"Luxury" Vinyl

[Spicoli43]

Hi, I see threads on vinyl flooring, but most go back a decade or more. Does anybody have current luxury vinyl flooring that works well with pets / is waterproof?

I'm looking for opinions from people that have had the product down for a year or more with good results. I would value opinions here much more than reviews from "real people" on the store sites.

I'm replacing carpet / fake wood laminate in the house since it was built in 2006. I assume the floor is all flat because of the age of the house.

I'm basically down to the following 3 brands, but if people have real good opinions of others, I'm all ears...

Thanks.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Mohawk-7-Piece-7-84-in-x-47-8-in-Parkfield-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring/1000560719

https://www.lowes.com/pd/ProCore-Plus-10-Piece-7-in-x-47-75-in-Tudor-Oak-Luxury-Locking-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring/1000848714

https://www.wayfair.com/home-improvement/pdp/msi-parkland-country-stable-713-x-4803-x-5mm-luxury-vinyl-plank-mvp10015.html?

 

[bud16415]

I have done several laminate jobs going back to when it was first invented and only was T&G and the pieces needed to be glued together at the T&G and then float as a whole floor. I have never installed vinyl but my nephew did his kitchen dining room in vinyl lay down planks a few years ago. It looked beautiful at first and then the first summer with a couple windows and a sliding door the sunlight spot heated the floor and the joints opened and closed with thermal expansion.


Here is an article about it.


https://www.flooring-professionals.com/flooring-resources/thermal-expansion-luxury-vinyl-tile-plank-flooring/


I have no idea if these problems have been fixed or not. Other than that it is a nice product to work with and looks nice. I would use it in a finished basement for sure.


Welcome to the forum.

 

[Spicoli43]

Thanks, Bud.

The front of my house faces North, so I don't have to worry about that at all. The South was brutal, as in I couldn't even go on the deck that was there for a few minutes in the summer. I scrapped that and had a patio cover put on that eliminates the sun beat down 95 percent or so. I know what you're talking about though, as the floor in the dining room by the back door shows 8 years worth of the sun, while the floor behind the back wall doesn't show any wear.

One brand I was looking at had ridiculous warranty info, as in it sounded nearly impossible for anyone to do a good install and be covered. (Breathe on it wrong, and it's not covered)... That's basically what I'm looking to avoid. The problem is, if you go into Lowe's, nobody there has a clue about anything, and of course Online stores don't either.

 

[bud16415]

We have some pro flooring guys here so hang in there and they will drop in I'm sure. We are a small forum so everyone isn't here all the time, but the folks we have know their stuff. The search feature works also. Sometimes you can find out a lot from old threads.

 

[Spicoli43]

That works for me. I have to get all my ducks in a row as far as knowing the warranties, having all the install equipment, convincing my body that it's a good idea etc..

 

[bud16415]

I hear ya and especially the body part. I’m 64 now and working on my knees is getting a little dicey.


I say I work smarter now not harder and I also don’t try and set any speed records. If it takes a week it takes a week.


Putting down this snap together flooring is not that hard skill wise the worst part of the job is getting everything out of the area and getting a good smooth surface to lay it on.

 

[Spicoli43]

I'm late 40's, Feel 80 in the morning. I know the felling of Used to Could. Every time I lay down to change the oil, I remind myself it's $6000 for a Car Lift. I'm too old to sell myself on the corner though!

 

[oldognewtrick]

I ripped the carpet and vinyl sheet out of my camper last year and put downwn LVP, couldn't be any happier with it.

 

[Spicoli43]

That camper looks great, but I would screw it up with gravel on the bottom of a cooler, fish guts with the smell that never goes away etc.

Can I get the Manufacturer name?

 

[rbm328]

we put down luxury evp from Lumber Liquidators and couldn't be more happy with it. strongly advise you check them out too. its waterproof (we have dogs and grandchildren). without going to look, our planks were extremely heavy (installer said heaviest hes ever put down) and we also installed upgraded underlay. we've had it for over a year and absolutely love it. don't go to lowes - i used to work there.

 

[Spicoli43]

Thanks rbm, LL isn't here, but I remember when they had problems with off gassing. Do you think that is resolved?

Don't go to Lowe's because they carry inferior brands, or don't get them to install?

I have been burned by their garbage appliances (Samsung, Maytag), but I go there because they are the only ones with a Military discount.

 

[Jeff Handy]

http://community.homedepot.com/howto/DiscussionDetail/Offical-Military-Discount-Policy-906500000004mI8

 

[Spicoli43]

http://community.homedepot.com/howto/DiscussionDetail/Offical-Military-Discount-Policy-906500000004mI8

Home Depot here is hit and miss. Lumber has no military discount, I wouldn't think flooring does either. If it's "consumable", there is no discount, whatever that means. I have gotten discounts on tape measures, knee pads, tool bags etc. The limit at HD is $50.

