In my opinion, I would definitely put a vapor barrier on top of concrete but likely go with something as thin as possible. The thicker the underlay, the more play the boards will have. Of course density of the underlay also plays a part. A very dense underlay is better than something too spongy.

How are you able to confirm if the core is stone or something else? Looking at any of the performance line (even the one mentioned by name) don't state or even suggest it has a stone core.

Thanks for the help!

I didn't confirm the make-up of the core but I guess if you really wanted to know, you could try calling the company or asking someone at the store. For my purpose I would note that this stuff is very heavy and very thin which would suggest it likely is a SPC core. Also I was playing around with a sample piece and my 18 guage brad nailer bent the nail and never pierced the surface. Pretty hard stuff.

Been meaning to post this picture. Rocky River Nucore Performance over a beat-up hardwood floor and then up one wall as an accent wall. This is also the wall you see in the background of my video calls. I get compliments on almost every Zoom call I have!

Looks great, Paul! Did you use the brad nailer to mount to the wall?

Thanks! Actually I was thinking of using the nailer but changed my mind when I saw it wouldn't go through! Instead I went with an industrial adhesive. (Loctite PL Premium Max)

Awesome! It looks flawless.

AVOID THIS PRODUCT AT ALL COSTS!!!!!! ( I spent $7000 on the material and $3200 for installation) I had it professionally installed per the instructions in my ENTIRE house just over 6 weeks ago. Now, when you walk on it, the flooring creeks and pops. Floor and Decor is now telling me its and installation problem and the floor is not level. My house is 50 years old and is perfectly level. They are telling me I have to have a professional inspection done ($250-$500) and based on the results they will talk with the manufacturer. THIS IS THEIR OWN IN-HOUSE PRODUCT!!!!!!

@HU-24905031, that does sound like a nightmare. Did you contact the contractor who installed the flooring to get their opinion/have them reevaluate their work?

I had 1600 sq feet installed on wood subfloor, plywood in wet areas and osb elsewhere. Great product overall very happy. As to the creeking and popping yes I have some of that but its a tradeoff for how rigid this stuff is and as a result it is almost impossible to scratch. I did weeks of research! I ordered dozens of samples and this one is the real deal for scratch resistance, its bulletproof! Because it is so rigid it requires an absolute flat surface to avoid creaks/pops. You cannot assume your floor is flat, every square ft must be checked and floated as needed using professional grade straight edges at least 8 feet long. I did that in most areas of my space and those areas are sound, not creaks or pops. the areas I did not is where I have that issue but the trade off is worth it to me for the durability. it seems to get better over time.

@Vincent Hodge absolutely agree.

my installer used a level and where there were areas (very few) that seemed low he used a filler on them. All I can do is speak of my experience with this product. Literally, everywhere I walk it creeks

As I mentioned, I installed over hardwood using no underlay and have never had any pops or creaks of any kind. Hate to say it but it seems to me that Floor and Decor could be right and that your floor isn't level. Either that or perhaps the underlay used was too thick/spongy?

I used the 6 mil underlayment as recommended. As for it being level, I was just at home and got out my 5 ft. level and laid it on various spots throughout the home.....all perfectly level.

That sucks. Have you gone back to the installer to have them figure out why it's popping? Honestly speaking I don't think your issue is with the product itself but is more likely the install however I could be wrong. I'd start with the person you paid $3200 to do the install and tell them that Floor and Decor is saying it's their fault. Maybe they can pull up a section that is popping and see if there are any high/low spots underneath? Also when you run your hand over the surface, is it completely smooth? My planks fit together so tight you can't tell where the seams are when you run your hand across the surface.

You wont see critical leveling issues after its laid. Also, why did you use underlayment? It has its own cork bottom. Are we talking about Nucore Performance here?

HU-24905031 I am curious as well if this was the original Nucore line or the improved Nucore Performance line. Both are still sold and it seems to be 180 degree difference in satisfaction between the two based off reviews. I had 950 sq ft of the Performance line installed 2 months ago with no concerns (new build addition) and am getting ready to install another 300 sq ft in existing 60 year old kitchen. My installer did warn that floor would have to be leveled first.

