I remembered and found a thread from 2016 where several people were advocating for LVP. Does anyone have it and like or hate it?
I live in Florida and have a concrete slab and need about 1000 SF to go in my open living area that includes living room, kitchen, breakfast nook and dining room. I will probably be installing it myself as I did pretty well with the snap-lock laminate I installed 16 years ago.
Any suggestions or warnings?
I’ve had this stuff down for two years now and it’s been awesome.
https://www.lowes.com/...nk-Flooring/50076951
Guests assume that it’s hardwood and are shocked when I tell them that it’s vinyl. It has enough surface texture and pattern variation that it hides dirt and scuffs pretty well. No noticeable fading near windows so far. I have it in kitchen + bathroom and moisture has not been an issue at all. Dry mop once a week; damp mop before “entertaining” and it still looks like new.
YMMV.
EDIT: caveats – it’s fairly soft and I think pets might scratch it up pretty quickly. And, I strongly recommend against high-gloss finishes as they look fake, and the gloss wears off in high-traffic areas.
Check out SUPERCore SPC they use a solid core that is much more durable from a denting perspective.
I remembered and found a thread from 2016 where several people were advocating for LVP. Does anyone have it and like or hate it?
I live in Florida and have a concrete slab and need about 1000 SF to go in my open living area that includes living room, kitchen, breakfast nook and dining room. I will probably be installing it myself as I did pretty well with the snap-lock laminate I installed 16 years ago.
Any suggestions or warnings?
Two thumbs up. We replaced all our carpets and kitchen tile about three years ago, which was pretty well the entire main floor… We compared it to hardwood and went vinyl plank. Haven’t regretted it. Toyed with the idea of doing it all ourselves but got a pro to do it in the end. Another good decision. If we had done it ourselves it would have looked like we did it ourselves. 
We’ve been using it in commercial office spaces here in FL and it’s worked out nicely.
Love it. Go with the thicker and more expensive stuff for better quality, it makes a difference. Install is super easy. Also get the foam mat that goes under it, it’s generally optional but it’s super cheap. If I recall correctly the foam mat is mainly to prevent sound when walking on it.
I think I was one of the guys commenting on the original thread in 2016.
We put it in our rental suite.
A few tenants and one summer of Airbnb later and it still looks great, even in the kitchen. Really happy with how it held up. We installed it ourselves.
I think I was one of the guys commenting on the original thread in 2016.
We put it in our rental suite.
A few tenants and one summer of Airbnb later and it still looks great, even in the kitchen. Really happy with how it held up. We installed it ourselves.
What type did you put in.
There are many variationsof LVP these days.
I believe the brand was Centra? Centuria? It was not the snap-in style, but the glue down planks. Almost like linoleum tile, but, 6" wide by 48" long, and has that weathered barnboard oak look.
The only reason I opted for that was because the wife of a friend works for a flooring distributor so we got it for just over cost. Installation was super fast. Trowel down glue. Over a couple hundred square feet. Wait for it to tack up, around 20-30 min. Press tile in place. The stuff scores and snaps with a utility knife, so we could cut right where we were working with no dust.
When the installation is done we rolled it with a linoleum roller. Apparently, if it gets damaged, you take a heat gun to it and the individual plank can be lifted and replaced without having to take whole rows out like in click together floors.
I believe the brand was Centra? Centuria? It was not the snap-in style, but the glue down planks. Almost like linoleum tile, but, 6" wide by 48" long, and has that weathered barnboard oak look.
The only reason I opted for that was because the wife of a friend works for a flooring distributor so we got it for just over cost. Installation was super fast. Trowel down glue. Over a couple hundred square feet. Wait for it to tack up, around 20-30 min. Press tile in place. The stuff scores and snaps with a utility knife, so we could cut right where we were working with no dust.
When the installation is done we rolled it with a linoleum roller. Apparently, if it gets damaged, you take a heat gun to it and the individual plank can be lifted and replaced without having to take whole rows out like in click together floors.
The downside of glue down, from my understanding is your need a very flat smooth subfloor or all imperfections will show through.
