LVT/Vinyl plank flooring durability?

Question

I have a couple of townhouses I'm working on and flooring will be one of the decisions. The first is for my daughter and it's on a concrete slab. She wants to do tile but the slab would need more prep due to old vinyl sheetstock glue still sticking making tile even more expensive than it inherently is.

I've used laminate in one of my other rentals and it was ok but is too susceptible to water damage. (once where a fridge leaked water in an adjacent kitchen and once when tenants left a door open during a heavy rain.)

So how durable is lvt in the floating plank variety? Anyone here with experience using it over time?

Keith Lewis · Answer

I've sold LVT for close to 30 years. The products nowadays run the gamut from crap to quality like anything else. Look for at least an 8 mil wearlayer and a scratch resistant finish preferably AO or Ceramic Bead. 2.5 mm thickness is the least I'd recommend, preferring to stay with a 3mm or 4mm as they don't show irregularities in the subfloor as easily. A fibeerglass inner core helps with dimensional stability and the product should be annealed, a process that treats the product from shrinking. Use rhe recommended adhesive and trowel no9tch and always roll the installation with a 100# roller. If using a self stick then use a primer made for floors to handle floor dust and still use the 100# roller.

Account Closed · Answer

@John SemanchukThanks so much for the update - really appreciate it.What -did your daughter get threatened with a lawsuit by her tenants??

Account Closed · Answer

@John SemanchukHi John, Was wondering what you ended up installing. We're in the process of replacing hardwood floor in the studio that sounds very much like yours. And looking into installing the LVT, but wanted to hear your experience first.Would appreciate if you could let me know.Thanks!

John Semanchuk · Answer

No, she's living in the townhouse, has one roommate and is airbnb-ing the other bdrm. Lumber Liquidators got in trouble for importing Chinese laminate flooring that has unacceptable levels of formaldehyde. There was class action lawsuits started but I haven't followed them. I'm sure my daughter has been keeping up with the news on that.

John Semanchuk · Answer

Hi @Joanna L.,the budget was there and my daughter decided on tile. She found some very pretty marble at lowes for ~$2 sqft. It looks great and will last. We have $175k into that townhouse (Dad's discount time) and it appraised at $275k when we were done so it is a success and I don't begrudge her the money spent on the tile.The second townhouse that I was going to make a rental... I changed course and decided to make it a flip. To that end I found some returned 3/4" T&G Pre-finished oak at Lowes and bought it at a discount. Now I'm promoting that townhouse as having all REAL 3/4" oak throughout except for the original tile in the bathroom. Some interested parties but no serious bites yet.I don't think I would have put the oak in a rental. My daughter chose clik together laminate from Lumber Liquidators for the upstairs of her place and now we're wondering about the formaldehyde levels and whether she should be involved in the lawsuits....

John Semanchuk · Answer

I don't know how to do the @somebody replies but I thank everyone for the info. Chris K, I admit I'm a little disappointed that floor imperfections will telegraph through the flooring. Where we removed the old linoleum tile still has glue and such down and I was hoping to go right over that. George Paiva, about using wood...The house is on slab and below the FEMA base flood elevation. I don't think it's ever flooded but thought the vinyl would be more likely to stand up to water if it should happen. Ceramic tile would be my next choice, but I'm choking on the expense and there would be a bit of slab prep to do to get tile to stick, I think. That prep might be true with glue down wood as well, I'm not sure. I also figured I can do the vinyl myself and nail down wood is no issue for me too but I have no experience gluing wood. Steve Babiak, those links are interesting (and a little scary) but exactly what I want to hear about vinyl flooring.... real life opinions. Matt Overbee, Click together appeals to me most too and I'll have to look further into that. The slab floor will be one of the last steps and it may all depend on where the budget is at that point. John

John Semanchuk · Answer

Sorry everyone, I've had a real estate crisis come up and have not been able to get back to my own question. I appreciate the answers and will look them over completely later.

Matt Overbee · Answer

Yeah I would say the click together probably is best if you're willing to pay a little more. I was trying to stay under $2/sqft, so I went with the Allure glue strip kind @John Semanchuk is talking about. Repairing wasn't too bad cause I wasn't even finished and noticed the screw didn't set well and was sticking up so I was able to catch it in time. Otherwise I believe you would have to use a heat gun to heat the glue strip and separate the piece that needs to be replaced.

Chris K. · Answer

The first kind I put down was a floating floor, it was just the Allure planks that had the sticky strips on them. I didn't like them because if you layed one of them with a small gap it could throw the whole install off. The click together stuff will always line up perfectly.

Steve Babiak · Answer

You might want to read this: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/76696-trafficmaster-allure-ultra-wood-vinyl-planks?page=2#p647966