioned that urethane is a better wear layer than PVC. Is PVC the same as poly?

Different products from different companies that I am looking at have different wear layers. Is one of these definitely better than others for scratch resistance and durability?

a. 20 mil UV acrylic

b. 20 mil with 2 coats of acrylic finish

c. 20 mil urethane with ceramic bead

d. 20 mil urethane plus with aluminum oxide particles

e. 20 mil ceramic bead in poly

Also, thanks for the info about which manufacturers are currently offering spiffs.

20 mil
0
PRO
Carpet One Columbia
8 years ago
Okay - if you want the 20 mil, you should look at Armstrong's commercial product - Natural Creations "I-Set" (commercial version of fastac). For scratch resistance and durability, I would choose d. and c. in that order - if it were me.
0
jellytoast
8 years ago
Carpet One, regarding your answer to OP's question 5 ... are you saying that people should avoid independent flooring installers altogether and only use an installer that is employed by or subbed out by a flooring store? That didn't help THIS GUY much. Maybe they can't point a finger at anyone else if things go south, but that doesn't guarantee that the store is actually going to claim responsibility or resolve any issues to the customer's satisfaction. Sure I think it's possible to get a good installation from a store, but I also think there are plenty of good independent installers who stand behind their work.
0
PRO
Carpet One Columbia
8 years ago
jellytoast: Not saying that at all - It's just a well known industry secret that vendor's who sell material only and offer no service or support for their products, are pretty much off the hook because they have cleverly shifted all of the liability to the installer and owner - neither one having a clue - until the you know what hits the fan. They clock a steady 10-30% gross profit margin all day long with no liability - casually extending a well manicured middle finger to the customer when there is a problem and then pointing that same finger at the installer (hey, that's kind of a funny visual). Most installers do not perform all of the required (by manufacturers) pre-installation testing and documentation to protect themselves or the homeowner and "material only" vendors know that.

With hard surface, it is not unusual for the labor to exceed the cost of material, and if it needs replaced you can easily triple that cost. So, my advice is: if you hire your own independent contractor - you better check references, check insurance coverages, check qualifications, and you might even ask them to tell you about a time they had to replace a floor because they didn't install it correctly - if they say never, then ask if they can walk on water and if they can, then they probably never made a mistake.

I have a feeling your "THIS GUY" example probably wrote two checks. It looks like they have cleverly separated the material and service portion of their business. The biggest red flag was only a one year warranty on labor. Everything looks good when it is new and it is relatively easy to get shoddy work to last a year before it is discovered.
jellytoast
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
That's possible Carpet One, but I was going by his statement, "We thought by hiring someone associated with the store, we were in good hand. But it's not the case. We didn't "refuse to pay for floor preparation", we simply didn't know."

I've seen flooring stores advertise ridiculously cheap prices for flooring, including installation, and I wonder how can they possibly make any money like that? I figure they either give a blow-and-go install or make a profit on "extras" like prep. My neighbor used the installer provided by her flooring store and her lamps and tables vibrate when she walks over portions of her floor. She just didn't know any better and had no idea that was even a possibility. No resolution and she's just living with it.

I do agree with you on checking, checking, checking! :-)
0
needinfo1
Original Author
8 years ago
I'm the OP and have another quick follow up question.

Yesterday I looked at the Karndean 20 mil line of flooring and liked it. I couldn't find anything on their website or in the printed material I got about the construction of the wear layer, so I called the company. The rep I spoke to told me that the entire product including the wear layer is vinyl. Could this be correct?
PRO
Carpet One Columbia
8 years ago
I am no longer familiar with Karndean. You may need to call back and clarify what that means and why it is a benefit to you.
0
needinfo1 thanked Carpet One Columbia
needinfo1
Original Author
8 years ago
I did call Karndean back and found out that their product is all vinyl with a PVC wear layer. On top of that is a UV cured coat. Their tech guy told me that they have steered away from the coatings with beads because they tend to go into the floor rather than protecting the floor. Could be sales hype; I don't know.

