>millworkman.....Austin TX. 800G-1.5M

I have refinished wood throughout most of my 1920 house, porcelain tile in bathrooms, and LVT in my kitchen. The LVT has held up better than any of the wood finishes in the house. While I prefer wood, the wood floors in my kitchen were too far gone to refinish, so I picked an LVT that complements the wood elsewhere. I chose the specific brand based on its warranty for use on radiant heat systems.

Modin ridged vinyl plank is sold direct and has a 40mil wear layer. 9" wide by 72" long. Here. $3.95/sq.ft.

Oxden Signature

We are in the middle of installing it on our main floor. When we moved here 3 years ago the main floor was all engineered HW from LL. It was cupping and lifting and I hated the color. You can't see the flaws too much in this picture but it was pretty bad and just kept getting worse.

We live in a very wooded area and have a large dog and teenagers so I wanted something easy to clean and durable. My friend had it installed in her house and it looked great. My carpenter loves it and has done many installs with it so I decided to go for it.

We are working our way around the house. We started in the dining room.

We just finished the living room floor. The base boards are back up but not in this picture. This room is a work in progress.

The median home value in my area is $275,000. My home is valued at about $430,000. I would not consider my house to be "high-end".

one of my friends built a high end home and put LVP throughout the whole house. It looks nice for LVP.... I think it would have been great in her lower level.

I agree with those who've pointed out the "luxury" is for marketing purposes only and it's really just vinyl tile, but that said, I think it's pretty amazing and functional stuff. My husband had Pergo in the basement of his old house, and LVP is a whole lot nicer (IMO) both in how it looks and feels. Some of it looks like real wood unless you get down on your hands and knees to inspect it, and I love how durable it is.

We have red oak floors throughout our main floor, and they are pretty damaged in the kitchen from 15 years of heavy use. We're good about cleaning up messes right away, but even so they are visibly worn where they get constant traffic and need to be refinished.

We just had our basement finished and decided to go with LVP wood-look flooring. We wanted something low maintenance and durable. It was installed directly on top of the cement sub-floor. It doesn't feel like real wood on bare feet, but I'm super happy with it and have no regrets. We went with COREtec Carolina Pine which has a rustic look.

My parents installed LVP a couple years ago in a room that had flooded. After helping my dad install it, my husband was impressed with the look and feel. We ended up installing the exact same flooring in a small backyard cottage (SMARTCORE Blue Ridge Pine).

Have you read the Adura Max vs COREtec thread? It has tons of information, experiences, photos, and videos, mostly of SPC (Stone Plastic Composite). I have hardwood on my main floor and have a 90 lb lab. My husband and I installed SuperCore SPC last summer in my entire lower level including a powder and laundry room. The main reasons I chose it was the ability for long expanse without transitions and it’s durability for my messy Labrador. We are extremely pleased and it has met our needs.

Many of the high end homes using LVP are oceanfront homes. We recently finished gutting a pretty high end lake house and laid real, old fashioned hardwood in the two upper stories. But I desperately wanted LVP on the lower level (where damp family and guests track in through the den and gym) but I couldn’t find quite the right color. We went with the top grade of Pergo last minute. It looks okay. But some of that LVP is stunning. I would have been happy to have it in my home. Good luck!

In the past I've had every kind of floor there is and now have LVP. Its my favorite. I don't understand why some people are so snobbish about it. It isn't cheap. Also I don't plan on ever moving again so don't care about resale.

Some people's homes work for them and some people work for their homes. My home has to only impress my husband and me. It must be comfortable for us. Gasp, we don't take off our shoes when entering the house and feel it is extremely rude to ask anyone else to , we smoke in our house, we don't mind if anyone eats in our livingroom or the grandkids play in there. Every thing can be replaced, but family and friends can't. The greatest compliments I receive is how comfortable our home is. My home must function for us, be low maintenance, durable, and easy to clean.

We are considering LVP for our basement but have concerns about 1) the uneven nature of an older basement floor and 2) existing glue on that floor from our current commercial grade carpet tiles once we remove them. Has anyone had any experience or care to comment on either of these? Thanks! Also, any input regarding price and cost of installation would be greatly appreciated!

Nancy,

The surface needs to be level but I imagine that would be true for any new surface that you will be installing. You may need to use leveling compound or install a layer of sub floor. We had new layer of sub floor installed due to previous water damage.

