installing the planks in a condo. the first area is 12ft wide - 32 ft from front living room though dining room. Do you recommend installing horizontal or vertical?

There has been some recent discussion in the Coretec thread about Smartcore since they're similar products. Surprising that HD recommended it, I was under the impression it was sold exclusively at Lowes.

The problem with a slope is it is rarely on the same PLANE. There are several floors that I know of that can handle a slight slope....but they cannot handle humps and bumps AS WELL as a slope. It is intensely rare to find a perfectly FLAT floor with a slope that is PERFECT. What happens? The click edges break with the stress. The little bumps and waves in a floor with a slope can and will stress the click system to the point of breaking. And it will happen over time. As it is walked on, the planks flex. As they flex, they cause stress fractures in the click system. Eventually the edges break and you get a floor that begins to gap. Once it starts, it is almost impossible to stop. While you wait for the vinyl edges to break, you will also get this lovely 'slappy' sound under your feet. The flex in a vinyl floor can be SO big it will visibly move every time you step on it. Again, this is more pronounced on a sloped floor that isn't flat. This is where laminate and vinyl are different. Laminate is very thick and very sturdy. Vinyl is thin and often quite easy to damage without proper training/preparation. In fact, the amount of swearing going on while a vinyl click together floor is being installed is IMPRESSIVE! And I grew up with 'angry Irish'. It takes a lot for me to call swearing "impressive". Vinyl planks are often very thin (4-5mm thick). That means the click egdes are VERY THIN (2mm deep...if you are lucky). That means there isn't much "grab". The tensile strength of the click system is very weak. A shift (when you step on it) up and down and a little side to side will rip the planks apart. Even if the edges remain intact (not broken), they simply do not have the strength to stay locked together. So imagine purchasing 1000sf for $4/sf = $4000. And imagine you then take 3 days to install it. Now imagine it fails within 6 months to 1 year. Will you feel the money you saved on the cost of subfloor prep ($2 - $4/sf) was worth it? Once you fix the basement subfloor (one time cost of $2-$4/sf depending on how bad it is) you can have ANY floor you want in there. You never have to fight with it again. I know that's not what you wanted to hear. Anytime there is a sloped floor (those basement drains are fun aren't they?), it is always best to remedy them before putting in flooring. The only floors that are OK with this type of floor = carpet and sheet vinyl/lino. Every other floor needs that basement slab to be fixed.

Did you pick one? Wondering the same