Vinyl Plank Floor Review - Is It All The Same? | Pacific West Floor Decor | Complete Flooring and Carpet
REVIEW: Vinyl Plank Flooring - Good, Bad or Ugly.
What are some of the benefits and problems with vinyl plank flooring?
1. Question: Isn't All Vinyl Plank Flooring The Same?
Answer: No, just like any other type of flooring be it hardwood, laminate, carpet, etc., not all VPF is made the same.
2. Question: What should I look for when buying a vinyl plank floor?
Answer: Look for reviews on the internet for those brands that get high marks from consumers and those that get bad reviews. Typically, the larger brands invest much more into quality to ensure their name is protected. Many of the VPF on the market today comes from high output - low quality manufacturers from countries known for quality control issues.
3. Question: What brands should I look into?
Answer: As some of the larger flooring companies climb on board the wave of vinyl plank flooring, more and more quality flooring can be found. Many of these have offerings in many other types of flooring such as Congoleum, Armstrong, and Tarkett,; whereas companies such as Karndean and Harbinger have been leading the way for years with cutting edge styles and designs as well as constant innovations in quality.
4. Question: So what are the differences between a low-cost vinyl plank floor and these larger brand name floors?
Answer: Here is a small list of the major differences that can be found:
Your Health!!! Off-gassing of toxic chemicals is a major problem with many low priced - low quality floors, even some you may find in surprising outlets. See one of their customer's review here. Many manufacturers use recycled vinyl - which sounds good for the environment - but also can contain unwanted chemicals and is much tougher to control the quality of the finished product. We ourselves have found some of these problems in the early vinyl plank floors, many of these had an attractive price and decent look, but we soon found issues from strong odors emitting from some of these. Today, these issues still widely exist, but mainly with low-cost options manufactured in China. Some of these would dissipate after a few weeks but many seemed to never go away completely and really seemed to come back with warmer temperatures. Karndean and Harbinger use recycled vinyl in their products but take strong precautions to completely control what goes in and what will come out (or not come out). Karndean is certified by Greenguard for Indoor Air Quality and Children / Schools Certified and Harbinger has low VOC certification.
Floor maintenanceThe Finish. Floor finishes vary but typically as with many things in life, you get what you pay for. Low-end, low-quality vinyl plank floors typically have poor finishes that require an initial maintenance to be performed on your new floor soon after installation. Usually this consists of cleaning the floor with a specific cleaner, sealing the floor, and then a finish coat or polish. Failure to perform this initial maintenance may cause future cleaning issues, stains, or marks that may not remove. For the life of the floor you will then need to continue with a maintenance program to keep the floor protected and looking good. Better quality floors now come with low-maintenance factory finishes which do not need any initial maintenance and will never require polish or finishes. Floors such as Karndean and Harbinger have these quality finishes and make your life a whole lot easier while protecting your new floor for the life of your floor.
Warranty Protection: Buying no-name or off-shore vinyl plank flooring, although advertised with 20 - 30 year warranties typically offer very little in actual consumer protection. The opposite is true when buying a quality brand of flooring with the backing of a large flooring distributor and/or manufacturer. Large brand name manufacturers ensure the products they sell will exceed the terms of their warranties, this helps to avoid an issue to begin with, who wants to deal with a problem floor in the first place, even if it is covered by a quality warranty? To give complete consumer protection, make sure to have Pacific West Floor Decor have their own installation service install your new floor giving you complete assurance of a quality installation by experienced professionals - along with a full 2 year installation warranty.
Installation (Glue-down): There are now several methods of installation available today, anywhere from full-spread - permanent glue-down to complete glue-less (floating) installations. The most common among professional quality flooring is the glue-down style. Among glue-down systems, there are 2 major differences... one employs a permanent bonding, wet-set adhesive while the other uses a pressure sensitive (releasable) adhesive. Our recommendation is top leave the wet-set method for the professionals. Harbinger specifies the wet-set adhesive method and although a release adhesive can be used, the warranty provided by Harbinger will be void. The pressure sensitive adhesive method is much more user friendly as it will allow for immediate foot traffic as soon as the plank is placed, the adhesive is completely dry during installation which eliminates the problem of cleaning adhesive off your new floor. Karndean specifies the pressure sensitive adhesive method for their floors and we highly recommend this for even 1st time installers.
Installation (Floating or Glue-less): There is a dramatic increase in the number of new vinyl plank floors using various types of glue-less installation systems. One that has been around for a few years already is the peel and stick system. This uses an adhesive strip found on each plank, to adhere to the following plank. A few things you should be aware of when purchasing one of these products; quality is very important as this system is less forgiving regarding design, quality of the adhesive strip, packaging, etc. Some problems have been found with lower quality flooring in wet areas or areas that have either a higher or lower temperature range such as a basement or a sunny upper room. Next is the click or locking system, the crucial component being obviously the design and strength of the lock. This determines how easy or difficult the installation as well as how the floor will hold together with time. Goodfellow makes a nice inexpensive product that allow for a simple and effective installation. Lastly, is the EcoLay loose lay flooring system. This is based on similar technology as the fiberfloor sheet vinyl flooring. No glue, no locks, no problem... just run a band of double-sided tape around the room perimeter and start installing. Great for renters who want to "take it with them" when they go and then reinstall it in the next place. This floor can also be fully adhered for permanent installations or areas with higher traffic demands.
We strongly recommend Karndean Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring as our #1 Choice!
Call Today for a Free Estimate (604) 584-9269 or E-mail: info@floordecor.ca
Our clients can have assurance in the hardwood and installation they purchase for their home, office or other commercial project in Surrey. We provide only 1st quality materials with full manufacturer warranties and if you have our installation service install your floor, you get a full 2 year warranty on installation as well giving you peace of mind and great value.