We are using SuperCore SPC from WeShipFloors and paid about $3.20/SF for product. They have frequent sales but the prices may have increased since we bought product due to tariffs. My DH installed the floor in the dining room after the carpenter put down the sub floor so it is pretty DIY friendly. However, we had the carpenter do the living room and it only took him 1/2 a day since he does this type of stuff a lot.

You need to be aware that there are different grades/levels of quality in LVT just as there is for carpet and sheet vinyl. I've seen cheap thin vinyl planks, and it was obvious that they were cheap and wouldn't last - but the ones (tiles, not planks) that I installed in my FR were thick, with a thick wear layer, scratch resistance, and long warranty. The composition of the tile is important too - I think that the brands that are a mineral/vinyl composite are probably best.

Following this thread. I also live in Florida and hate the floors. I have engineered wood (cherry) floors in the living room/dining room, hallway leading to the bedrooms. Rest of the house (bedrooms, kitchen, baths)are tile.

Planning a kitchen remodel involving a bathroom and will impact the engineered wood floors. I have to make a decision to replace those engineered flooring. I actually like the engineered wood as it has held up well, looks like real wood and sounds like real wood.

I hate the sound of vinyl floors. Looked at many houses with it and it gives a clickedy/clackedy sound when walking on it.

Do these LVT floors sound like real wood?

Jane

Jane, the COREtec in our basement has the clickity-clackety sound you describe, but I think that has more to do with it being installed directly on top of the cement subfloor than the product itself. The same product installed on the stairs going down to the basement sounds like real wood, but the "hollow" sound starts as soon as it's installed on top of cement. The SmartCore (which is made by the same company as the COREtec) in our outbuilding sounds like read wood underfoot, but it is installed on top of a plywood subfloor rather than cement.

I happened to pass by the flooring section at Home Depot this afternoon and saw the engineered hardwoods. I have to say, the Pergo looks a LOT better now than it did at my husband's old house! Back then (almost 20 years ago) it had no texture at all and was slippery and fake looking, but it has texture and looks pretty amazing now.

The vinyl plank flooring in our new house doesn't make a clickety-clackety sound -- neither the Karndean in the new house nor the Home Depot Trafficmaster Allure -- and the vinyl composite tile flooring in our old house basement and vinyl sheet flooring in the kitchen doesn't make that sound either. We do have various friends and neighbors with laminate flooring, which does make a clicking-clacking sound.

I grew up with hardwood flooring in prewar apartment buildings in NYC, and our vinyl plank flooring feels similar. In both cases, though, there are Persian rugs throughout and everyone wears socks or slippers.

@raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio and any one else who might know--- you mentioned how there are varying qualities and this is what I would love to learn more about. What are some guidelines I could use to focus in on better quality lines?

Also the comments about the clicketyclack. I remember when we looked at houses, there were some which I thought were laminate and although they looked nice, there was something that just didn't seem right and I wonder if it was the lack of the clicketyclack. Maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean because to me, I want the sound of wood and the vinyl flooring I remember was a very dull sound. More confusion.

The biggest "tell" I notice with LVP/LVT floors is the repetition of the design. It's a picture of wood, printed on plastic. So... how many different pictures are in your box? I've found that in most cases where I've seen it used (Parade homes, often in the higher end brackets), I can spot the same knot/swirl... over and over and over again. Sometimes only a foot or so away from each other. That would drive me ape.

Rarely, there have been some floors where I have to reach down and touch it to be sure. And I have had to look REALLY hard to spot the "repeats." Most of these are "quieter" in their patterning, without a lot of heavy knots, grain, and color changes.

The other one is the vinyl floors that have a "microbevel" around each plank that is colored in such a way as to be obviously plastic.

Look around at some of the pictures of whole rooms (upthread and elsewhere). Often, even in the photos the floors come out looking striped, or you can spot the repeating knots. Or you can see the plastic edges around the planks.

It's convenient, it's resilient, it's not a bad floor at all.

It's just something that has to be chosen very carefully if you're going to try to ask it to pass for real wood in one of the higher ranges.

