Luxury Vinyl Plank has become one of the top choices for flooring in the past decade. Almost every new home build comes with it pre-installed. So what is it anyways? Why is it used so often? Is it the right floor for your home? I’ll be breaking down everything you need to know about Luxury Vinyl Plank, aka LVP, to help you make the right choice on your project.
Luxury Vinyl Plank is a great hard-surface floor option for your needs. LVP is made to look like wood, in its many species and colors. It is waterproof and easy to maintain and clean. Should there be scratches they are able to be easily fixed. LVP has become a sort of catch-all phrase for many different types of products. There are a few different categories, so I’ll try to break them down into their simplest forms. The main being…
While most LVP options are going to be a one-and-done floor, some Engineered LVP floors can actually be sanded and refinished. Just look for a 4mm+ wear layer. As for SPC and WPC, the color you choose will be set for the life of the floors.
This is ‘where’ the manufacturers make it extra difficult (my theory being they are trying to trick people). You’ll often see the wear layer of the floor listed right on top in the first paragraph. The standard wear layers are 12 mil, 20 mil, and 22 mil. Now what they don’t tell you is what a “mil” is. The average well meaning, inquisitive individual would probably assume mil is short for millimeter. But no, manufacturers couldn’t make it that simple. Mil is instead short for… Well, nothing. A mil is a mil. And a mil converts to 0.0254 millimeters. So the wear layer on your floor is actually just a fraction of a millimeter.
All that you really need to know is that 12 mil is the base standard. It will work just fine in most situations. 20 and 22 mil are heavier duty, great if you’re worried about dogs scratching the floors, cooks dropping knives in the kitchen, or teething children gnawing on whatever they can get a tooth to.
There is one more aspect of the wear layer that often goes over looked. The optional Aluminum Oxide Coating. It’s a big and somewhat frightening word on its face, but really it just adds another layer of scratch resistance to your floors. You’ll often find aluminum oxide coating on prefinished hardwoods and engineered hardwoods.
If you’ve ever hired a contractor before, you know it can be stressful, overwhelming and downright painful sometimes. I created Moose Flooring with a focus on making things as smooth as possible for the customer. I’m also obsessed with getting 5 star reviews online. And there’s only one way to get 5 star reviews: Do an amazing job. So that’s what we’re doing here in Salt Lake City. If you want a professional flooring contractor to do an amazing job on your next LVP project, give me a call!
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A Moose Flooring expert will come out to your home and address your individual needs. Rest assured, we will never be pushy or try to force a sale. We want you to be comfortable!
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Schedule a time for us to come out. We’re a flooring company based in Salt Lake City, but will happily make the trip to Ogden, Draper, Orem, West Jordan, Park City and more!
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Get a chance to see your new floors in your own home before you make a decision. Make sure you love your floors the first time.
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After measuring your home and showing you our samples, you will receive a quote the same day including all relevant information to help you make an informed decision.
