Vinyl flooring got a bit of a bad reputation back in the 1970’s partially because its tacky and sticky plastic sheets were poor imitations of real materials.
However, luxury vinyl flooring pretty much reinvented vinyl.
Pros of Luxury Vinyl Flooring
- Luxury vinyl flooring is much higher quality than regular vinyl flooring and is now a desirable flooring material. Just like new 3D glasses technology made a comeback, new materials and printing technology have given consumers much better quality floors.
- Luxury vinyl flooring comes in a wide variety of colours and textures that are cheaper than their real counterpart materials.
- Unlike traditional sheet vinyl flooring, luxury vinyl flooring comes in tiles or planks which means it’s easier to replace them. For example, the Karndean LooseLay tiles and planks that we used for our project at The Stress Exchange are great because we can remove the tiles for cleaning or replacement without affecting the entire floor.
- Unlike wood flooring, luxury vinyl flooring isn’t damaged by moisture; maintaining its shape thanks to its durable material. It also doesn’t get marked by heeled shoes or scratch as easily.
- Luxury vinyl flooring is installable without the use of grout, which makes it a cleaner and more durable solution than some other flooring types.
Cons of Luxury Vinyl Flooring
- Luxury vinyl flooring can cost a lot more than carpet tiles to install.
- The sub-floor preparation has to be perfect as any imperfections in the original floor will otherwise show through.
- Once laid, luxury vinyl tiles or planks are difficult to remove because they are stuck down with strong adhesive. Carpet tiles, on the other hand, are easily removed and replaced.
- Luxury vinyl flooring needs to be professionally installed, especially with some of the more advanced vinyl flooring that has a more intricate design; for example, some can have borders or other motifs. Professional installation is also needed because if water gets to the adhesive, it’ll no longer be effective.
- One of the downsides to using luxury vinyl is that they have a terrible reputation for the environment due to the possibility of them emitting VOC(volatile organic compound) gases. However, at Selby Carpets we take environmental sustainability seriously—see our blog post Recycling, Gruffalo’s and floods.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for hard flooring that covers a large high-traffic area, then luxury vinyl flooring is the perfect solution. We would recommend either carpet tiles or luxury vinyl tiles as the standard for most flooring. Other types of flooring are the exception; for example, you may want wood for less-heavily used small luxury areas or safety flooring for canteens.