Also remember that anything that is "no maintenance" really means "replace when worn." Vinyl will have to be just ripped out and replaced when it starts to really show wear and tear. Wood - can be allowed to develop a patina (Hey, people pay extra for "distressing!"), can be sanded down and refinished, or (if you have a hardwax oil finish) offending areas spot sanded and reoiled a little)

Now, some folks will prefer just to tear out flooring and replace it anyway, because by then they're tired of it and want something new. Others would prefer to make small changes and preserve the original elements. And sometimes both approaches are applicable in different areas of the same house.

Just think it over carefully, ask for photos of large areas, so you can see how it looks laid out, and maybe even if you can look through a box and see if you can spot repeating knots even in a single box. (Better floors have more pictures available and repeat less)

I put it in my rental house because it is indestructable and waterproof. Almost impossible to scratch. It is very easy to install but does take a while. We got it at lumber liquidators and it was very good quality.Look for 6 or 7 mms wear rate.
I decided to put it in my bathroom because it looked so good in the other house and bought it from Lowes. BIG mistake! About half of the tile were cracked in one box that was crushed on one end and the tabs were broken on others. Look at samples to feel how thick it is before you buy it. It looked good once I installed it but I was disappointed in the quality. The good part is if something gets damaged you can take it apart and replace the damaged tiled easily. God luck!

We had LVP installed professionally two years ago. . During that time we have had an 80 lab slide across the floors chasing her ball, housebroken a great dane puppy, had quantities of grandchildren come and stay. It looks like the day it went in. I have had engineered hardwood in other homes and we had to baby the finish or it would scratch. I have also had homes with 100 yr old heart of pine I would kill to have again. And yes, here in Central TX it is going in the upper end, $1,00,000,000 + homes. Our home is significantly more modest. The other advantages are it is easy to stand on, glasses do not shatter if they are dropped and if you miss a spill it doesn't damage the finish. Is it hardwood? No. Do guests notice it is a vinyl product? No.

I hope that there are too many zeros in the home price??

This was mentioned above in other posts but it bears repeating. My biggest issue with LVT/P is pattern. If there is an obvious pattern in the planks and if it repeats in a space in a noticeable way, it looks cheap to me.

The other issue is the feel which is related to the type of install and the thickness of the planks. If there is bounce and too much give, it's not "luxury".

I am in the midst of choosing LVP for our just purchased second home.

My dilemma is reinforced by what Holly Stockley said above. Some of the more expensive floors really do look identical to wood floors, and it is impossible to tell the difference. Personally, I too think the enhanced bevels are a dead giveaway that this is fake rather than real. And, as she said floors with less pattern movement make it harder to see repeats.

I've been through the research and purchase process with LVP before. We put Flooret's Modin in our basement of our primary house and have been very happy with it--durable, easy to keep up and clean, no problems with spills on it etc.

If you do go the LVP route, things to look for that ensure quality are:

Thickness of wear layer

Embossed in register design,meaning the embossing mimics the wood grain

Composition of wear layer--the urethance should have some additional enhancement

SPC (stone core) is more waterproof than WPC (wood core)

How many repeats there are in the company's photographic images

A thicker product

Visit some on- line flooring retailer's sites, and just browse the differences in inner core composition, overall thickness, and thickness of wear layer of different brands and price points - comparing those factors with the warranties. Some sites will also have blog/info pages that discuss these things. That is how I learned what little I know about it.

I've not got any clickety clack with my floor, installed over a plywood subfloor without a pad layer.

I do have pattern repeat, but it is a quiet pattern and I was very careful when installing to be sure that I mixed it up - and even contrived to rotate some of the tiles to minimize the effect.

https://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/Learning-Center/Flooring-LC/Why-we-dont-sell-luxury-vinyl-tile

Please read to the end and the dangers of LVT. We all know that many building materials & even furniture (cloth & stuffing) and a million other items we bring into our homes can put toxic chemicals into our air/environment & it bears considering if you want to add a massive sq. footage of more toxic off gassing into our homes. Floors are one of the largest surfaces in our homes. When low VOC paints were created that helped immensely. Now people are strangely clambering to cover the floors of their homes in even more toxic material.

I know I can’t totally eliminate toxic chemicals in building materials in my house but I’ll be damned if I’ll replace less toxic flooring (wood & tile) in order to put in more toxic material.