It really is amazing how the LVP seems to be changing the industry. I was amazed when I was at our kitchen designers showroom and I asked him about it and he said, well your standing on it. This was a pretty high end showroom, and I was really surprised they would use it, but it looked great, I guess just goes to show how far it has come.
Yes and no re:glue down.
I didn’t grind any high spots or fill any low spots before installing over an old basement slab. The flooring went down fine and has stayed down. Sure, the humps telegraph through. So what. Its a rental suite. By some miracle, not a single negative Airbnb review about humps in the floor yet.
It would have cost me around $500 and a couple weekends to level it by myself, probably $2000 to pay someone to do it. We were on a tight budget so just thought it wasn’t worth it.
Any other flooring choice short of carpet would fail if installed without the prepwork.
Yes and no re:glue down.
I didn’t grind any high spots or fill any low spots before installing over an old basement slab. The flooring went down fine and has stayed down. Sure, the humps telegraph through. So what. Its a rental suite. By some miracle, not a single negative Airbnb review about humps in the floor yet.
It would have cost me around $500 and a couple weekends to level it by myself, probably $2000 to pay someone to do it. We were on a tight budget so just thought it wasn’t worth it.
Any other flooring choice short of carpet would fail if installed without the prepwork.
Whoa, chill dude. Not saying there’s anything wrong with a glue down just letting the OP know. Also different types of defects on subfloor, concrete can have small bumps that are a bigger issue, on Wood subfloors, you need to worry about nail’s not being flush, or if hammered to deep. Every flooring has pro’s and cons.
I absolutely didn’t mean to come off as testy or anything there. Sorry if there was some miscommunication.
I remembered and found a thread from 2016 where several people were advocating for LVP. Does anyone have it and like or hate it?
I live in Florida and have a concrete slab and need about 1000 SF to go in my open living area that includes living room, kitchen, breakfast nook and dining room. I will probably be installing it myself as I did pretty well with the snap-lock laminate I installed 16 years ago.
Any suggestions or warnings?
Most of them are pretty good from a durability standpoint. As was mentioned earlier the WPC (Wood Plastic Composite) floors are a bit more prone to indentation whereas rigid core floor has a higher PSI.
What you pay more for is a better look. The more costly floors have an HD image and are embossed and registered. That means the image matches the texture of the floor. They are really realistic looking.
I’m a fan of the Mannington AduraMax Apex line. It is rigid core, embossed and registered, longer lengths and wider. It’s really easy to install.
This whole category of flooring is taking over the industry for good reason. If my wife wasn’t hung up on having real wood it’s what I would use at home.
Do you feel they are taking over the flooring industry or just replacing laminate?
Do you feel they are taking over the flooring industry or just replacing laminate?
It has killed laminate but is also taking big chunks from wood, sheet vinyl, and regular old vinyl tile. With a less skilled labor pool it makes things easier for a retailer. The only gotcha is how flat the subfloor is.
Most of them are pretty good from a durability standpoint. As was mentioned earlier the WPC (Wood Plastic Composite) floors are a bit more prone to indentation whereas rigid core floor has a higher PSI.
Our Kitchen guys, uses Coretex pro which is a WPC not an SPC. I am a bit worried about denting but hopefully not an issue. If I were doing it myself I think I would go with. SUPERCore SPC
Any thoughts on the SUPERCore product?
I know this video is extreme, but its effective marketing and has me concerned.
US Floors Coretec Plus is the company that invented the market. We sell a ton of that exact product and have never had a complaint about it denting.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Do you feel they are taking over the flooring industry or just replacing laminate?
I specd about 30,000 SF a couple years ago for a wedding hall. They chose a nice one that I can remember over hardwood. Nice dark LVT. Click down. Probably $5/SF installed iirc.
Interesting. I haven’t seen many people opt for it over hardwood, but, it has certainly taken the place of laminate and other types of flooring here.
Also, I primarily work in residential construction, and generally higher end remodels, so, hardwood or engineered hardwood is still king in my little world. A wedding hall or other high use area like that would be a shoe in for that type of flooring. I see it a lot in retail stores, etc. I think that really speaks to it’s durability.
The floor may last 30-50 years, but, I wonder if the style and popularity of the product will :-).