No it doesn't get you much in some cases in the bay area. People pay a million bucks for a run down house with no updates that was built in the 1920s and are thrilled, at least in San Francisco. Anyway, here is the same "Priory Oak" floor that I have in my kitchen. This floor (or at least my floor) is comprised of seven or eight different patterned or imaged planks that measure 4 or 5 inches by 36" . No one would guess that the floor isn't wood. I show unbelievers identical planks.

picture looks good. Does the floor feel squishy when you walk on it? Does the weight of the furniture leave dents, in case you want to change heavy dressers, bed frames etc Around?

Did you put cork material in as the sub floor?

NEVER EVER feels squishy. It's solid. I don't see dents where the kitchen table legs meet the floor. We also have 6-8 chairs and four barstools on the floor too. Amtico is the premier luxury vinyl flooring. Under ordinary circumstances, wood backing in not needed. Why put it there? Totally unnecessary. The installers floated our floor to level out some spots. Amitco is 100% waterproof and easy to maintain. The only thing water does to Amtico tiles is clean them! We have had leaks in the laundry room and flooding from plumbing problems in the kitchen. I have Priory Oak in a small bathroom (left over planks) and the Amtico "stone" vinyl 12" square tiles in two bathrooms. And by the way, I have Karastan wall-to-wall carpeting elsewhere in the house. Deliberate choice to install carpeting because I had a lot of little children at the time. Now that my baby is graduating from high school, we are looking to install Amtico everywhere. The Walnut flooring is breathtaking, I could never in my wildest dreams afford real walnut hardwood but I'm more than happy to settle for the vinyl version.

My vinyl plank was at the beginning of the stuff it is 12 yrs old has had 3 huge dogs running in and out of a dog run in all kinds of weather over that time a quick mop up looks like new, FYi had a client years ago who isisted on hardwood with two huge dobermans in less than a year he was insisting on changing the floor no matter how careful he was about nail clipping those dogs took a huge toll on the flooring. BTW out vinyl plank was just the vinyl we put dri core down to keep the floor a little warmer now the planks come with a cork or other underlayment attached.

Thank you for all your comments, especially from those who have installed Vinyl plank. Hardwood is fabulous and we all agree it’s beautiful, just like Marble for our counter tops. $$$$$

There is a point in life that you might want to try a new product, that seems bulletproof, lower maintenance, and looks really close to the real thing. I think this is the time for me to do it!

@daylemyers I'm going to give a hint at what NEEDS to happen to 'save' a vinyl plank floor should it live through a flood (standing water for more than a few hours).

1. The floor must be removed

2. Each plank must be inspected for 'edge' breakage...the damaged planks thrown away

3. Each plank must be cleaned (by hand) using a MILD bleach solution in something like a bathtub (long and narrow...just like the planks)

4. The planks must then be LAID OUT to dry in SUNLIGHT (on the lawn or something like it)

5. After several hours in sunlight the planks must be TURNED OVER (for the other side to be exposed to UV rays)

6. Planks must be properly 'stacked and racked' while the renovations take place - be careful not to bend the planks...they must be laid flat for the entire time they are in storage.

7. Reinstalled in the space

8. Hopefully you can purchase MORE of the product because as much as 25% of the planks will have been damaged during removal

Whew! That is a load of work to save a material worth (on average) $4/sf. The reason you need the 'sunlight' exposure is the UV rays KILL the bacteria that WILL BE present on those planks. The mild bleach solution will NOT do the deed by itself.

And image how much lawn you will have that is clean and dry should a flood occur. Not much. In fact most peoples lawns are turned into a mud pit should a massive flood occur (as seen with a river over flowing, etc). That complicates things immensely.

And you can FORGET saving a vinyl floor that has a cork or other type of attached underpad. There is no way to get rid of a bacterial infection once it sets into the pad.

And the waste truly is 25% - 30%! The click edges on MOST vinyl planks are not sturdy enough to survive removal/reinstall. That means you will need to purchase another 25% of your floor. That doesn't sound like a problem until you realize most of these man-made floors have a shelf life of 18 months. Which means a flood that happens 5 years from now will NOT have replacement product available. Darn!

