SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
alcamu74

Residential quality LVP floors are not good for wheelchair bound ppl.

Disaster Geneva
9 months ago

I bought a recently remodeled house a little bit over 3 years ago. The house was built in 2008 and the brand new floating click lock LVP floors that were just installed over the concrete subfloor looked amazing.
LVP manufacturer’s websites do not disclose up-front on their websites that wheelchair users must buy a house with Commercial Quality LVP’s if they want it to last.
But, who puts commercial LVP floors on a house when building or remodeling one?

Also, most LVP (residential) warranty documents I have been reading up to now specify that any damage due to caster wheels, office chairs, or improper rolling load’s damage won’t be covered by their warranty. Not everyone receives those documents when buying a house, though.
Being wheelchair bound, I’m a heavy rolling load going around all day on my residential floating LVP’s.

The manufacturer doesn’t cover the damage and the installer blamed me for buying a house with floors that are not ADA compliant. Although, my research results before purchasing my house did not show any issue regarding using a Wheelchair on a house with LVP floors. At the contrary, a quick google search will show you that “while traditional vinyl is considered too soft for easy wheelchair movement, today’s luxury vinyl tiles or planks must be perfect for your spaces.”
In addition, Ada.Gov doesn’t say anything regarding the type of floors handicapped people must get; only that the floors “must be level, firm, and slip resistant.”

Beware before buying new floors, or a new house if you are wheelchair bound, or using a rolling walker.
Always read the LVP Warranty documents first!
If not, you could find yourself in the middle of a battle between the installation and manufacturing companies, and being forced to pay out of pocket for the broken LVP floor’s replacement.
In addition to the stress of boxing everything and moving out of your house temporarily, in the meantime the work is being done.

Note: The broken areas in my house do not receive sunlight, and I don’t have humidity issues. The concrete seems fine on the garage, back patio, and driveway.
The broken areas are the places where I roll the most, kitchen, bathroom, dining and bedroom.
I think the residential LVP’s Warranty documents not covering caster wheels’s damage says it all.

If you know of someone living on a house with LVP floors and using a wheelchair, that have been doing great for more than 10 years, please let me know. I’m not sure what to buy next to fix this nightmare. Some people say glued down LVP could work better, but who knows without a proof?

I’m sharing my experience with the hopes that my tale would save a fellow wheelchair user from a bad experience like mine. Good luck to all!
And thank you in advance for any real life good experience of a wheelchair rolling on LVP floors.

Comments (13)