Not too many zero's. there is a 1.3 million dollar home that put lvp throughout. It was that home that convinced us to go forward.

https://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/Learning-Center/Flooring-LC/Why-we-dont-sell-luxury-vinyl-tile

If there is bounce and too much give, it's not "luxury".

Vinyl is never a luxury, or "luxury", product. And not all wood flooring is either.

But the time saved by the easy maintenance for me has definitely been a luxury : ) .

Lindy, you typed enough zeros so it looks like 100 million ... I certainly don't expect LVP at that price point!!

You can go back and edit.

Adding to Pam's comment. At one time many people tried to avoid products made in China, specially after many instances of toxic products being found in many Chinese products. Remember the whole Chinese drywall problems, dog food and baby formula?

The majority of the LVP is made in China and that is at the top of my list for a reason to avoid the product. Have quality processes changed enough in China? I'm not convinced they have.

I do think that Pam and Chispa have raised very good points.

All I can add is that there are some manufacturers that say their LVP is phthalate -free. If you decide to go that route, look for them.

I wanted to use cork, but at the time didn't have the funds for it (a very tight budget!) Now I wonder what chemicals might go into the production of cork flooring as well.

1.2M in Austin isn’t exactly a luxury market. It might be a “luxury“ vinyl market though.

You can find low VOC LVP/LVT floors. And some are made in the US, like much of Mannington's Adura line (not all, you do want to ask if that is important to you).

And as to whether $1.2M qualifies as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous version of luxury, I won't wade into that argument. It is certainly WELL ABOVE the median value of homes in most zip codes and would qualify as a high end home to all but the top 5-10% of households in the US. Some people would scoff that a home without an inground pool is not a luxury home, while others do not want a pool in any property they own. Live and let live.

The chemicals that make up cork are very safe. Because these products are made for Europe, they have all the binders MADE in Europe (which must be legal in Europe to purchase).

One of the few VOC's that come off of cork is acetic acid = vinegar. Yep. Vinegar is ranked as a Volatile Organic Compound.

The firberboard the cork floating floors use are some of the LOWEST VOC content board that can be found on the market.

Europe is a proactive continent. The Air Quality requirements are refined every few years. As the technology gets better, the requirements get tighter. As the requirements get tighter the technology gets better.

I would take European produced cork over vinyl any day.

"1.2M in Austin isn’t exactly a luxury market. It might be a “luxury“ vinyl market though."

It's easy to cherrypick homes that don't look the price. These are all around a mil to 1.2 mil, in Austin.

They are high end homes in my book, and in anyone else's book that I know.

The LVP I chose for both our cabin throughout and for our TV room at home was made in S. Korea and is free of any harmful chemicals that will off gas. When doing my research, I read that Korean made LVP's are some of the best. They have been using it for much longer than North America or Europe. Mine also never had the slightest odor of plastic or vinyl. Even with the cabin filled with many many boxes of the stuff! Look for a good wear layer, lifetime warranty and do your research before buying. Mine was a loose lay product so it had fiberglass in the core which prevented it from shrinking or expanding. You can also turn the planks around to change the appearance of knots and wood grain so it doesn't seem to repeat as often. It is very easy to replace one plank should anything happen to it. Which it hasn't in the 3 years since the first was installed. Also very little waste with the loose lay. You almost don't have to buy any extra.

following

silken1--

What brand is this loose lay?

Nine zeroes is one billion with a B. Six zeroes is one million. Not to be a Nazi Just FYI.

How did the bevels in the Flooret flooring look? Does it lend a fake look?

@Pam A, thank you VERY much for the link to the article about the safety concerns with vinyl flooring. It was very informative.

rpwoodard--

As always one needs to take into account the biases of a source or information. I am not saying that everything in this article is incorrect, but I am saying that you need to understand why this concern is trying to stop the sales of these products so they can instead promote their own lines.

There are (an have been for years) many LVP or SPC manufacturrers that have stated they don't contain phthalates. And, many of them have outside certification of this.

The EU, which is much stricter than the US, acknowledges that there are divergent opinions on PVCs. https://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pvc/index.htm

Sorry julieste, I didn't see your question from 7 months ago! Didn't get any notifications for some reason. We used EZlay and XLflooring for our cabin and TV room at home. Sister companies that just feature slightly different plank sizes and styles. Verified Eco friendly here is a link. XL Flooring They are Canadian companies but the U.S. also has distributors. The product is made in South Korea. Still happy with it.