In case others are reading this thread in the future, I am going to go back and put names by the different products with the different types of wear layer.

a. 20 mil UV acrylic--Armstrong Rigid Core

b. 20 mil with 2 coats of acrylic finish--Coretec Plus

c. 20 mil urethane with ceramic bead--Modin from Flooret (except this is really a 40 mil, not 20, wearlayer)

d. 20 mil urethane plus with aluminum oxide particles--Armstrong Best Lynx

e. 20 mil ceramic bead in poly--Floorte

f. 20 mil poly UV cured--Karndean
jennlehr
8 years ago
i almost bought LVT and at the last minute after feeling it installed in the showroom i changed my mind. this is why. The feel of it has a certain matte feeling that your feet get stuck on it. especially with rubber soles. your feet dont glide across the floor as you walk. You kind of feel like you have to shuffle almost. Its hard to explain. Why not look at Italian porcelain that looks like wood. They have some beautiful things now. It may not be warm but its sure waterproof!!! and you do it once and done!! you can warm up the space with area rugs.
needinfo1 thanked jennlehr
needinfo1
Original Author
8 years ago
jennlehr--We live in Minnesota & I just can't imagine an entire basement floor of ceramic/porcelain. Even with rugs it would seem quite cold IMO.
Vith
8 years ago
not everyone likes slippery floors, clumsy people and elderly for example
needinfo1
Original Author
8 years ago
We ended up with the online retailer Flooret's Modin line and have been very impressed so far. I am the OP.
suser123
8 years ago
Which one did you put in? Any pics? We are between flooret and moduleo. Hard to find real home setting pictures.
julieste
8 years ago
We installed Noret which has ended up having an overall lighter effect than I would have anticipated but which is good for us since this is a basement installation and we wanted a lighter color floor. . We had samples of all the lighter to mid-toned colors. Of our samples this was the second darkest; I think we would have also been fine with the Arden which is a little darker. One of these days I have to take some photos but can't do it now.
Karen Lee
6 years ago
https://www.houzz.com/user/julieste-gw What did you end up going with? I am feeling like one of the most important factors is what the coating is made up of and love that you have all of them listed but only see one comment about opinions on what is best. I am leaning between Coretec and Modin and understand modin has a better wear layer but also a better coating. I think one you listed has an even better coating the Armstrong.

Any additional info you gained on the differences between the type of coatings and their pros and cons?
Biologyis Science
last year
For anyone years later who is looking for the same info:

I recently left flooring as a store manager and sales rep.

First, understand that NO flooring is scratch-proof. They are scratch-resistant.

I know someone else recommended staying away from it in case your basement floods but the truth of the matter is that if it floods and you use your homeowner's insurance (recommended), they will insist on the entire floor being replaced no matter what you have installed.

You can choose a commercial grade if you are really worried about the flooring holding up to abuse. They are often glued down.

Your installer will probably want to skimcoat the floor or use a leveler. This is good practice.

Urethane with ceramic bead and urethane plus with aluminum oxide particles are the strongest choices right now but there are some higher ratings Like AC 5 which is stronger than say a 20 mil wear layer. There are also a few in the 30 mil wear layer range.

You will often save money hiring your own installer because stores make money from the cost of installation. Hire your own and have them buy your materials. If they have an established relationship with the store, they will often get a significant discount on your materials. The store I worked for had a 55% profit margin but when they sold to installers/contractors they lowered it to 30-35%. Stores have to make a profit and so do installers. You may save some cash if your installer charges a smaller profit margin.

Ask for a Certificate of Insurance on the installer. If their installation is bad or unfinished, their insurance has to cover it. Stores should have a warranty to cover poor workmanship as well. The manufacturer will cover manufacturing defects but not workmanship.

Before you hire someone, ask if they do moisture testing and what is their procedure for it.

ALWAYS have a moisture test done and documented when they come out to measure. If it is too high they should recommend what to do to get it and keep it at the appropriate level. ALWAYS have it done again before installation. This is the number one thing that causes manufacturers to deny a claim.

Any LVP experts out there?--Want unbiased, real info & not sales hype

Carpet One Columbia

Comments (22)

Vith

needinfo1
Original Author

Related Discussions

Related Professionals

L W

suser123

needinfo1
Original Author

needinfo1
Original Author

Carpet One Columbia

jellytoast

Carpet One Columbia

jellytoast

needinfo1
Original Author

Carpet One Columbia

needinfo1
Original Author

jennlehr

needinfo1
Original Author

Vith

needinfo1
Original Author

suser123

julieste

Karen Lee

Biologyis Science

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Any LVP experts out there?--Want unbiased, real info & not sales hype

Comments (22)

needinfo1Original Author

Related Discussions

Related Professionals

needinfo1Original Author

needinfo1Original Author

needinfo1Original Author

needinfo1Original Author

needinfo1Original Author

needinfo1Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

needinfo1
Original Author

needinfo1
Original Author

needinfo1
Original Author

needinfo1
Original Author

needinfo1
Original Author

needinfo1
Original Author

needinfo1
Original Author