Explore now the resilient vinyl flooring review pros and cons and no wonder again to feel doubt of having this floor at home. Vinyl flooring was invented in 1930s, particularly in the years following World War II.
Latter, it became increasingly popular in 1950s as a flooring material with the best low-cost and water resistant flooring option for wet environments such as kitchens and bathroom.
These days, vinyl flooring is designed with a variety of characteristics, making it so much versatile as a popular flooring option.
However, there are still some recognizable drawbacks if you insist on installing it on your home.
Thus, it is important to explore not only the merits but also the drawbacks and find whether or not the resilient vinyl is the best option you can take.
The discussion we are going to share you in this resilient vinyl flooring review pros and cons will include the types, cost, maintenance and repair, design and installation, top brands, comfort and convenience as well as the final choice.
Resilient Vinyl Flooring Types
Vinyl flooring basically comes with the several categories which are all grouped into the name “resilient”. These floorings offers the different installation techniques as well as some different benefits.
Resilient sheet vinyl
Resilient sheet vinyl is the common form of vinyl which is also the widely used type. It consists of thin flexible vinyl sheets bonded with a printed design and obvious wear layer.
Sheet vinyl is available in 6-12 foot wide rolls, allowing you to lay the flooring in a few seams. Thus, vinyl sheet is much suitable for wet spaces such as kitchens and bathrooms.
Normally, sheet vinyl uses glued-down bond while some other forms installed by a perimeter bond only.
Resilient Vinyl tiles
Similar to sheet vinyl, vinyl tiles are commonly used. However, it is sold in boxes of square pieces consisting of the glued down with troweled-on adhesive and the pre-applied adhesive which is exposed when you remove a peel-off backing.
Luxury vinyl
Luxury vinyl is the third type of resilient vinyl which is constructed with the different material.
It is thicker and semi-rigid produced in a long plank called LVP (luxury vinyl plank) and in tiles called LVT (luxury vinyl tile).
These luxury vinyl products are constructed with the thick layers to provide rigidity.
Either tiles or planks, the luxury vinyl is usually using floating floors at which you need only to snap the planks or tiles together at the edges and rest over an underlayment without any glued-down bond.
Among the vinyl flooring forms, this luxury vinyl type is the most impressive and applicable.
It adds a special value to the home due to the wood resemblance. On the other hand, the tiles resembles the ceramic and stone look.
Read Also: Flooring Options for Wet Areas and the Facts You Should Know
Resilient Vinyl Flooring Cost
In this resilient vinyl flooring review pros and cons, we won’t forget to include the cost review. A very low range of resilient vinyl flooring is as little as $.50 per square foot.
In this case, there is never a moderate cost level. At the home improvement centers, you will rarely pay more than $1 to $2 per square foot.
All the costs are typically similar for the standard vinyl tiles. The peel-and-stick variety can cost only a little more.
For the high standard, luxury vinyl flooring can even cost $10 per square foot. Though this price seems higher, it is still less expensive than the premium flooring option such as stone.
In most home improvement stores, most of the luxury vinyl flooring costs from $3 to $5 per square foot.
The price differences on resilient vinyl flooring is influenced by the materials quality and the designs options on the flooring surface.
Fortunately, the professional installation of resilient vinyl flooring is much affordable due to the fact that it is not too complicated to install. Furthermore, it is just fast enough to install such flooring.
In this regards, the installation cost ranges from $1 to $3 per square foot. This cost excludes the costs of the materials.
So you must add the cost installation service and the cost of the materials as well as the cost of additional tools to get the whole estimated cost.
Back to the installation cost, the labor bid actually depends on how much labor is anticipated.
An easy flooring materials which are laid on the flat underlayment can cost $1 per square foot and even less than that.
If the installation projects are too complicated with lots of preparation on the subfloor, the cost of installation can reach up to $3 per square foot and even more.
Based on the national average, the resilient vinyl flooring can cost around $3 per square foot. This price include the cost of the materials and the cost of installation.
Vinyl tiles cost about $5.50 per square foot while the luxury vinyl planks or tiles costs approximately $7 per square foot.
Resilient Vinyl Flooring Maintenance and Repair
Now the resilient vinyl flooring review pros and cons will share you the maintenance and repair. In fact, this kind of vinyl flooring is relatively easy to maintain.
You just need to makes sure that the surface of the floor is free from any dirt, dust and other small debris.
Sweeping with broom can be the best way for the regular maintenance while dam mopping can help you remove the stains. In shirt, some resilient vinyl flooring options are easy to maintain.
Similar to luxury vinyl tiles and planks, the printed vinyl tiles and sheets have a clear wear layer that can be used as a surface barrier.
This is aimed to provide the flooring with protection against stains and spills, making the materials easy to care for.
Though vinyl flooring is featuring stain resistant, it can still experience discoloration when it is in contact with the rubber.
In this case, if mats and shoe heels has a rubber backing and they touch the floors overtime, there will be a chemical reaction between the mats as well as shoe heels and the floor. This will discolor the floor permanently.
Dealing with the best maintenance leading to the high durability of the floor, the resilient vinyl flooring will be highly durable depending on the high quality of the materials.
Unluckily, this flooring cannot be refinished, meaning that you must replace the damaged one.
Resilient Vinyl Flooring Design
The resilient vinyl flooring is designed with the water penetration, making it suitable to install on the wet environment such as bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and other areas with the high moisture level.
This flooring is also perfect for mudrooms and recreation places. Both the luxury vinyl tiles and planks with the stone look can perfectly match the formal spaces.
There are hundreds of colors and patterns options you can choose from this resilient vinyl flooring, allowing you to easily find the one that mostly suits your preference.