Those articles do have to be taken with a grain of salt as products certainly are not all made the same.

I put LVT in over tile in a very small bathroom that needed an inexpensive facelift. It turned out great, I like it very much - is 100% improvement over what was there and will tide me over until I have to the funds to re-do the bathroom in entirety. That said, I have hardwood on the main level, and it's obvious the LVT isn't hardwood -- but that's okay with me for now, it's serving its intended purpose.

I do wish I would have done LVT in the basement instead of tile. Mainly because DH chose a butt-ugly tile, I really hate it -- it's the man cave down there so I let him choose. Ugh.

Here's a picture of the small bathroom with the LVT:

Installed Armstrong Alterna LVT squares, glued down and grouted. Nine years old. The tiles have stood up well in a heavily trafficked area, but the grout was a big mistake. Impossible to clean.

We are remodeling a 3000 sf house that we will be moving into soon. I really want wood floors. My one hesitation is our 110 lb mastiff mix. She has those loose jowls that dribble a lot of water after she drinks. She leaves a trail. Yes, I wipe it up, but I’m not always home or awake, so I can’t wipe it up right away. Although I have her nails trimmed regularly, they grow fast, as we can hear them on our floors (bamboo and slate).

Our daughter moved into a home with LVP, and it has been indestructible so far. Dogs don’t scratch it. Furniture doesn’t scratch it. Little splatters of paint came right off with a fingernail.

I also want a chevron or herringbone pattern in the living room. Most LVP can’t be laid that way. I see that Karndean has some that can.

Such a hard decision.

I am an avid fan of LVP. Does it look as beautiful as a hardwood floor? No.....but it has its own beauty and good features.

We have it throughout our Florida home.

With all its variation, dirt blends in, it’s easy to clean, but the best part is as FWMID says in the above post, no scratches from dog nails. It is easy on your joints and not cold underfoot like tile. You can even drag furniture across it.

Mxk, you are a saint for letting DH choose. DH and I argue over most everything, decor wise.

Sometimes, he will ask my opinion and then is upset when I’m not inagreement. Case in point. Our garage floor needed redoing. He wanted a beige, I wanted industrial gray. He simmered but conceded and now loves it.

Its the perfect choice for a garage floor. We have gotten so many complements on it which had certainly made him happy.

@fwmld I think the brand I used may work in a chevron pattern or at least a diaganol. Look for any of the loose lay brands. We used EZ Lay Flooring LVP for our TV room at home and their sister brand XL Flooring for our entire cabin. They don't have the click lock edges so they can be turned either way and you butt the edges up to the walls. No 1/4 inch gap. I laid ours myself and I can't think of a reason that it couldn't have been done in a diaganol or patterned way. Only thing is the short ends need to be factory edges till you get to the walls and cut them off. So you couldn't have short length pieces in your pattern. Only short ends at the walls to stagger your plank pattern. The nice thing about loose lay is you can flip the planks around so the repeat of the visuals is not as repetitive since the pattern is turned the other way and often looks quite different. I liked that about it too. Still happy with ours and not a sign of wear or damage. We have 2 cats and one tears around and I have never seen claw marks.

Well I am never quick to do anything it seems. I didn't realize I had started the thread as it says " last year". Anyway after obsessing and trying to find thee one.... I am really close to pulling the trigger.

I know there are a lot of very fine brands out there that offer good value, but I am just a bit too chicken to coordinate ordering this stuff remotely and having it delivered here. I have done that with furniture and its fine but I cannot fathom doing it for lvp. (that's my issue).

I actually had someone come to measure and give an estimate and am having one more come in a few days so at least I will have a ballpark idea of what will be involved for real in my situation.

I am 95% going with CoreTec at this point and will be getting it from a local store. Their price is decent- not stellar but decent. They have a good reputation and I just don't want to spend thousands and have the manufacturer not stand behind it. I sincerely hope I don't need the manufacture to stand behind it, but it's a concern I have.

To the best of my understand, the wear layer is a key component. Some say at least 12 mil is good. I am going for 20. That's my elimination process. I started out looking for super pale and uniform in color and have kind of evolved to medium tone and varied color.

It's an adventure.