At the end of the day, most people (who have attempted this type of 'save') have given up once they find the pile of 'damaged' planks to be too much. They don't even try to clean the planks because they find out there is no replacement available. They simply give up the attempt and resign themselves to purchasing an entirely new floor.

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SJMcCarthy - well said and the truth. Sometimes what seems like "saving" isn't.

All good info, Probably would buy new product anyway If there is damage. in our mountain house, “knock on wood” haha....Flooding has never happened because of the new NEST thermostat I can adjust the heat from by home three hours away. We also take per caution to avoid frozen pipes etc.

"luxury vinyl" is an oxymoron.

"luxury vinyl" is an oxymoron.

Oh puleeez. No, it simply means a much better vinyl that the product of years ago.

Totally agree, Chessie!

I think "chocolate diamond" is a more apt analogy - slick marketing turned industrial-grade brown diamonds into coveted gems, just like slick marketing turned vinyl flooring, tradtionally an inferior good used in low-end housing, into a "luxury" good. At the end of the day, it's still a vinyl floor, certainly practical and durable, but definitely not "luxury".

My thoughts exactly queenvictorian. I have a couple clients who went with the so called Luxury Vinyl and one completely removed it and installed engineered wood and love that. The other had it replaced twice due to a variety of issues and finally gave up and actually sold that house and moved. They selected engineered wood for the new home. So kind of a personal choice, but I would do real wood any day, IF, I could get my crack wood floor installers and finishers. Most builders around here have moved to factory finished wood flooring because they had so many problems with product quality and lack of skilled craft to properly install even quality products. It is a big challenge.

"lack of skilled craft to properly install even quality products"

Times 100. My Armstrong LVP was installed by a company that was the only local "Armstrong certified" installer. The guy they sent was a complete idiot. I was livid. I contacted the company and sent pictures, and demanded a redo. The owner came out, agreed it was a crap job. They purchased new material, ripped out the incorrectly installed LVT, and then did a proper install, with the proper floor prep. The lack of skill is frightening. I will be getting engineered wood in living room/dining room, in a year or two, and I tell you - I am scared to death of trying to find an installer.

well, that’s a bummer. You have to do research, I only use specific people to install and purchase product from via word of mouth. I am obviously doing too much research here. I would stick to your local area. Designers/ contractors/realtors have different opinions when you open it up globally!!

There is no clicking during installation or wood/cork/fiber backing material associated with Amtico. It is simply high quality vinyl. It's even in Buckingham Palace. You could throw it in a pool, shake the water off of it and install it once it dries, in the case of flooding, it would still be on the floor after the water drains. It is incredible. I have a box of leftover planks that have been in my garage for nearly 15 years. My floor was done in a room with angled walls, so some of the leftovers have 45° cuts. On a *perfectly* level floor in a square or rectangular room, a detail-oriented teenager could install it. As I recall, the installers carefully cut the Amtico with snips or really big scissors.... no sawing is needed. The entire floor was glued down on a concrete slab. Even multiple washing machine floods have not lifted a single tile.

This is how thin the planks are, maybe an eighth of an inch? The black backing is a textured form of vinyl that grips the glue. You can see it on the plank that is turned over above. The top layer is a thick durable layer of clear resilient vinyl. We have not worn that layer through anywhere in our kitchen or laundry or back door. Probably never will. I'm guessing the center layer is the image of the wood. For "Priory Oak" it is images of 100+ year old church pews somewhere in England. Since these samples are from so long ago, the composition of material may well be different. Two of the planks pictured above are nearly identical-you can see it. I put those planks together for you Daleymeyers, on purpose. But once on the floor, it is practically unnoticeable but you would want to be sure that they aren't side by side.

I have a really big family and chairs are pushed around, dogs, people. We are a SHOES ON family, we don't baby our floors. I clean them with a Dyson vacuum and a Shark steam mop. I don't turn off the beater bar when I vacuum the floor.

Amtico gives you the gift of TIME! The gift of time is the ultimate luxury. Guess what, our one and only precious lifetime is short and I don't want to spend mine worrying about standing water or re-screening the finish or a manufacturers defect or installation issue. I don't have anything to sell here. Amtico's not cheap: probably the most expensive luxury vinyl tile/planks money can buy. Probably as expensive as a middle of the road engineered wood floor. Buy quality and you only cry once.

cupofkindnessgw, Amtico is only available across the pond - UK & Ireland.