I bought all the Cedar planks, 2x4's, Brackets etc. for a long section of my fence at Lowe's, and the discount ended up being around $250.

 

[rbm328]

Spicoli43, i do believe that LL's gassing problem has been resolved as we had absolutely NO problems with our floor and we did a 15'x15' den, 11'x11' front living room, entry way and hallway to our bedrooms with absolutely no smell.
as for lowes, i used to work there PT. they have standard brands, but sometimes not all same lot # or not enough boxes or corporate didn't get off their a** and order the correct items.

as for LL, they weren't pushy and extremely helpful. they also do military discount (i'm retired uscg). i believe they also have sub-contractors that install, but we had someone. next house, we'll go back with LL.
you said you didn't have any LL around you. my closest stores were all an hour+ away (I live in NE Alabama) but we visited all of them (to see if any had different items. and yes, some did).

i'll try post some pics for ya

hth
rich

 

[Spicoli43]

That looks great, Rich. The nearest LL is 500 miles away in Idaho. There is other flooring places here, but for everything I can find at Lowe's, all the other joints are wickedly expensive. I'll probably check them out anyway, but even Costco is much more expensive than Lowe's.

I can tell there isn't a whole lot of brain activity at Lowe's corporate based on my experiences. Anybody can tell that to some degree when they check out (The 1970's computer program). The managers here are great, the only exception they don't make is Brickseek items that the store 100 miles away has for cheaper. I don't expect them to match those prices though.

Aaron

 

[Spicoli43]

I have decided on Wellmade Golden Arowana Sandalwood from Costco because I got a sample from them, and it's solid, better than I expected. It also has underlayment attached, at the in warehouse price of $1.90 sf, and is the same color as my cat. Now to the questions.

First is an opinion, would you do the entire common areas with one shade, and the bathrooms with a slightly different shade, as in the pic? I have enough for the bathrooms and laundry room in a different color, but don't know the reaction of a perspective buyer.

Second is what I should do where the LVP will meet the bathtub. Besides gluing that first piece down, then caulking, I can't think of anything else?

Thanks.

 

[mabloodhound]

I would NOT do the bathroom in a different color if it abuts the other room(s). Just my opinion.

 

[Spicoli43]

I would NOT do the bathroom in a different color if it abuts the other room(s). Just my opinion.

Ok, what about bedrooms?

 

[Sparky617]

Some guys from our church and I just installed a bunch in our new assistant pastor's house. We did about 800 square feet of it on the entire first floor. We used the same flooring for all the rooms, MBR, master bath, kitchen, dining, half bath, living room and entry way. We did need to use transition strips in a few places as the kitchen and bathrooms were different heights. We also used them were we had to change the direction we laid the floor. It all runs the same (east/west) direction, but we had to reverse the direction (tongue v groove) we laid it. Trying to install it backwards is difficult.

The more expensive the product the easier installation goes.

We had some installed in a large classroom at church. It does seem to scratch easily there with chairs and tables being dragged across it. The room is large and loud. I wanted to install commercial carpet in that room to soak up the noise, but was over-ruled. Turns out I was right, we'll probably install carpet in that room at some point. Being a large open room hard surfaces on all four walls, a hard floor and drywall ceiling there isn't much to absorb sound. Not usually a problem in a house with upholstered furniture and other stuff to absorb the sound.

 

[Spicoli43]

Some guys from our church and I just installed a bunch in our new assistant pastor's house. We did about 800 square feet of it on the entire first floor. We used the same flooring for all the rooms, MBR, master bath, kitchen, dining, half bath, living room and entry way. We did need to use transition strips in a few places as the kitchen and bathrooms were different heights. We also used them were we had to change the direction we laid the floor. It all runs the same (east/west) direction, but we had to reverse the direction (tongue v groove) we laid it. Trying to install it backwards is difficult.

The more expensive the product the easier installation goes.

We had some installed in a large classroom at church. It does seem to scratch easily there with chairs and tables being dragged across it. The room is large and loud. I wanted to install commercial carpet in that room to soak up the noise, but was over-ruled. Turns out I was right, we'll probably install carpet in that room at some point. Being a large open room hard surfaces on all four walls, a hard floor and drywall ceiling there isn't much to absorb sound. Not usually a problem in a house with upholstered furniture and other stuff to absorb the sound.

I could do all one shade, but then I have the extra color, probably 700 sf of it.

I would put in that flat carpeting in the classroom. I don't even know if it's called carpet.