6 Reasons For Going With Vinyl Flooring

~ This is a featured post. ~

Vinyl used to be viewed as a budget option when it came to flooring and it always carried a sort of stigma around it, until recently. Vinyl flooring has evolved by leaps and bounds over the last few years and is now becoming a genuine option for both budget and luxury flooring. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages vinyl has to offer and see if it’s the flooring option for you.

It can Genuinely Compete with Hardwood

There was a time when hardwood and vinyl were in two completely different categories. But now, with all the different types of vinyl flooring available, vinyl is up there with hardwood and tile as a high-end option. Luxury vinyl plank, or LVP for short, has many of the advantages of hardwood floors without the disadvantages. For one, it’s incredibly easy to install and can be done in a fraction of the time it would take with hardwood floor.

Second, it’s much cheaper and the difference when it comes to aesthetics is barely noticeable. And you can get tons of different textures too. If you want something that looks like distressed stone in the bathroom or old beech hardwood in the bedroom, the choice is yours.

What’s great is that there will hardly be a difference in price between the two. When compared with any other flooring option, LVP usually beats hardwood, stone and ceramic tiling in terms of price. This can make a huge difference when comes the time to redo the floors for an entire house.

Luxury vinyl tile or planks can replicate textures so well that’s it's almost impossible to see with the naked eye. The type of technology used today produces results that are truly impressive. You can get the texture of any material you want, without the disadvantages and limitations that come with them. You can get stone without it feeling incredibly cold, or hardwood without having to deal with it warping over time.

Another great advantage of luxury vinyl plank flooring is that it’s 100% waterproof. Which means that you can get much more creative and have more flexibility as to which type of look you can go for. Hardwood floors in the bathroom don’t seem so crazy right now, and you’ll have literally thousands of different patterns to choose from.

In addition to being easy to install, LVP is also very easy to maintain as well. LVP won’t scuff or stain as easily as other options and can be cleaned with nothing but a duster or a mop, which can’t usually be done with hardwood floors. All you have to do is make sure that you take preventative measures and make sure that you don’t drag heavy objects on the floor and you’ll have a great looking floor for years to come.

Luxury vinyl planks also have some padding underneath, making them noticeably easier on the feet than other types of flooring. And some will also have an advanced coating that will make them more resistant against stains, scratches, fading, and moisture.

Perfect for High Traffic Areas

Another great advantage of vinyl flooring is how resistant it can be. Vinyl has always been a popular choice for kitchens for this very reason. Now, with luxury vinyl planks, you can get a high-end look in your kitchen without worrying about scuffs, marks and spills staining the floor.

Vinyl flooring is one of the most resilient and durable options, which makes it a great choice for areas that see a lot of foot traffic. Families with small children love vinyl since they don’t have to think about it being damaged by heavy items or banging toys for instance. If there’s generally a lot of foot traffic in your home, and maybe a few pets, then vinyl is a perfect choice.

It is Highly Resistant to Fire

Another great thing about vinyl is how fire resistant it is. Most are made from flame resistant polymer and a lot of vinyl flooring is composed of non-combustible fillers and additives such as calcium carbonate, which makes it even more fire resistant. As a matter of fact, it is one of the few materials to meet the requirements of the National Fire Protection’s National Electrical Code.

Easy to Install

All vinyl floors tend to be very easy to install. You can even do it yourself with little experience. However, it’s always better to go with a professional if you want better results. Planks and tiles already have a stick and peel adhesive attached to them, so you don’t need to worry about things like applying grout for instance.

Vinyl planks are also much thinner than other options, which makes them lighter and easier to work with. They can be installed on any level, even basements, and can often be installed on existing floors, as long as the surface is level.

If you are interested in installing the floor yourself, the main thing you have to look out for is making sure that you are working on an even surface. The floor underneath needs to be perfectly level or you’ll see some imperfections. Any lumps or bumps will stick out when installing the floor, so make sure that the surface is perfectly smooth before you start.

Eco-Friendly

It may seem counterintuitive to call a synthetic material like vinyl “eco-friendly”, but the impact vinyl flooring production has on the environment is much lesser than other options like stone or hardwood for instance.

And since vinyl is so durable and has such a long lifespan, you won’t have to replace it as often, which eventually leads to less waste. Not to mention that many manufacturers these days manufacture their flooring products using recycled materials, making them a great option if sustainable building materials are a priority to you.

Conclusion

Vinyl is probably the most versatile flooring option available today and is great for all types of needs and budgets. If you want to learn more about vinyl flooring, we suggest you contact a supplier today and see which options are open to you.