Katy Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Has anyone tried it? I'm normally a flooring snob, and in the past have prefered hardwood and stone tile only. I'm seriously considering putting groutable "slate" luxury vinyl tiles down in the foyer, bathrooms, and kitchen; and wood-look luxury vinyl planks down in the rest of the house that currently has disgusting carpet (kids rooms are fine). Am I crazy? Has anyone installed these thick, textured vinyl floors and lived with them for a year or more? Can you tell me how they hold up? Background info: We've got a flooring situation in our new house. I made the mistake of assuming that since there is oak visible in the closets, there is oak underneath the flooring in the entire house. That's not the case. Apparently they put oak in the kid's rooms and closets and carpet everywhere else. Ugly, stained, gross carpet that has to go. But I have neither the time, budget, or desire to put up with installing matching quarter sawn white oak and finishing it to match in the rest of the house. Especially because we have a big dog that would definitely scratch that expensive wood floor. A relative recently installed luxury vinyl planks in her basement and I, surprisingly, loved it. It's soft, warm, feels kid and pet friendly, and doesn't have the crappy plastic-y look of older vinyl. It looks like real, expensive wood, and feels more like real wood than laminate does to my bare feet. Decent brands that look great are on sale at the local home stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We have Armstrong Alterna LVT in our bathrooms and laundry room. But we've only lived here for four months (had the floors redone before we moved in). So far I'm very happy! It looks exactly like real tile but the grout is much less prone to cracking or staining. One of the cats threw up in our bathroom last week while I was out doing errands. So I didn't know how long it had been there and was worried the grout would be stained. Nope -- cleaned right up and looked brand new. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We have LVP. It looks great. It feels and sounds totally fake. Whatever. I can always put something better in when the kids are grown and I win the lottery. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted July 29, 2016 Author Share Posted July 29, 2016 We have LVP. It looks great. It feels and sounds totally fake. Whatever. I can always put something better in when the kids are grown and I win the lottery. That's exactly my thought! I can put in oak later, after the dog dies. In the mean time, who cares as long as it looks nice and is low allergy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebcoola Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We have LVP in our bathrooms it is actually my favorite flooring in the house easy to clean, doesn't scratch, feels nice and everything dropped doesn't shatter. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We have Core-tec in the kids' bathrooms, and I love it. It feels great underfoot, is so easy to clean, and it seems less loud in there than it was with tile. BIL renovated a million dollar lake house (in an area where a million dollars is WOW and not a shack, ha) and the owners went with that in every room. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We have Amtico flooring in the kitchen of our rental property. It was put in by the previous owners over 20 years ago, and there is barely a mark. The installer of our own kitchen floor recommended just using a few drops of dish detergent in warm water to clean it. That is less likely to take the finish off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted July 29, 2016 Author Share Posted July 29, 2016 This is awesome. Thanks everybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Can someone explain the grout thing to me? I'm seeing a lot of the luxury vinyl as grouted. Does it have to be? Does it depend? I'm waffling between vinyl and tile and the vinyl is winning because cleaning grout well is so tricky. But I'm not sure I understand where or how the luxury vinyl products fit into my understanding of flooring and maintenance. Does anyone have a link or simple explanation for me? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Can someone explain the grout thing to me? I'm seeing a lot of the luxury vinyl as grouted. Does it have to be? Does it depend? I'm waffling between vinyl and tile and the vinyl is winning because cleaning grout well is so tricky. But I'm not sure I understand where or how the luxury vinyl products fit into my understanding of flooring and maintenance. Does anyone have a link or simple explanation for me? Thanks! The LVT we had installed can be done with or w/o grout. Our sales person (small local flooring company that's been in business for decades and has a very good reputation) explained that most people go with grout in order to better simulate the look of a real tile floor. She explained that the grout used for LVT isn't porous like the grout used for real tile. The lack of porosity makes it resistant to stains and easier to clean. That info is confirmed in this blog post on Armstrong's site. I was also told that this grout has more flexibility to it so is much less prone to cracking or chipping than traditional grout. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeLovePassion Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We bought core tech plus (red river hickory) for our entire main floor (minus the bathroom that we redid last year, which also has a vinyl plank..I will let you know what I think after it is installed in a few weeks. