busymama7 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I really hope I didnt already start a thread about this... Does anyone have any experience with this floor? We want a hard floor and probably wont be able to afford real hardwood. Tile not an option. Our choices are between laminate and vinyl plank. We want to put it everywhere on the main floor which would include the kitchen, a half bath and the laundry room. Laminate is not our first choice because of the water issue. If we can afford real wood Im not sure its the best choice either. We have a pool as well so occasional water drips from that. We have 9 kids ages 6 months to 17. No dogs. One cat. We want something very very sturdy and very easy to clean. My flooring guy kinda discouraged the vinyl and said it was more commercial. But there are so many of us that we are really really hard on things. We find we do better with commercial grade stuff ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeLovePassion Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Dh helped SIL put it in her bathroom. They were both pleased with it. Both in looks and ease of installation. No word on long term hold up as it is under a year old. We are considering it for our bathroom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 We helped put vinyl planks down in our church daycare last summer. It was purchased from home depot, and was reasonably priced. It has held up very well and still looks lovely. ETA: If you wanted to know specifically, it is the Trafficmaster Allure brand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I agree about laminate and water. Don't go there. Our neighbors had a disaster due to water issues. I think laminate can be great, but not in kitchens or bathrooms. :) Not near a pool where there will be water drips as people run in and out either. A friend installed vinyl plank flooring in her bath recently and it looks great. I think as long as you get something good quality, it will be good. Hardwood would be my first choice, or tile, but if that's not an option, I wouldn't hesitate to pick out a great looking, good quality vinyl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Here's a previous thread in which I responded and included links to pictures of ours. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/519811-vinyl-tile-versus-wood-laminate-pls-dont-suggest-real-hardwood/ It's been several months since this thread, and I can report that it is holding up superbly. Haha! I was the first reply and now remember reading that thread ;) Yours looks fantastic. And I'm still nervous about doing it :( we live in a bit more expensive neighborhood. Custom not track homes and larger lots etc then usual for our city. Our neighbors have very nice homes. Ours is nice but very dated. We have bright white tile and mauve carpet. Yes really. (Not to mention hunter green toilet tub and sinks in master bath LOL) When we bought the house 18 months ago we decided we would wait to do the floors until we could afford real hardwood as we felt it would be a better fit for this house. But im just not sure I actually want hardwood. I'm terrible about upkeep stuff and we are just insanely hard on everything. The vinyl plank seems like a more durable option for us but I'm afraid of it looking cheap *for this house* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSmomof2 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 In our old house, we put them in our bathrooms. Pretty easy to install, and they held up very well---even in the kids' bathroom that often had water on the floor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I have no direct experience, but I have researched it fairly thoroughly. We may be building in the not-too-distant future, and flooring is a huge issue for me. Probably the thing I will be most picky about. And I'm leaning very strongly toward luxury vinyl plank/tile throughout the house. It seems to me to have all of the pros of hardwood or tile with none of the cons. FWIW, budget isn't a huge issue for us. Quality and durability and ease of care are. And in all those areas it seems to me that vinyl plank/tile win. So far we've only talked with one general contractor, but he agreed that it would be a good choice. I would probably consider hardwood for everywhere except kitchen and bathrooms if we didn't have dogs. Bu we do and probably always will. And in my rather extensive experience with hardwood floors they don't do well at all with dogs' nails (the general contractor we've spoken with totally agreed with me on this). I grew up with hardwood flooring and had it in our previous house, and I just do not feel the love for it that others do. We have some laminate in this house and IMO it's far superior to real hardwood. We have it here in a half bath, but I would be leery of using it in a kitchen or a bathroom that gets heavy use. The one recommendation I keep seeing with regard to vinyl plank/tile to is to choose something with at least a limited commercial warranty, not just a residential warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Vinyl is looked down upon by realtors and buyers in my area, but if you are planning to stay there for a while, I'd consider it. We have hardwoods sealed in place; the occasional drip isn't a problem, but I prefer tile for areas with water exposure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 The ranges available vary so much. We have a mixture of cheap vinyl and better quality. You get what you pay for. The cheaper has lasted a few years and looks so worn. The more expensive looks great and is really durable and seems to withstand anything we throw at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 If you go with vinyl, get the higher quality stuff. You have to go to a flooring store for the good stuff. The home depot/lowes versions are worn within a few years. Have you seen the tiles that are made to look like wood? They are so nice. Neighbor put some in her bathroom and it looks very nice. It was around the same cost as the upgraded vinyl flooring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Good thoughts everyone. We have no intention of moving. Maybe after all the kids are grown but probably not even then as we want a place big enough for them to come home to. I'm still really leaning towers the vinyl but if I do I will get the commercial kind. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Why not tile? I'm only asking is because we're moving soon and we will most likely need to change the flooring due to my sons wheelchair. I've seen tile that looks like hardwood flooring. I know it's colder, but it seems like it would hold up better than hardwood. I'm not in love with hardwood either due to wheelchair marks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Personally, I didn't like ceramic tile because it chipped. And cracked. And it's not easy to replaced one cracked tile among the other grouted tile. And the grout gets dirty and has to be resealed every couple of years. It's just a PIA, in my opinion. A good sealed grout should last longer. Certain cleaners can make a grout dirtier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Good thoughts everyone. We have no intention of moving. Maybe after all the kids are grown but probably not even then as we want a place big enough for them to come home to. I'm still really leaning towers the vinyl but if I do I will get the commercial kind. Thanks! If you're not redoing for resale, put down what will work for you. We put Core-Tec (I think that's the name?) planks in our kids' baths and love it. BIL (builder) put it in his custom built home after putting it in a $1mil+ lake home renovation. It feels great under foot. We are considering it when we redo our kitchen. The downstairs is all hardwoods but we are removing walls and there are two styles (original to home, 1960s chic I guess?) so we have to redo them anyway. We have 4 kids, 2 dogs, and a pool. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I'm always amazed at how nice it looks. If you can't afford hardwood I say go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 I'm always amazed at how nice it looks. If you can't afford hardwood I say go for it. We can live with the floors we have now for longer and save. But I'm not sure hardwood is our best choice due to all the water and spills and kids etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I really hope I didnt already start a thread about this... Does anyone have any experience with this floor? We want a hard floor and probably wont be able to afford real hardwood. Tile not an option. Our choices are between laminate and vinyl plank. We want to put it everywhere on the main floor which would include the kitchen, a half bath and the laundry room. Laminate is not our first choice because of the water issue. If we can afford real wood Im not sure its the best choice either. We have a pool as well so occasional water drips from that. We have 9 kids ages 6 months to 17. No dogs. One cat. We want something very very sturdy and very easy to clean. My flooring guy kinda discouraged the vinyl and said it was more commercial. But there are so many of us that we are really really hard on things. We find we do better with commercial grade stuff ;) Home Depot sells a great product, TrafficMaster Allure, the kind with the grip-strips. It is on sale for 99 cents a square foot a couple times a year. Landlords use it a lot. I put it in a basement and it looked nice enough to have everywhere in the house (but that house already had hardwoods). The cherry is particularly nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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