Im going on a year with nucore performance and its been bulletproof with everything I’ve thrown at it!

DO NOT SKIMP ON LEVELING!! HAVE IT DONE BY A PRO!! DONT USE AN UNDERLAYMENT!!

We had NuCore Performance (Butter Toast) professionally installed 1 month ago. It looks awesome, but it creaks and pops all over the place. Basically every other step. It seems to be worse when it's warm. It's a HUGE bummer. My husband and I are sensitive to sound and it's hard to live with. We did not do an underlayment as the installers did not recommend it. We have a wood subfloor and we worked hard to clean it up and checked for significant un-level spots. The floor installers came back to check and said it needs time to "settle". We have not reached out to Floor & Decor yet, but getting ready to. HUGE BUMMER as this is our first house and the most money we've spent on something like this.

Hi Amanda - I just did our living room (i believe 22 cases - big room) using NuCore Performance Rocky River over a wood subfloor with no underlayment and have no creaking popping of any kind and this room gets a lot of sun so not sure why you're having the problem. I installed the flooring myself and made sure every plank was perfectly placed/locked and left a small gap around the edge to allow for expansion under varying temperatures. My floor was tight from day 1 with no "settle time". My suggestion would be to go to F&D and have them come out and check. Did you hire the installers through them? Unless quality varies from style to style (which I would think to be unlikely) then my next guess is the installers didn't do a very good job. Just my 2 cents.

Appreciate your 2 cents @Paul F. We did not hire the installers through F&D. I'll share an update once we talk to F&D.

HU-24905031 I bought the rigid and have the same problem. Floor and Decor and Nu core have been very good with communication and follow up. It is taking some time but they are working on it. I did read somewhere you may have to pay a fee but they did send an inspector and I did not pay anything. . I am now waiting for the results to come in as to what will be done.

I’m happy to hear they’re at least providing good customer service

@Diane Cullen Let us know how it goes. I have had nothing but positive results from Nucore Peformance Rocky River but interested to understand if this could be a problem with different colors/styles. Thanks.

@Diane Cullen Yes, please let us know how it goes! We are just starting the process with Floor & Decor.

Will do, hopefully I will hear back thus week.

Hi @Diane Cullen - Just wondering how things turned out?

I have not heard anything back yet. i was told by Floor and Decor i should here back in 14 days after the inspection. Nu Core called to ask if I could send them 2 panels, I said I would but the inspector did take one toi send, she was going to look into that. Its been about 3 weeks. She said they were busy. Monday the person Ive been dealing with at F&D sent an email stating she sent them a follow up email. Maybe this week.

NuCore has some negative reviews out there. Mainly lack of transparency e.g, Floor & Decor, it’s only distributor, doesn’t say who manufactures it nor what the Core is made up of.

And warrenty has some interesting gotchas like, if claim is approved, it doesn’t include labor!!!!! Also the warrenty depreciates over time.

Also reviews complaining of scratches and dents while it’s marketing as scratch/dent resistant but warrenty doesn’t include scratches or dents.

Seems sketchy to me…

Useless comment.

sad.

Thank you JB for your review and pictures of the Whistling Hills I was hoping it would have some warmth to the color, and the pictures definitely seem to show that. But you say it looks mostly gray in your comments so i purchased a box and feel it also looks mostly gray when i lay it around in my house. Can you tell me if appears as a light gray when installed in a large room? I’m concerned it could maybe seem too light colored. i know the pics I’ve taken dont look anything like what it looks like in person Thanks in advance for your opinion!

I have not heard back yet.

Just finished installing POMPANO PINE RIGID CORE LUXURY VINYL PLANK from the WHISPERCORE line. Really wanted to go for something from the Whispercore line as the number one reason for our floor replacement was sound reduction.

1. The product seems high quality. The flooring company had no trouble installing it. I haven't seen a scratch yet. Went with an LVP because I have seen too much water damage in my life. Almost went with a beautiful hardwood, then imagined a leak occurring from a condo above me months after installation.