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted July 29, 2016 Author Share Posted July 29, 2016 I don't have a link. The stuff I was looking at is grouting optional. We're thinking of doing vinyl "slate" which is dark gray & green, with charcoal grout, so I won't have to worry about staining. I'm planning on cleaning it with a steam mop I got last month when Amazon was doing their sale, so it will be sterile once a week. My understanding is the grout is optional, but makes it look exactly like real tile, at least while you have shoes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 The LVT we had installed can be done with or w/o grout. Our sales person (small local flooring company that's been in business for decades and has a very good reputation) explained that most people go with grout in order to better simulate the look of a real tile floor. She explained that the grout used for LVT isn't porous like the grout used for real tile. The lack of porosity makes it resistant to stains and easier to clean. That info is confirmed in this blog post on Armstrong's site. I was also told that this grout has more flexibility to it so is much less prone to cracking or chipping than traditional grout. That's very helpful, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We did the LVT with grout in three of our bathrooms and the laundry room. It looks great and has held up well. We like that it's warmer on the feet in winter. It has had the kids and a 90 pound lab running around on it, as well as tons of things dropped on it. No problems, everything looks great. We're moving, and if we need new flooring in the new house (haven't purchased one yet), I wouldn't hesitate to put down more of it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Ours looks like wood in a plank style. No grout. If there's a flood, you number the pieces, pop them out, let everything dry, and replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Ours looks like wood in a plank style. No grout. If there's a flood, you number the pieces, pop them out, let everything dry, and replace. This is intriguing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 This is intriguing. Yes it is! I'm looking at replacing some linoleum in bathrooms here in the near future. I'll have to look into this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We have LVP in the kitchen, and I love it. Nothing seems to scratch it, water doesn't damage it, and it feels nice on my feet. I wish we had it in every room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 We have LVP in the kitchen, and I love it. Nothing seems to scratch it, water doesn't damage it, and it feels nice on my feet. I wish we had it in every room. Which brand did you pick up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 Which brand did you pick up? No idea, it was here when we moved in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer132 Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 We have it, and I really like it! But if we had a dog or other animal, I think it wouldn't hold up to their nails....if I move furniture around, even light furniture, it does scratch. But as far as it looking nice, we constantly get compliments on how real it looks (if they find out it's not real). We have the wood look planks throughout, so I can't speak to a slate looking vinyl tile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSmomof2 Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 We have LVP in our bathrooms it is actually my favorite flooring in the house easy to clean, doesn't scratch, feels nice and everything dropped doesn't shatter. We had it in our last house in the bathrooms. I loved those floors....they were virtually indestructible and looked like new even after 3 years (we moved then, but I expect they're still find). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak of in Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 We had Armstrong Alterna with grout installed in our kitchen and we love it! We had it for around 1.5 years and it has held up very well...looks the same as when they put it in. It cleans nice, doesn't show dirt, doesn't show marks, warmer in winter, not as hard as ceramic tile, etc. I would really like to put it in our bathrooms someday. When we had it installed, I did have to call them back because the grout had small holes/cracks in it in places. I closely examined the floor and put a post-it flag every where I found a crack. They came back and filled them and it has been great ever since. They said it was common for that to happen when the grout dries. They said the flags were very helpful to them to make sure they got it all. Also, we had the tiles installed on the diagonal and I really like it that way! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 Old thread on topic: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/519811-vinyl-tile-versus-wood-laminate-pls-dont-suggest-real-hardwood/page-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 I'm planning on cleaning it with a steam mop I got last month when Amazon was doing their sale, so it will be sterile once a week. When you get a chance, read about the sterilizing function on your steamer. Mine says you need to hold it in place for 8 seconds to sterilize. That means 8 seconds for every 7 inches of floor. That would take a very long time. I love my steamer, and I'm sure you'll love how yours cleans, but don't count on your floor being sterile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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