Discover the 3 Main Types of Vinyl Flooring: A Complete Guide

Luxury vinyl flooring complements our busy, hurried lives like no other flooring does. No wonder it’s becoming a popular choice in homes and offices alike. This resilient flooring can stand up to the toughest modern-day challenges, while looking great for years.

LV floors give you the best of both worlds: great performance and great looks. Now if you are wondering which type to go in for, it will depend on various factors like your aesthetic sense, budget and the space you plan to install it in.

Read on to see what works best for you.

Luxury Vinyl Planks

Desire the look of real wood, but don’t want to deal with its many disadvantages? Luxury vinyl planks (LVP) are your natural solution. These narrow planks of vinyl are designed to look like the most popular wood flooring styles. It’s remarkable how realistic LVP looks with all the naturally occurring knots, grains and wormholes so characteristic of real wood printed to near perfection on its surface.

These planks are thicker and more rigid than sheet vinyl, which makes them far more durable, scratch and impact resistant.

When it comes to design, colours and finishes too, you would be spoilt for choice. A design layer features a variety of textures from light wood to grey and even black. Additional layers added on top of the design sheet help prevent scratching, tears, and stains. 

What’s more, you could opt for the artistry of parquet floors or go for the longer and wider wood design planks to make a lasting impression.

Is LVP better than real wood?

All across the UK, we are a people mesmerised by the sheer beauty and old-world charm of wood. It has a nostalgic quality and a timeless appeal. But in today’s world, does this highly expensive, difficult to clean and maintain material really work? This is where LVP really shines.

LVP offers the realism of wood, which is very difficult to tell apart from real wood for the untrained eye. But unlike real wood, it is worry and fuss-free, while being extremely affordable and easy to maintain.

Typically, wooden floors are laborious and expensive to install, cannot withstand moisture or damp and need to be waxed, polished or sanded down to maintain its appearance. In case damage does occur, the cost of re-installation is also exorbitant. All in all, a high-cost, high-maintenance material.

LVP saves you all of these annoyances by being super easy to install and needing just a regular sweep and mop from time to time. Besides, it’s 100% waterproof.

What’s packed into Pro-Tek™ Planks?

Pro-Tek™ Editions Classic Planks offers 12 stunning designs and colours from contemporary shades of grey, classic beiges and whites to luxurious dark woods. For those who love the look of long planks, the Excel Longplank collection offers exquisite choices.

Aching for the visual oomph of parquet, but worried about the expense? The Herringbone range with a choice of 12 modern grey tones and classic oak hues help you add a touch of luxury to any space – at a fraction of the cost of real wood.

Luxury Vinyl Tile

Luxury vinyl tile (LVT), although similar in construction to LVP, has a different design purpose. LVT is engineered to mimic natural stone, slate, marble, travertine, porcelain or ceramic tiles. These are cut in the traditional shape of floor tiles and are remarkably versatile when compared to the real thing.

Is LVT as good as the real deal?

Way better, in fact. Like wood, tiles are notoriously expensive, difficult to install and maintain. A massive advantage of LVT over real tiles is the ease of installation, besides the lower costs. There is no time-consuming grout work and you don’t have to break up your existing floor. It can simply be laid on top of it. Especially in case of click tiles, you don’t even have to wait till the floor dries. You can begin to use it right after installation.

Tiles are also cold and hard underfoot and can get dangerously slippery. LVT, on the other hand, is warm and soft underfoot and anti-slip. Making it perfect for spaces with kids, pets and the elderly. The 100% waterproof core makes it a great choice for bathrooms as well.

The after-care is fuss-free for LVT. The simple sweep and swab routine is much less time-consuming than cleaning grout lines repeatedly.

What’s in Pro-Tek™ LVT?

Pro-Tek™ is home to some of the most durable and attractive stone-effect tiles in the UK. Pro-Tek™ Editions Tiles feature 8 gorgeous designs in marble, slate and travertine.

Sheet Vinyl

Sheet Vinyl (SV) has been around for decades and has been a popular choice thanks to its affordability and waterproofing abilities. Like LVP and LVT, SV mimics the look of natural materials, but as the name suggests, these are designed as one homogenous sheet.  It is typically cut off a roll in the quantity you need.

In terms of installation, SV isn’t as easy as click-down LVT or LVP. It needs a more stable and even sub-floor and the installation is best handled by professionals since it’s glued down and a botched up job could mean ungainly, visible seams showing up.

SV is also a thinner, softer material than LVP and LVT. Which means it is less scratch and impact resistant.

Too many choices?

If you are confused about what works best with your space and taste, the experts at Pro-Tek™ would be happy to guide you along.