Go with the Faux: The Appeal of Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl flooring is having a moment. Once considered an economy flooring product, today’s luxury vinyl offers a host of performance benefits—and a whole lot of style. Using contemporary hi-definition printing technology it’s possible to capture the finer detail within real hardwood and natural stone flooring materials in a durable, vinyl plank.
Many luxury vinyl products have a raised surface texture reminiscent of real tile and hardwood. And some higher-end selections have a surface that is “embossed in-register,” meaning the hardwood image and surface texture follow one another precisely, giving you the best detail and most realistic look possible. These products (both tile and plank formats) can be fully glued down, along with a floating product which uses an interlocking system to connect the planks.
Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) are individual vinyl pieces; when glued-down and grouted they are almost impossible to distinguish from a high-end porcelain tile installation. The preferred method of installation is directly over the original subfloor. (However, the floating version can go over almost any surface.)
Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP). Available in a variety of lengths and widths to give you the look you want. In most cases, the individual planks or tiles represent one individual piece of hardwood or tile allowing the installer to offset the boards as you would for any real hardwood installation, as well as create unique patterns with the tile format.
The benefits of these versatile luxury vinyl products are what make them so attractive to homeowners:
- 100% waterproof & durable which makes it great for use in bathrooms, mudrooms, utility rooms or high-traffic areas of the home
- Easier to install than traditional hardwood and tile flooring
- Cost effective. Get the look of wood, stone or tile at a substantial savings
- Flexible. These products can be easily changed out—not as permanent as other types of flooring
- Comfortable. Unlike hard tile or stone flooring, luxury vinyl maintains a temperature closer to that of the room, which adds warmth to a space—especially in the colder winter months
- Practical. The vinyl is more forgiving than hard tile or stone surfaces—you get a lot less breakage
At The Dover Floor & Tile Center, we offer an exceptional selection of luxury vinyl—and we also have the knowledge and expertise you need to help make the product choices that work for your specific applications. Some customers come if for DIY assistance and others feel more secure knowing our installers will review the project scope and make recommendations based on their exact flooring conditions.
There are a lot of variables to consider when installing new flooring and sometimes its best to leave that to the experts. For example, industry best practices suggest that old flooring be removed down to the subfloor before luxury vinyl flooring is installed. However, in some cases, we can identify when its practical to leave the subfloor and install directly over the existing flooring without compromising the new product performance or warranty coverage.
If you’re looking for some design ideas using high-end luxury vinyl, stop in at our retail center to check out our selection. We’ll help steer you in the right direction.
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