smartcore and other luxury vinyl plank flooring

[Tybee]

I did not make up the luxury vinyl plank flooring as in my opinion nothing made of vinyl is luxurious, but that is what they call this stuff now, to distinguish it from old school vinyl flooring?

Anyway, has anyone put this stuff down in their house, and would you consider it? We are looking at a range of flooring materials and bamboo is currently high on the charts for us, but our neighbor put in lvp flooring and it looked wonderful, plus you could have dogs, mud, kids, snow, etc, on it no problem.

I don;t know. What do you guys think of it:

https://www.calibamboo.com/product-natural-eucalyptus-pro-vinyl-hardwood-floor-alternative-7904008701.html

https://smartcorefloors.com/

I would only put it in the kitchen/bath maybe family room if it was attached to the kitchen.

[Teacher Terry]

We put in a vinyl pergo that still looks like new after 8 years. We put it in the rooms with no hardwood.

[Tybee]

that looking new after 8 years is a high compliment.

[herbgeek]

We put in what was called luxury vinyl plank last year (sorry don't remember the exact brand) in our kitchen and downstairs bath. Its a light grey to look like stone. Super easy to clean, no grooves for junk to get into. Its also quiet to walk on (as opposed to the hardwood elsewhere) and dropped items don't shatter as easily.

[Tybee]

Yes, quiet and easy to clean is good.

[SteveinMN]

We put LVT (luxury vinyl tile) in our kitchen (Mannington brand, for what that's worth).

It's a different product than sheet vinyl (that 6- or 12-foot roll of flooring that many people had installed and which some people still call "linoleum" [though that's a very different product from vinyl]) or those abstract-looking tiles many of us remember from schoolrooms in the 50s and 60s. The "luxury" part also refers to the quality of the material -- much thicker, better textures and printing processes so the floor looks more realistic, harder wear layers, and they play on the "tile" (or "plank") aspect of the product, sometimes by beveling the edges or adding an interlocking mechanism rather than just butting the edges of pieces together.

Ours is a median-priced house in our city. It's not uncommon at all to see LVT/LVP in kitchens and rec rooms in houses in this price range. It's not uncommon to see sheet vinyl or vinyl tile in the lower price ranges. We didn't want stone or ceramic; I am not a fan of wood in kitchens, laundry rooms, etc. Linoleum (it's still for sale) was a good idea but expensive to do in most cases. I really dislike laminate -- the look, the sound. I know other people love it, but not me. That pretty much left us vinyl. Ours has been in place for several years and it shows no signs of wear. It's also quieter than laminate and things dropped on it don't always break. I would never call it "upscale" but it does its job well and was a good solution for us since none of the other options left us happy. And while vinyl floors generally can't be recycled, the actual recycling of most floor materials is no better.

The products you linked to look good; fairly typical to better of their kind. I guess it comes down to what people expect to find in homes in your price range. LVT/LVP might be okay in a mudroom or laundry room in a high-end home but marginal in a high-end kitchen (as laminate would be). I've heard of homes right on a beach where the constant presence of sand in certain rooms of the house make LVT/LVP a better idea than wood or laminate. I think it all depends on what people expect to see in homes like yours -- unless you'll be living there so long that a prospective buyer will just want to replace whatever you've had installed.

[Tybee]

Thanks, Steve, this is another great recommendation about the LVT/LVP. I like the practicality for the kitchen and if we have a family room off kitchen, then would just have it run throughout. The places in the house where the wear is hard and people and dogs are bringing in dirt and mud. I will check out Mannington, too!

[Gardnr]

I did not make up the luxury vinyl plank flooring as in my opinion nothing made of vinyl is luxurious, but that is what they call this stuff now, to distinguish it from old school vinyl flooring?

Anyway, has anyone put this stuff down in their house, and would you consider it? We are looking at a range of flooring materials and bamboo is currently high on the charts for us, but our neighbor put in lvp flooring and it looked wonderful, plus you could have dogs, mud, kids, snow, etc, on it no problem.

I don;t know. What do you guys think of it:

https://www.calibamboo.com/product-natural-eucalyptus-pro-vinyl-hardwood-floor-alternative-7904008701.html

https://smartcorefloors.com/

I would only put it in the kitchen/bath maybe family room if it was attached to the kitchen.

A friend of mine put down the vinyl plank that looks like a rustic wood in her business. It still looks brand spankin' new!

[Tybee]

See, that is such a high recommendation--and our neighbor's was very comfortable to walk on, now that I think about it.
It is rated like commercial flooring for durability.

[Teacher Terry]

We put it in kitchen, bathrooms, master bedroom and dining room. The dining room is open to the kitchen. I like it better than the laminate we had in the past. Our living room, hallway and other bedrooms have hardwood.

[Tybee]

That's kind of what I was thinking--the hard use areas would get the lvp, but the living room and bedroom we could refinish the floors if they were doable.

[ToomuchStuff]

One brand that comes to mind was/is Lifeproof. A friend put it in his finished basement, after losing power and the sump pump flooded it. Designed so you can remove it and let the floor dry out as well as it, yet looks amazing. However, he was also smart enough to do a battery/generator back up thing, as well then. Was on his list before, but couldn't get the right size.

[Tybee]

Thanks, I will look into Lifeproof. That is cool, that it could be dried if flooded.

[SteveinMN]

Thanks, I will look into Lifeproof. That is cool, that it could be dried if flooded.
Any lock-together LVT/LVP, installed as a floating floor, could be disassembled, disinfected (if necessary), dried, and reinstalled. Nothing against Lifeproof, but it's a property inherent to vinyl floors which are not glued down.

[catherine]

Any lock-together LVT/LVP, installed as a floating floor, could be disassembled, disinfected (if necessary), dried, and reinstalled. Nothing against Lifeproof, but it's a property inherent to vinyl floors which are not glued down.

DH and I installed a Pergo premium engineered wood floor in our family room and hallway ourselves. Because it's lock-together and a floating floor, it was easy enough for beginners to do. It was a dark wood, and I think it looked nice. Normally I would want a real hardwood, but I wanted durability and affordability and this was great. It has been very durable throughout dogs and grandkids and people who never take off shoes when they enter. And you can't argue with the price.

I've never done the luxury vinyl thing, but it's probably similar in its aesthetic and ease of installation.

[beckyliz]

We had it put in our family room and laundry room downstairs last year after we had french drains and a sump pumps installed. So far, so good. We have some leftover, so I'm planning on having the same installed upstairs in the living room, kitchen, hallway and (I think) bedrooms when we can afford it. I can't wait too long so as to make sure the same brand and style is still available. Carpet is just gets too gross. We have porcelain tile in the bathrooms.

[Tybee]

Beckyliz, that is a really good point about buying enough so that it matches. Catherine, we will be doing this ourselves, so ease of installation is very important!

[Teacher Terry]

It was easier to install than the laminate pergo.