Im confused now about the ranking of Mannington floating floor lines.

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Can someone please cut through all the sales talk and explain the levels of quality of the Mannington flooring lines?

I sent a mail to Mannington asking about the AC rating of Adura Max flooring. This is the meat of the answer I got back from them.

"Adura Max is a vinyl plank product and does not have an AC rating. Our Mannington Laminates all have an AC rating of AC-3 . "

OK that makes it clear as mud. I also just found something that says the newest Adura MaxApex line is a lower grade than the Adura Max. Supposedly the wear layer of the new Apex is 12 mil where the Adura Max is 20 mil but the Adura MaxApex is more heat resistant to sunlight.

Here is the link to what I found on another flooring forum.

https://thefloorpro.com/community/topics/must-stop-obsessing-and-make-a-decision.21021/

Its dated January of this year so its pretty up to date.

Im looking for the most scratch and dent resistant product in the floating floor lines be it laminate line or Adura Max or ? Also moisture resistance is key since it is going in a kitchen basicly the rest of the house thats not carpeted possibly even bathrooms.

What ever happened to manufactures listing good better best ??

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Comments (4)

SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
OK...AC ratings are only for laminates. That means vinyl doesn't even need to join the race. The same "concept" (toughness of the finish) for vinyl is the wear layer (ie. 20mil). For vinyl floors, that's what you work with for "toughness" and scratch resistance.

https://www.hoskinghardwood.com/Department/Laminate-Floors/Laminate-Floor-AC-Ratings.aspx?dId=9&pageId=67

So....that means the toughest of the tough is the laminate (re: your options). The AC3 rating is considered good enough for HEAVY residential traffic (that's not very common) or MODERATE commercial traffic (think exclusive women's clothing retailer....not Walmart). That's pretty darn good.

But Uh-oh. You want it to go in the kitchen. That laminate is out for that space. Oops.

Now we start playing with the vinyl options: the 20mil wear layer is BETTER than 12mil. And 40mil is better than 20mil. So the TOUGHNESS you need for the AREAS you need it in have been established.

Next question: Do you need the "heat stability"? Is your home open to sunlight through windows? That means, do you have "pools of sunlight" hitting any part of your floor during ANYTIME of the day? (most people have to deal with this...but not all) If so, you will need to know HOW HOT those spots GET!

The regular vinyls (as in AduraMax) have upper limits of 85F. Oooh nooo. A pool of sunlight sitting on a floor (with older windows or low UV blocking windows) can heat past 100F. In a situation like that AduraMax will have MASSIVE issues. At that point, the Apex is a better option.

So....at this point in your investigations, it is time to get out a thermometer (indoor/outdoor at Home Depot = $15) and start finding those sunny spots in your home and MEASURING the temperatures (and writing them down to keep track of it all). To me, this is the ACID TEST that will determine which vinyl to work with - toughness of finish be damned.
kegrewe thanked SJ McCarthy
neecick
6 years ago
AduraMax Prime is the one with the 12 mil wear layer. Apex is a different product, which is brand new and I believe has the same 20 mil as the original AduraMax. Prime is the cheapest of the bunch, followed by original AduraMax and the new AduraMax Apex. Hope that helps!
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PRO
WeShipFloors
6 years ago
If the 12 mil wear layer will never wear through in a residential application, is the 20 mil needed? 30 mils? 40 mils? On the subfloor of your house, if 3/4" T&G advantec is above and beyond what is required, would doubling the thickness to 1-1/2" make it better? How about 2", surely 2" would make that subfloor perform even better than the 1-1/2". You see where I am going? You get to a point where added wear layer thickness is pointless and just amounts to a selling gimmick.

Mannington must train their guys to all say the same stuff. I've heard what that guy had to say in that thread 100 times...
Jamie Pace
5 years ago
Kegrewe, if you haven't decided on a flooring yet, check out Mannington's Restoration Collection Laminate on the Mannington website. Mannington states that it can be used in kitchens and bathrooms if installed per their installation instructions. There are a couple of videos on YouTube on how to install. It is supposed to be resistant to surface water for up to 72 hours. I've let water stand on it for 8 hours with no damage, hit it with a hammer, tried to scratch it with a small stone in a shoe sole, and also a key without damaging it. I even dropped the hammer from waist height onto it with no damage. It seems to be tough stuff. We have decided to install 1200 sq ft of it in our home later this year. I just have to decide which color.

Im confused now about the ranking of Mannington floating floor lines.

Comments (4)

SJ McCarthy

neecick

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