vinyl plank vs laminate flooring

[moncton golden flames]

the wife and i are in the process of building a new home and more specifically, we are exploring our flooring options for the main floor. we have been to a few places looking at laminate flooring, but we noticed a nice wood pattern that we loved made of vinyl plank.

does anybody have any experience with vinyl plank flooring and how it compares to regular laminate flooring? we have a dog and plan on kids, so what is more durable?

anyway, just looking for pros and cons so we can make an educated decision. thank in advance.

[photon]

I've used vinyl plank in a few rental properties and I think that I will use it in more, seems more durable than laminate.

The downside to me was that it still was a vinyl product, it looks quite good but there are still nicer laminates.

[surferguy]

talk to Bigtime. He will give you the no BS run down and benefits of each.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by surferguy

talk to Bigtime. He will give you the no BS run down and benefits of each.

i was thinking of dropping him a pm, thanks for the reminder.

[ranchlandsselling]

I want to read the replies, why does it have to go to PM

[onetwo_threefour]

I've used vinyl plank flooring a couple of times and been quite happy in two applications. I used the Trafficmaster Allure sold at Home Depot both times, once a wood grain, the second was one of the non wood grain options, but not one that looked like tile either.

Anyway, used the walnut-look one over the entire basement floor including laundry area bathroom, bar, living room and workout area over existing mix of concrete, ceramic tile, and ancient peel-and-stick tile (probably containing asbestos). We lived with it for about 6 years before selling the house and were fairly impressed with the wear. (Had two dogs and a cat and two kids for most of that period). If you drag heavy furniture or drop heavy dumbbells on it, it will dent, but for standard use it is fairly bullet proof. Interestingly, if it does scscratch and leave a white scratch, you can take a similar coloured sharpie, colour in the scratches and then rub them around with your thumb and found the scratches became effecitvely invisible. Now this was in a basementn where the lighting was forgiving in terms of notcing any fakeness, but it was visually pleasing and not obviously fake looking.

The second application was in our mainfloor bath over existning cheap lino. We used a modern looking bluish-grey non-wood-patterned plank and again were super-pleased with the results. In that vase we weren't going for wither a hardwood or tile look and it looked great when finished. We did that about two years before selling and were happy with the wear as well.

Some of the features I appreciated were the water proofness of the floor and the fact that it's not glued to the floor. You can actually lift it up from a corner once it's installed if you need to get access underneath. Although it is stiff and heavy, so it's only useful in a limited sense to be able to do that. The other plus is a super easy and fairly forgiving install.

Downsides are probably really just whether you like the look of the stuff. Didn't have any negative experience with it at all.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

I want to read the replies, why does it have to go to PM

i was hoping Bigtime would reply in here, i was just hoping a pm would get a quicker response. if he replies via pm, i will post it here.

[surferguy]

He will reply once he is done his latte

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by surferguy

He will reply once he is done his latte

great, we'll never hear from him! guys like him have bottomless lattes.

[Bigtime]

Will reply in the am, had a busy day on the golf course today.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

I've used vinyl plank flooring a couple of times and been quite happy in two applications. I used the Trafficmaster Allure sold at Home Depot both times, once a wood grain, the second was one of the non wood grain options, but not one that looked like tile either.

Anyway, used the walnut-look one over the entire basement floor including laundry area bathroom, bar, living room and workout area over existing mix of concrete, ceramic tile, and ancient peel-and-stick tile (probably containing asbestos). We lived with it for about 6 years before selling the house and were fairly impressed with the wear. (Had two dogs and a cat and two kids for most of that period). If you drag heavy furniture or drop heavy dumbbells on it, it will dent, but for standard use it is fairly bullet proof. Interestingly, if it does scscratch and leave a white scratch, you can take a similar coloured sharpie, colour in the scratches and then rub them around with your thumb and found the scratches became effecitvely invisible. Now this was in a basementn where the lighting was forgiving in terms of notcing any fakeness, but it was visually pleasing and not obviously fake looking.

The second application was in our mainfloor bath over existning cheap lino. We used a modern looking bluish-grey non-wood-patterned plank and again were super-pleased with the results. In that vase we weren't going for wither a hardwood or tile look and it looked great when finished. We did that about two years before selling and were happy with the wear as well.

Some of the features I appreciated were the water proofness of the floor and the fact that it's not glued to the floor. You can actually lift it up from a corner once it's installed if you need to get access underneath. Although it is stiff and heavy, so it's only useful in a limited sense to be able to do that. The other plus is a super easy and fairly forgiving install.