2. I have a two-bedroom condo. We didn't do the kitchen or bathrooms. The total cost of the project was 17k. This included a new subfloor and underlayment. This is a major decision.

3. When you look at Floor and Decor, online or at the store, know that the pictures of the flooring are warmer and shinier than the floor really is. Look at the actual planks not at the pics. If you use F&D's Visualizer, know that is not the true color of the planks.

4. Big Problem no one has mentioned is repeating patterns. Had I known how frequently the patterns repeat on the planks, I might have made a different choice. Since the project has finished I looked this up. You are supposed to lay out the planks first and check for repeating patterns right next to each other. The flooring company I used didn't do that. They grabbed from the box, not looking at the pattern, and laid them down as fast as possible. This an installer problem however, the sheer number of planks that randomly repeat right next to each other shows me there aren't enough different patterns for a realistic look. Most of the floor is covered with furniture/rugs, but I found an area in a very obvious place where 5 repeating planks touch. The way the installers laid the planks, is a deal breaker for me. I want a fake floor that isn't obviously fake. Make sure you tell your installers, you aren't ok with repeating pattern planks right next to each other.

I have BOTH Nucore products in my home. Their initial product on my entire first floor (1200sf) and their performance line in my master bathroom (200sf). i love the look & feel of the performance line in my bathroom! The first floor, however, is awful! its clicky, definitely scratches and dents and the worst part is that it is warping and coming up in front of our sluding glass door. its actually creating a trip hazzard and my Dyson & Roomba get caught on it!! How do i fix this?? my installer says its a manufacturer issue for sure. luckily i have 10 extra planks that he will replace for me before Thansgivng

Well I wish I knew about this site and seen the reviews before I purchased the product. Installed 1,000 sf of the NuCore Performance LVP (3) months ago over a (18) year old concrete basement floor. The LVP flooring was installed by installers who have been installing floors their entire lives. With the last 7- 10 years of their installs being almost entirely LVP. This was the 1st time they installed the NuCORE brand LVP. The installers commented saying the product appeared to on the high end of what they have installed in the past.

We have no issues and are very satisfied with the appearance and durability. HOWEVER we are experiencing the same "popping" and "cracking" issues others have experienced. It is VERY disturbing and annoying and totally unexpected. I realize and understand there are a few places where the floor is not perfectly level. However it is safe to say we are experiencing this issue over a fair amount of the floor. We have added area rugs which have helped mask the noise, but there are a few locations where the "popping" and " cracking" permeate through the area rugs.

We have yet to reach out to F&D but are about to soon. Upon reading the comments, I am not to optimistic F&D will be attentive to our concerns.

I am not sure if other LVP would have the same issues. Not sure if an underlayment would help with eliminating the issue. I can only say if you are considering this product, don't be surprised if you experience the same "popping" and "cracking" issue many of us in this forum have.

This is a common theme with tis product. I believe it is because it is so rigid/brittle. Its a tradeoff between incredible durability and scratch resistance vs a softer plank.

It was difficult to find reviews at all about NuCore Performance LVP, which should have been a red flag, but here we are anyway. 2500+ sqft of flooring, professionally installed, that all has to ripped out & replaced 10 months after it was laid. $12,000 for the flooring, $16,000 with installation, and no one is willing to accept accountability for this terrible product. It is warping in every room, the areas in which no visible warping is present pop & creek, even under the weight of a 5 year old, and the edges are peeling. I wouldn’t recommend this product. I'm happy to know that it has worked out for some people, but it’s a gamble I wouldn’t be willing to take again.

S Anderson, what was the color/shade you picked ? also are we talking about multilevel house ? mix of concrete and wood subfloor ? lastly age of the house ?

Thats awful! S Anderson, Floor and Decor is not standing behind this?

I am totally unhappy with product and floor and decor did nothing. warranty is useless

Ugh, I have been trying to pull the trigger on new flooring for so long. Everyone says "Go with LVP, so much better than wood." People say it has more texture than most wood and I need something with the least amount of slip possible, that isn't carpet. Glad I found this thread, as I have been looking at Core-Tec, NuCore and Home Depot's Malibu brand. All have many reviews with the clicking popping issue, so thanks to all who have posted. Hopefully, I'll be able to find something that won't irritate the heck out of everyone. I hate hearing someone spent $20,000 on something they now have to tear out.