Everything is better across the pond!!

Actually, it's sold through distributors throughout the US. Pictured is one example, a store with a dedicated Amtico showroom in Northern California. Here in Texas, I purchased mine through a store called "Carpet Exchange" which is not a dedicated showroom, it only has samples, and my order was shipped to the store in a surprisingly few number of cartons. Click on the picture I linked above, you can see the size of the box at the top which probably holds 20-30 planks, maybe 25 square feet a box? I ordered 500 square feet, which was about 20 boxes.

Search under "Amtico residential distributor" and the name of your town or nearby major city. Amtico is not readily available because it's expensive and relatively unknown. It's easier to buy a Toyota or Ford than an Aston Martin.

I did search, no dealers anywhere I looked. But good to know it is available in the U.S.

Perhaps you can order it online?

There is dealer in San Mateo, which is near me. I will definitely check it out! Thank you!

cupofkindnessgw, for the benefit of daylemyers - I just wanted to clarify - your floor was a glue-down install, on concrete - right?

Just wanted to make sure that she knew that - in case she is looking for a floating, click-lock type of flooring.

Yes Chessie, planks were glued down on our slab, or an installer would glue the planks on a subfloor. No interlocking pieces. No nails. Easy-peasy to install, no sawing or chemical finishes to apply once the floor is down.

daylemyers , a high quality American or Canadian made Engineered product may be a great option. The temp wont matter as much as the humidity.

Educational Plank Flooring Examples · More Info

The glue also serves to "seal" the concrete slab, standing water doesn't seep into the slab. The planks have not cupped or gapped over the years either. Humidity or temperature does not affect an Amtico luxury vinyl floor.

What did you finally decide on? And honestly why? A lot of lengthy comments about “luxury vinyl”. Just trying to understand my clients perspective on the choices thanks

I appreciate that, very important to hear your clients needs. Good timing, the family just made a discussion. We Chose the practical route. Because this is a vacation house in the mountains, where all we do is go to the lake, ski and hike and have kids and dogs running through......we decided to try vinyl! My main house has only quartzite, marble and wood! I’m always concerned about the cleaning products, spills, and dents. Truly, this Is hard decision for me. I really would like wood, otherwise I wouldn’t of asked the question, I would just put wood in. My choices don’t always mean it’s the best decision for our purpose. If the vinyl doesn’t work, then we will replace it ! We are fortunate to have that option! Since the snow melted we have a broken deck and roof that needs some repair and a window that needs to be replaced due to moisture. So, hmmm taking the cheaper route seems appealing right now!

Sounds like a good choice, post pics when it’s complete and advise what you like about it thanks

Will do! Here are samples, but photo doesn’t look good

I LOVE real wood floors! However, I am at the point in my life that I am trying to create a low-maintenance, less stressful environment for my family, and the wood floors we could afford were, in my opinion, of high enough quality. We are instead installing Flooret Modin’s Rigid Planks and I am happy with how it’s going.

I visited my parents in another state (one of those 2 million-dollar-plus homes) and admired their new large-plank wood floors. GORGEOUS floors! However, I found myself worried I would mar them with water or drop something on them and that sealed my decision to opt for flooring that would be “easier” for my family.

Good luck with your decision.

In case you are wondering after This wood or vinyl discussion We went with wood for our mountain house.

You ended up with wood? After all that? Haha! It IS gorgeous!

I am right smack in the middle of ripping up 100 year old wood floors that give us splinters and trying to decide between LVP and tile. This thread has me wondering if it is a bad choice to not consider wood. Our home isn't a million dollar house but the houses a block down on the lake are $3.5 mil. My head is spinning!!!

Hickory floors!

There’s just something about the look and feel of real hardwood floors. They bring a fresh, new dimension to your home, and always look classy, elegant and stunning. With a variety of widths, lengths, and colors to choose from, you can bring any room together with your unique hardwood floor style.

However, the superstar of recent years is Luxury Vinyl Planks or LVP. With it’s durability to stand up to scratches from kids and pets, along with being waterproof and handling the messes of life, LVP can give you just about any wood or tile look you desire, without the cost.

Freshen up any bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, dining room or bedroom with durable, solid flooring that stands up to life and looks beautiful for years to come!

