What is Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT)?
Luxury vinyl tiles are the popular vinyl flooring products. Also known as LVT, This high-quality smooth floor combines the realistic look and feel of a wood or stone floor with the practical features required by many customers. Each luxury vinyl tile or plank is made up of different layers, resulting in a smart and stylish floor with super strength and durability that’s also stain – and water-resistant. It comes in a range of different natural designs from oak, to whitewashed wood, to slate – even the most eagle-eyed will struggle to spot the difference between LVT and a genuine wooden or stone floor!
Construction – LVT is made up of multiple layers, all of which serve an important purpose. The core of luxury vinyl flooring is a lightweight core that is tightly integrated with the other layers to provide strength, stability, and support to the floor and mitigate impact and pressure. The surface is a protective layer that protects the floor from potential damage and provides scratch and stain resistance. Underneath is the wear layer, which improves the durability of the flooring. Next is the decorative layer, which offers a wide choice of material styles and designs. Then comes the acoustic layer, which adds comfort while minimizing surface sound. The floating LVT has a special feature underlayment to provide the right amount of friction to ensure a solid installation, but also to provide additional cushioning and reduce footfall sound. The result is a sturdy plank or tile with the look of natural wood or stone that can be laid in any interior location.
Design – Luxury vinyl flooring is available in many different designs due to the variety of decorative layers. Luxury vinyl flooring is available in wood effect planks and stone effect tiles. To create a realistic look of wood or stone, luxury vinyl flooring is available in different sizes with a wood or stone pattern printed on the design layer. This creates a unique and authentic look. Planks and tiles are also textured, with more expensive planks and tiles having registered embossing so it feels like real wood or stone under your feet. From traditional oak-effect wood vinyl flooring to modern black stone, it’s not hard to find a design that suits every space.
Benefits – There are many benefits to choosing luxury vinyl for your home – it’s one of the most advanced flooring options out there!
• Durable – The wear and tear layer combined with the protective coating makes luxury vinyl incredibly durable! It can easily cope with a high footfall, some qualities are tough enough for commercial spaces.
• Versatile – Luxury vinyl is suitable for all rooms and all temperatures. It works with underfloor heating and its UV resistance properties mean you can use it in conservatories too.
• Water-resistant – The product is also waterproof, so it’s ideal for kitchens and bathrooms where there might be more splashes or spillages.
• Scuff-resistant – The protective wear layer will help prevent scuffs and scratches.
• Stain-resistant – Once again, that clever protective coating comes to the rescue, ensuring spills sit on the surface of the floor until you can clean them up.
• Easy to Install – Whether it is Glue Down or Loose Lay, they are easy to install indoors and are loved by installers and DIYers.
• Low maintenance – Unlike a real wooden floor, there’s no oiling or waxing required. You just need to sweep it and mop it from time to time – it’s so easy to keep clean.
• Realistic design – The state-of-the-art embossing process used to create the texture of the design gives the tiles or planks incredible detail, from the grain and knots in the wood to the natural lines found on stone or slate.
• Comfortable – The synthetic materials make LVT a warmer and more cushioned option underfoot than stone tiles.
• Price – Compared to a real wooden, stone, or tiled floor, LVT is the more affordable flooring option. There are also no fitting costs if you fancy laying it yourself.
Type – When trying to pick the best LVT flooring for your home, you need to know that there are two types of luxury vinyl: Dry back and Loose lay, and as with everything, both types of LVT have their pros and cons.
• Dry back – Dry back (also known as glue or stick down) requires an adhesive to bond the flooring directly with the subfloor. The planks are thinner and therefore more pliable, so gluing them down gives the floor more stability, making dry back LVT better for bigger rooms and areas of high traffic. However, dry back luxury vinyl is hard to install (and remove!), plus it requires a completely smooth subfloor, so You need to hire a professional installer.
• Loose lay – Just as the name implies, loose lay flooring is loosely laid on top of the subfloor of a space. This floating flooring option makes for a quick install with beautiful results. Though installation instructions may vary depending on manufacturer or installer, typically loose lay flooring is installed by first gluing down planks or tiles around the perimeter of the space (for small areas) and applying adhesive in a grid formation (for larger areas; and then loosely laying the rest of the planks or tiles. When complete the planks or tiles will stay in place.
• Click – Click is another form of loose lay, compared to the previous type of floating. Click LVT flooring has tongue and groove, they can be simply clicked into place like a puzzle, similar to installing laminate flooring. Click LVT flooring is more rigid and easier to install, it is generally thicker than dry back and has a waterproof cushion on the bottom, generally, There is no need to use additional padding. It is also easier to install.
Choosing – when you’ve found the best LVT flooring for your style, you need to figure out which room it would work best in. Luxury vinyl can be laid in pretty much every room in your home, even commercial. but the best LVT flooring for your space will depend on factors such as the overall style of your home and whether you want a floor that you can install yourself. LVT is durable, so it’s ideal for high-traffic areas like hallways and living rooms, and it’s a much more cost-friendly option than real wood flooring, as well as being much softer which can make it pleasant for bare feet. Also, LVT has amazing water-resistant properties, which are definitely the best choice for areas that get a lot of moisture, like bathrooms and kitchens. It’s also warm underfoot, so it’s nice for bedrooms and offices, and it’s easy to clean which makes it great for dining rooms and utility rooms.
Dishover is glad to answer your questions about vinyl flooring.