I haven’t found any comments about the temperature or feel. For those that are happy with their Nucore performance, does it run cold like tile or warmer then tile? Does it feel like tile when walking on it or softer?

Like many others, I have sampled at least 2 dozen other brands. All scratch and dent to varying degrees. But not the Nucore performance.

We've got the NuCore Performance with the Ridgid Core - Beckham Honey. My husband installed it on 3/4 of our first floor. The day after he did the living room, we got a six-month-old puppy. This floor has taken a beating in the last 12 months, crazy dog, five-person household, heavy traffic. Not one scratch, not one dent.

It's definitely cold/cool in the winter. We have a woodstove in the basement and it stays warm down there, which keeps the floors a bit warmer but without that I'd be wearing socks a lot more. And it definitely feels fake. Not smooth like tile, but not like hardwood either. I can't explain it but I've gotten used to it.

There are a few places that pop/creak a bit and we hoped they'd go away and maybe they have or maybe I'm so used to them but I don't even notice anymore. It has pulled away from the baseboard in two places. Probably a 1/16" gap. Just enough to be noticeable but not enough to worry about - we'll be keeping an eye on it for sure.

We tested vinyl flooring from a number of stores, at all price points, bringing home samples to check the lighting, etc. The NuCore Rigid Core was VERY different from the standard vinyl NuCore. I took a utility knife and hammer to both sample pieces. One pass with the knife cut right through the vinyl on the performance. I sawed at the Rigid Core for minutes and left a few scratches. It's not super slippery like a few we tested and it was relatively easy to install - but my husband is super handy so I can't say that'd be the case for everyone. No underlayment over the hardwood, like the instructions specified.

I have to say, the Rigid Core was the best floor we found and we're really happy with it.

We opted for the NuCore Performance Whistling Hills Rigid Core. I, too, did extensive research online and tested a sample. Because there were virtually no reviews at the time, we purchased 4 pieces to snap together and lay over carpet (so less support than an official install) and I used this as my flooring under a rolling office chair for a week. Not one scratch, dent or bend even. I also tested with tomato sauce and bleach left on over night - no issues, just wiped up without a stain. And dropped hammers and screwdrivers from overhead - no dings. I believe that there is a HUGE difference in the Performance Line with Nu Core and the Standard line. Every negative review I found was in regards to the Standard line.

We installed ~1200 square feet in living and kitchen spaces about a year ago with no complaints. The only area that we have that "pops" is in a transition from existing house to new addition, which I expected due to a slight height difference. We also did not use an underlayment.

As for feel and temperature - to me it is only slightly cooler than wood floors, not as cool as ceramic tile. The rooms that abut our LVT have both wood and ceramic tile floors, so I regularly feel the difference. Warmest to coolest would be wood, LVT, then ceramic tile. It's softer than ceramic tile, about the same as hardwood flooring (I dropped a glass and it did not break).

Overall, we love it and are thinking about installing it in my husband's workshop since it has been virtually indestructible.

I RECEIVED STORE CREDT AFTER MONTHS OF CORRESPONDENCE, after an inspector came out. Contacted an attorney who wrote a letter on our behalf. Did not reimburse cost for installation.

Just had 1200 sq ft installed of the performance Love the product. No denting or scratching but it does making light popping sounds when walking on it. Can only hope it settles after some time.

Hi Joe, we are thinking about laying the NC Performance Sugar Sand 8mm in our house. Im concerned about the popping sound. We will make sure to have the house leveled. Did you use the recommended Sentinel Protect Plus Underlayment over the concrete? Im hoping by using that we would have less of an ussue if there is one. Thanks for any help you can give!

Yes we used the sentinel protect plus. Floor was leveled to 3/16” inch per install instructions. I believe the popping sounds are due to the limestone SPC core and maybe tiny air pockets, or something with the density during manufacturing process. This is just a theory though. The popping sounds are a bit annoying but not terrible, and likely a minor trade off for having such a dent and scratch proof floor.