However, though the price of this flooring is cheaper than the other kinds of flooring on the market, you must be aware of on your choice whether or not the vinyl flooring you choose is good for your spaces at home without any negative impact affecting your rooms. This is true for the standard sheet vinyl but less with the luxury vinyl.
The best selected luxury vinyl planks can even add special value to your home though it would never be as prestigious as the solid hardwood or natural stone flooring.
Mostly, the low-quality vinyl flooring will yellow the age particularly when it is much exposed to the direct sunlight causing the color fading. Dirt and dust trapped beneath the vinyl floor wax layer can also cause the discoloration.
However, you don’t have to worry about this if you choose the high quality and modern vinyl flooring since it is featured by good resistance.
Resilient Vinyl Flooring Installation
Now we go to have a quick read about resilient vinyl flooring installation as a part of resilient vinyl flooring review pros and cons. In this regards, installation technique on vinyl flooring depends on types.
Normally, sheet vinyl uses glued-down installation technique at which you lay the sheets on the floor, cut to match the space and glue them down with adhesive.
The standard vinyl tiles also use the glued-down technique but the tiles are glued one by one both by using the adhesive and by removing the peel and stick protective backing.
Later, you can just press the sheets down into the place.
In addition to vinyl flooring installation, the luxury vinyl planks or tiles use a click-lock edge connection feature to fit into the place.
Luxury vinyl can also be installed as floating floors that float over the underlayment without using any adhesive.
No matter what type of resilient vinyl flooring type you use, layout is the one thing that is very important to pay attention for.
It is aimed to make sure that the floors patterns and rows are symmetrical and square. In this case, you must also measure and plan the project carefully.
Make sure that the subfloor is flat and smooth as required. Keep in mind that either sheet vinyl and vinyl tiles comes with the thin materials, making them imperfect to install on the subfloor.
DIY installation is available. It is also easy for any standard vinyl tiles and luxury tile planks. They have the similar installation methods with the laminate flooring planks.
For DIYers, sheet vinyl will be awkward, requiring a little extra for professional installation.
In fact, a professional installer can easily do the project well. This is one of the resilient vinyl flooring pros that people love.
Resilient Vinyl Flooring Top Brands
There are some resilient vinyl flooring top brands that have been familiar to the most consumers. Those are:
Armstrong
Armstrong is a flooring industry coming with a wide selection of sheet vinyl.
There are almost 200 sheet vinyl options offered for the consumers to choose from, 100 wood-look options and more, 100 options of luxury vinyl tiles either the wood-look or the stone-look varieties.
Armstrong is noticeably one of the brands with the most affordable vinyl flooring. It is probably the most widely available, too.
Mohawk
Mohawk is originally popular with its carpeting products. There are nearly 200 sheet vinyl planks available at Mohawk along with the more than 300 luxury vinyl planks and tiles, too.
Core-Tech which is a considerable luxury vinyl line sells in approximately $3 per square foot. This price is one of the most affordable price in luxury vinyl options.
Shaw
Shaw is also one of the flooring top brands that offers many different types of flooring including laminate, wood, carpet, stone and the best selection of sheet vinyl, luxury vinyl and the standard vinyl tiles.
The prices of Shaw flooring come in a moderate range. The Coretec Plus line has typically an expensive price which is costing up around $6.50 per square foot.
Karndean
According to our resilient vinyl flooring review pros and cons, Karndean is a flooring company that comes with the glued-down tiles and luxury vinyl flooring.
Karndean is popular with its high quality flooring products that are all best reviewed.
In this case, Karndean flooring are mostly sold at the flooring stores and décor stores, meaning that it is not available in general markets.
Furthermore, there are also many other brands of vinyl flooring produced by the manufacturers to the specific chain retailers.
For instance, Home Depot has LifeProof as a proprietary brand presented by Halstead New England industries. Major chains generally do a good job of inspecting their products.
In this case, you must have no doubts about purchasing out of this proprietary brands.
Comfort and Convenience
Believe it or not, vinyl proves to be cold resistance, meaning that it can stand in the winter.
Your feet will also feel more comfortable to step on this flooring than on wood or ceramic tile floors.
Dealing with the floors comfort and convenience, some flooring products are designed with the padded underlayer to allow you to walk comfortably.
One of this flooring drawbacks is the chemicals used in the vinyl production that cause a toxic emission when you are installing the floors.
As a result, the volatile chemicals are released into the household, leading to a respiratory issues, eyes irritation and asthma reaction for people with the high sensitiveness.
The outgassing level in a vinyl floor also deals with the chemical makeup. Furthermore, the outgassing can occur early on the aged floor.
Other drawback is the fact that this resilient vinyl flooring is not biodegradable. However, it will not break down the landfill in a short time.
Meaning that the materials are safe for the environment for a while. It is difficult to recycle.
This means the old and worn-out material will stay down in the landfill for a long period of time.
In addition to the drawbacks, this resilient vinyl flooring takes the non-renewable natural resources like natural gas and petroleum in the production process.
Read Also: 5 Most Popular Bedroom Floorings with Each Pros and Cons
Final Choice
Finally, this resilient vinyl flooring review pros and cons concludes that the flooring is just a perfect option for spaces with the high level of moisture such as kitchen, bathrooms and laundry rooms.
This kind of vinyl flooring is also cost-effective suiting the real-estate professional projects.
In fact, this flooring is not an additional value to your home except for the luxury vinyl that is more prestigious than the standard sheet vinyl.
Thus, it will be a good choice for a high-end appearance.
One thing to remember, this resilient vinyl flooring is not categorized as a green option if you go with the environmental concern.
