vinyl plank flooring ideas?

[Robertsj22]

looking to install a 1000 sq ft of flooring. I been looking at the vinyl plank as i have a dog and two small boys. Anyone have any brand suggestions or some does or don'ts

 

[Broomd]

Are you stuck on vinyl? We went with free floating cork and it's been solid for 15 years, and that's with our dogs.
It always feels comfortable to the touch, even with a cold house.

 

[coloyooper]

Recently put in some Coretec LVT. Seems pretty bombproof

 

[dano626]

Whatever you choose Ill just say to stay away from darker colors. They show every little dust, hair, and scratch like they are highlighted.....

 

[S.Clancy]

I used to install a ton of different stuff, and the CoreTek (sp?) is how I would go

 

[Danny Hoey]

Solid core, if it does scratch it will be the same color and less noticeable.

If you can somewhat match the thickness of whatever you are replacing you won't have to tear off or reset your baseboard.

Budget for trim/transition pieces, they are more expensive than you think.

 

[CamoHunter1]

I installed about 2,000sq ft of it in my wife's photography studio. Has held up nice. I've also used it in residential areas, and bathroom. It's good stuff. Probably avoid the big box stores. I like the thicker stuff, 6mm-8mm. The 4mm seems too flimsy to me. Endless variety of colors and styles.

 

[WoodBow]

I have put down about 1500 square feet of about the cheapest vinyl plank flooring you can buy. It was right at $1 a square foot from lowes. It is stick down. For the money, it is hard to beat. But you will have more headaches installing and you need a really good floor to stick it to. Even though they are self adhering, i recommend you put down VCT adhesive on the floor first if you go that route. It kind of seals the floor and gives more glue thickness overall. Our floor is concrete. From what i remember, stepping up to click together floating floor was about 4 times as much.

 

[NB7]

About 2,000 square feet of it were placed in my wife's photographic studio. has done well. I've also used it in bathrooms and residential places. It's top-notch material. Avoid the large box retailers, if possible. I prefer materials that are 6mm–8mm thick. I think the 4mm is too thin. endless variation in hues and fashions.

Bot

 

[Top147]

First time using VP. Came in just under $3.00/sqft CAD. Make sure it had the underlay already on the plank. Just did upstairs, roughly 1000sqft; three bedrooms, hallway, and stairs. 10 bags of self levelling used. Would hire contractor next time as stairs were the biggest headache of all omg. Make sure to start at the top step so you get that factory edge to work with. And yes, trim/transition pieces and bullnose for stairs really do run up the cost.

 

[Yoder]

I did the Lowes Smart core on the main level of my house. We have two dogs and no scratches from them. I have had issues with my kitchen chairs. When you get dirt on the floor and move a chair it can cause scratches. We constantly track in little bits of gravel from the driveway and that causes the scratches. Downstairs I went with the Lifeproof from Home Depot. This stuff seems harder to scratch. It's not textured like the Smart core I bought but it has almost a clear coting on it that's really hard to scratch. I also went with a light color so it's harder to see. Both were easy to install. Biggest thing is to have a perfectly flat surface. My basement had a concrete slab that was really uneven. It took 10 bags of floor leveling compound to get it good enough to where the floor would stay snapped together.

 

[guylaga]

I dont have too much to add to what has already been said, other than make sure your floor is level if using the snap together type.

Also dont go cheap if your doing the snap together locking planks. We had about 800sq ft given to us from a family member and then bough another 200 or so to do our living room and had a heck of a time with the cheapo big box stuff staying locked together at the start and in areas that the floor was a bit off.

 

[Yoder]

I dont have too much to add to what has already been said, other than make sure your floor is level if using the snap together type.

Also dont go cheap if your doing the snap together locking planks. We had about 800sq ft given to us from a family member and then bough another 200 or so to do our living room and had a heck of a time with the cheapo big box stuff staying locked together at the start and in areas that the floor was a bit off.

At first, I had a heck of a time starting the first row. I wound up putting drywall screws right at the edge of the floor where the trim would cover the holes. This keeps it from moving and it's way easier to snap together. I left the screws in and it wasn't a problem. You could always take them out if there's a concern with expansion. On my concrete floor I used Tapcon screws.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Our friends just had three rooms done. What ever you do don't go with high gloss flooring. I'm not sure what they were thinking but it's god awful.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

The vinyl plank is a great floor. Buy a commercial grade. The core brand from Lowes is what we put down most often since Covid reactions wrecked supply chains. Buy the flooring kit with wedges and appropriate bars. To keep the flooring tight while Maintaining a gap that let’s it move.

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

We did mannington Audra max in our house and like it. East to install. Did about 2500 sf if I remember correctly