Downsides are probably really just whether you like the look of the stuff. Didn't have any negative experience with it at all.

This is a really good breakdown of some of the pros/cons of vinyl versus the laminate.

Personally I have found that a lot of people find the "feel" and look of the vinyl to be somewhat cold, so for an entire floor some may consider it too much.

Another big factor is price point, laminates are still by far the price leader, ranging anywhere from 0$0.69 to $1.99 per square foot, you may find the odd vinyl plank starting around $1.99 so there is some overlap, but expect most of the good stuff to be in the $2.00-$3.00 range.

I too have found that the vinyl can scratch quite easily, but is very resistant to dents and dings, the scratch resistance is where laminate seems to have the edge here. However as onetwo_threefour says you can usually fix up scratches with a similar coloured marker (this can even work with hardwood floors).

Installation wise I'd say both are pretty easy, my lines here are glueless click systems and go together very easily. Vinyl gets an edge because all you need to cut it is a construction knife, just break off the blade every 50sf or so and it cuts it nice and easily. No dust, no real mess.

As it stands right now most retailers are still carrying more decors of laminates versus vinyls (my mix is probably around 45 laminates and 20 vinyls), but vinyl is definitely becoming more and more popular so more decors and styles are coming out from the manufacturers all the time.

The one big thing for vinyl is that it is 100% waterproof, I can't say that for any other flooring product I carry here.

Any other questions fire away!

Oh and one more thing, ALWAYS go with "Virgin PVC" over recycled on a vinyl floor, also make sure the vinyl you go with has a fiberglass layer in it for added stability (all of mine do).

[nickerjones]

This has nothing to do with the question but do most people use laminate/vinyl flooring here? It seems like most of the places I have been in use it. Just curious as to why. In Oklahoma we use tile where the people here use the laminate/vinyl. Is tile not a viable option here?

[Bigtime]

Lots of tile here too, but you see it more in kitchens/foyers/bathrooms.

Quite a lot of solid hardwood and engineered hardwood here too.

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by nickerjones

This has nothing to do with the question but do most people use laminate/vinyl flooring here? It seems like most of the places I have been in use it. Just curious as to why. In Oklahoma we use tile where the people here use the laminate/vinyl. Is tile not a viable option here?

In my case it was about a cost-effective do-it-yourself solution in a 50 year old house that I wasn't willing to sink money into. I've never tiled and the vinyl plank seemed like a good option in a basement/bathroom setting over a laminate.

[oilyfan]

Originally Posted by nickerjones

This has nothing to do with the question but do most people use laminate/vinyl flooring here? It seems like most of the places I have been in use it. Just curious as to why. In Oklahoma we use tile where the people here use the laminate/vinyl. Is tile not a viable option here?

Tile feels too cold for our climate, works well in warmer climates like the Southern states.

[photon]

Tile could be an option too, I saw a product at Home Depot (or Lowes maybe) where it was large tiles, but the tiles had a groove in the edges, and plastic inserts, so you would put down the tile floor and tap them together as you went, ending up with a floating tile floor.

Crazy stuff nowadays.

[Sliver]

Hey Bigtime, do you have any products for use as a garage floor?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Hey Bigtime, do you have any products for use as a garage floor?

I used to carry a product called Bergo, it was from Sweden and it was an excellent interlocking floor tile. http://www.bergoflooring.com/en/

Unfortunately after carrying it for about a decade it just never really took off, it was one of those items where people wanted a price point of around $1.99/sf or less and this stuff was more than that.

There are a lot of similar products to it out here in our market, I just don't carry that type of line here anymore.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

I used to carry a product called Bergo, it was from Sweden and it was an excellent interlocking floor tile. http://www.bergoflooring.com/en/

Unfortunately after carrying it for about a decade it just never really took off, it was one of those items where people wanted a price point of around $1.99/sf or less and this stuff was more than that.

There are a lot of similar products to it out here in our market, I just don't carry that type of line here anymore.

Okay cool, thanks for the reply. It is hard to justify spending a lot on a garage floor since you don't even really need anything, anyway.

[photon]

And the downside I would have with that kind of garage floor is keeping it clean, the whole reason I want something on my garage floor is it's a pain to clean, and that would make it even worse, the dirt would just build up underneath.

Painting the garage floor just seems like a better option, but that would mean cleaning out my garage completely, which is never going to happen.