We love Nexxacore’s line of Luxury Vinyl Planks because they have varying widths and provide a wide variety of natural wood look finishes.

I would go with engineered hardwood floors or porcelain tile. Good luck!

Spent $$ put hickory wood in. So far it’s been great!

Now I updating kitchen next!

Wow, Dayle! That is gorgeous!!! I have been back and forth 100 times over the past few days. Now I'm looking between hickory and bamboo. There are some gorgeous options. Your floor looks amazing!

I am no expert, but I heard bamboo can leave heel marks. I needed something strong for stairs.

I have heard the same but then I read that it is twice as hard as hickory. I am really struggling with my choice. We have 2 really big dogs and all of the roads in our town are sand. I worry about the scratches and dents, but just can't justify putting laminate in a 100 year old home. I have gone back and forth so many times. I have to have it ordered by next week. I wish I could fast forward to when it was all done. Lol.

I put it in our Mountain house, where doors are always open to the dirty hills for our German Shepherd husky and golden lab. Snow in the winter, actually crazy weather all year in Tahoe, California. Can’t see scratches, but dirty paw prints constantly when light shines. Bano mop close by.....

Good bamboo (ie. the $12/sf price point) is very dense. Any wood floor can dent with heals. It depends on the size of the heal (is it a 'Queen Mum' wide-body heal or is it a 3" stiletto?) and the size of the human wearing it (the movie 'Kinky Boots' comes to mind). A 250 lb man in stilettos is going to put very big dents into pretty much any wood floor he walks on....the pounds per square inch come into play when dents are created.

A bad bamboo or bad engineered hardwood is going to dent easily. They are perfectly fine on stairs. They are still rigid wood-like floors. In fact cork does very well on stairs (the softest hardwood in the world!!!).

The FINISH is what scratches. The FINISH is what takes all the abuse. A bad factory finish will scratch like the dickens...and look like it needs to be refinished inside of 15 years. That's one of the differences between 'good' bamboo and 'bad' bamboo.

A high-end bamboo product is going to cost you some SERIOUS money. I'm not kidding. It is HEAVILY engineered. In fact it can be 30% adhesive (glue...holding the grass together). It can be carbonized. It can have upto 15 coats of UV cured Aluminum Oxide urethane applied to it. Just because it is all produced in China doesn't mean it is cheap/cost effective to purchase. It isn't. The independent importers are very specific about who they source from (a bad batch can bankrupt them) and what type of product they sell.

All of that 'human input' has a cost. The mature bamboo (7+ years old) is expensive. It is hard to harvest. It is harder to process (because it is so thick and strong). It requires VERY EXPENSIVE adhesives (allowed in the EU = darn near Zero VOC levels = very expensive). And the finish (15 layers) take ++ time to create and cure and stack, etc.

Keeping it climate controlled is SUPER IMPORTANT = very expensive. It is required at time of creation, during transport (on the ship) and when it arrives in port/warehouse facility. And it is HEAVY. Heavy = dense = expensive to ship around the world.

And THAT'S why $12/sf bamboo is worth it. But the $4.99/sf cr@p isn't. A solid white oak 3" plank (character grade) = $4.99/sf and WELL worth it.

Thanks, SJ, for the info. I was at the flooring store today and they told me NO BAMBOO. We picked out a 4" wide 3/4" thick solid hickory plank that looks very similar to the old, worn, destroyed oak that we currently have down. It is made with an aluminum oxide coating and has a lifetime warranty and I feel really good about it... I think. ;)

@Suzanne Reagan Ha! I was thinking the same thing! I came across this thread because I want to rip out my very newly installed high gloss white tile ( bad decision encouraged by our tile guy) and put in real hardwood floors like 2 of the adjoining rooms. I read this whole thread with anticipation and I love the outcome!!!

@daylemyers The floors are GORGEOUS! What was the deal breaker, you seemed to be heavily going the other way.. How have they held up?? We don't have any pets so that will not be an issue for us! Thanks!!

@Janet De La Cruz We are SO close to installation that I can't take it! I actually drove an hour each way to look at the floors yesterday. Lol. Waiting for them to get the 2nd half of the floors in and for our carpenter to finish the kitchen!

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