This section is designed to give to a good start on your search for vinyl floors. Here at Flynn’s, we believe that the more you know about your flooring options, the easier it will be to make sure you are in fact choosing the right flooring option that best fits your needs.
Vinyl floors are often used in kitchens and baths and this is because they not only come in a huge variety of colors and textures, but vinyl has a great resistance to water.
These floors are fairly easy to maintain and keep tidy with the only difficulty being grit that gets pressed into the surface.
The reason for their popularity leads from their affordability combined with the beautiful look a new vinyl gives off. Vinyl can come in two different forms; sheet vinyl and luxury vinyl tile (LVT).To simplify this reading, we will refer to sheet vinyl simply as vinyl, or vinyl flooring and use the abbreviation of LVT for the tile form. LVT has the same benefits of vinyl, is offered in many colors, and can be used in any room.
Spare luxury vinyl tiles can be used for over worn areas that may need to be replaced down the line. The LVT setup has unlimited possibilities to create patterns and styles that best suit your home. However, vinyl flooring also offers other advantages that LVT cannot offer. Of all the flooring options, vinyl offers the best selection at the lowest price while maintaining a hassle free upkeep.
Like other flooring options, the technology has improved and the looks of vinyl flooring will never be the same again. This is because vinyl flooring can now look and match the same textures as real ceramic, stone, and wood grain designs. The replications of these designs are outstanding in looks and have such a level of beauty that it is difficult for people to tell whether the flooring is real or a replica.
Before moving on, its important to note that linoleum is not a form of vinyl flooring but is what most people recall as kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room flooring. Although linoleum is under some major changes, the most popular flooring choice for these types of rooms is vinyl.
Like stated above, the advancements of vinyl over the years can really be seen and pay off when it comes to your floors. You no longer see the easily ripped, dented, and wrecked flooring that has a distasteful plastic look. Now, vinyl is known for the excellent looks and offers durability and easy maintenance, which is why they are so popular for these room types. With all of the new designs and styles, including stones, woods, and ceramics, it makes that look you wanted at an affordable cost.
Traditionally, vinyl floors were most often seen in your kitchen, bath or laundry room facilities. This was due to the functional attributes of vinyl floors that made vinyl appeasing. It still has the level of appeal, but with so much more! Today, people look for vinyl for their active homes for a hassle free clean up. It is also a great choice because vinyl has a warm cushiony feel to it as opposed to natural stone which is cold and hard to the touch. Vinyl flooring has moved from just these utility rooms to anywhere in the home. The quality of the floors have been tremendously improved.
As you move up on the scale of vinyl prices, you can gain many benefits. By just looking at the design options alone, many more patterns, colors, and textures will be available to choose from.
When it comes to the performance level of the floors, today’s premium wear layers have outstanding resistance to stains, scuffs, and scratches. This is especially beneficial for active families with children or pets. You can even get wear layers that are enhanced by adding aluminum oxide in order to provide even more exceptional resistance to scratching. Not only the scratching, but the messes become a breeze when you have stain resistant flooring that avoids hassle.
The enhanced performance options are designed so that your new floors are protected from more permanent damages such as rips, tears, and gouges.
When looking at all of your design choices, keep in mind the size of the pattern on the vinyl in comparison to the size of the room. You do not want a disproportionate pattern size to the room. When working with vinyl flooring pattern sizes, a smaller pattern works well in small areas or in rooms where the pattern will be visually broken up with furniture, or a kitchen island. However, the larger flooring patterns can sometimes make a room look larger.
Overall this is true with all flooring, and even with vinyl, the lighter flooring colors will reflect the light all over and makes a smaller room appear to expand while darker colors create a more intimate setting as the light is absorbed.
When looking at the different styles that are offered for vinyl flooring, you will also want to match the flooring to any fabric, patterns, or wallpapers that may be in the room. Any existing designs and patterns can be matched. You don’t want to forget about that when choosing the right pattern. Generally, if the fabric or wallpaper is a large-scale print or design, it is a good option to try a smaller pattern or design on the floor. The same goes vice versa.
Vinyl flooring also comes in several different choices of gloss when installed. The glossier the floor is, the more noticeable the natural wear and tear of daily use will be. It is important to keep in mind the level of foot traffic before choosing a glossy coat.
When Considering Vinyl
When choosing any type of flooring, the goal is to find the right balance between cost, looks, and performance. Once you do this, you can be sure that you are choosing the best flooring option for your lifestyle. As you learn more about these flooring options, you should be able to choose what you do and do not need so that your floor purchase does not cause you to break the bank.
That is why we want you to understand that the huge advancements in technology have greatly improved the level of vinyl flooring so that they are not only affordable, but they are durable, too.
Most of the popular patterns that are out there today are created by and inspired by nature. The options you can choose from vary all over including that imitate beauty of natural stone.
Vinyl is created using several different layers. There is the wear layer, the printed layer, the inner core, and a backing. During the process of choosing vinyl flooring, thicker is not always better, even though it may seem so at first. Many inner cores have a density that will help your floor resist rips, tears, gouges, and indentations. Without being overly thick.
By understanding the quality of the wear layer, you will be capable of determining how your floor will stand up to staining, scuffing, and scratching.
When you look into choosing the right type of vinyl for a specific room, you really need to focus on the level of foot traffic that occurs that that specific room. This is important for several stages of the choice process of vinyl floors.
Depending on your specific area that is being covered, there may be some need for seems. This is another consideration to keep in mind when looking at pattern options because certain patterns are capable of hiding the seams better than other. One floor option that usually hides seams well, is vinyl flooring with printed grout or tile designs. Additionally, some of the sealants that can be places on seams will actually end up drawing more attention to the seam due to the different finish or texture.
If you know your budget, and is now to the point of picking the best option that fits in the price range, then be sure to include all elements of the new flooring process. The cost per square foot is just one of several components to the project. Feel free to ask any one of our salesmen to calculate a total cost of project before making the final flooring choice. Some expenses that you may need to include are:
- Vinyl installation.
- Furniture removal and replacement
- removal and Disposal of old flooring
- Sub-floor preparation
- Delivery
- Material cost (flooring, moldings, etc)
- Removal of appliances, toilets, and baseboards
