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Is Luxury Vinyl Tile Flooring an Alternative to Traditional Floors

When considering flooring options for your home, durability, aesthetics, and affordability are key factors influencing your decision. Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) flooring has recently emerged as a popular alternative to traditional options like hardwood, ceramic tile, laminate, and sheet vinyl. In this blog, we’ll clearly define Luxury Vinyl Tile, delve into its numerous benefits, explore how it compares to traditional flooring options, including vinyl wood flooring, and help you determine if it’s the right choice for your home.

What is Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT)?

Luxury Vinyl Tile, commonly known as LVT, is a modern flooring solution designed to replicate the look and feel of natural flooring materials like wood and stone. Unlike traditional vinyl flooring, LVT is manufactured in multiple layers, typically including a wear layer, design layer, vinyl core, and backing. This construction offers enhanced durability and improved visual appeal, closely mimicking authentic materials at a fraction of the cost.

Key Benefits of LVT Flooring

LVT flooring offers several notable benefits:

Durability: LVT is highly resistant to scratches, stains, and dents, making it an excellent choice for high-traffic areas. Its robust wear layer ensures that it maintains its appearance over time, even under demanding conditions.
Easy Maintenance: Compared to traditional flooring, LVT requires minimal upkeep. Regular sweeping and occasional damp mopping suffice to keep it looking pristine, a key reason homeowners choose this flooring solution.
Waterproof: One significant advantage of LVT flooring is its waterproof nature. This feature makes it ideal for moisture-prone areas such as kitchens, bathrooms, and basements, where traditional wood flooring might deteriorate.
Versatility in Design: LVT comes in a wide array of styles, colors, and textures, including realistic wood and stone finishes. Whether you desire the rustic charm of vinyl wood flooring or the elegance of marble, there’s an LVT option available to match your interior décor.
Comfort and Warmth: Unlike ceramic or stone, LVT offers a warmer underfoot feel and added comfort, reducing fatigue when standing for long periods.
Cost-Effectiveness: Luxury Vinyl Tile offers an affordable alternative to traditional hardwood and stone, without compromising aesthetic appeal or performance.

LVT vs Hardwood Flooring: How Do They Compare?

Comparing LVT vs hardwood flooring often involves several considerations:

Durability and Maintenance: Hardwood floors, while beautiful, are more susceptible to scratches, dents, and water damage. They also require periodic refinishing. In contrast, LVT’s resilient wear layer offers superior durability with significantly lower maintenance needs.
Cost and Installation: Hardwood floors typically require professional installation and incur higher upfront costs. Conversely, LVT flooring is generally less expensive and can often be installed as a DIY project due to its click-and-lock installation methods.
Aesthetics: While hardwood has a timeless beauty, modern LVT products closely mimic the natural look of wood, offering realistic textures and finishes. For those seeking the visual appeal of wood without the drawbacks, vinyl wood flooring in the LVT category is an excellent choice.
Environmental Factors: Hardwood is naturally sourced but requires more environmental resources for harvesting and processing. LVT, however, often incorporates recycled materials, providing a more eco-conscious option.

LVT vs. Traditional Flooring Options

When evaluating LVT against other traditional flooring options such as ceramic tile, laminate, and sheet vinyl, several distinct advantages emerge:

Ceramic Tile: While ceramic tile is highly durable and moisture-resistant, it can be cold, hard, and uncomfortable to stand on for extended periods. LVT offers similar moisture resistance but adds warmth, comfort, and better sound absorption, making it more suitable for living spaces and bedrooms.
Laminate Flooring: Laminate can replicate wood flooring but lacks LVT’s water-resistant properties. Exposure to moisture can warp laminate, whereas LVT remains stable and intact, making it a superior choice for kitchens and bathrooms.
Sheet Vinyl: Sheet vinyl is affordable and water-resistant but doesn’t offer the same visual realism or resilience to heavy wear that LVT does. Additionally, sheet vinyl can be challenging to repair, while individual damaged tiles in LVT floors can be easily replaced without disturbing the entire flooring.

LVT is particularly advantageous in scenarios such as:

Bathrooms and Kitchens: The waterproof nature of LVT makes it perfect for moisture-prone areas.
Basements: LVT withstands basement conditions better than wood or laminate due to its resilience against humidity and potential flooding.
Rental Properties: LVT flooring provides durability and easy maintenance, making it ideal for rental properties where frequent tenant turnover may occur.

Is Luxury Vinyl Flooring Right for You?

Determining whether Luxury Vinyl Tile flooring is right for you depends on your specific needs and preferences. Consider LVT flooring if:

You need flooring that’s durable and easy to maintain.
You’re looking for a water-resistant solution suitable for kitchens, bathrooms, or basements.
You want the look of hardwood or natural stone without the associated costs and maintenance hassles.
You require flooring that offers warmth and comfort underfoot.
You’re aiming for an easy DIY installation process.

LVT flooring’s impressive combination of practicality, affordability, aesthetics, and durability makes it an outstanding alternative to traditional flooring options. Whether renovating your home or updating a rental property, LVT delivers both performance and style, ensuring your flooring investment pays off for years to come.

Different Flooring Options For Your Home

While renovating your home’s flooring can be a very rewarding and exciting process it can also be quite stressful. There are a variety of flooring options to choose from, and each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages. It can be challenging to understand what material offers the most advantageous profile for your home’s Flooring. The following list discusses popular flooring materials and the advantages and disadvantages these materials possess. If you are looking to renovate your home’s flooring in the foreseeable future then this list was meant for you!

Ceramic

Tile Flooring

Ceramic tiles are made from natural elements like sand and clay that have been baked in a kiln. This flooring option is highly durable and offers homeowners the choice of several different designs and colors. Ceramic tile also does not get easily scratched or damaged and is a solid choice for high traffic areas and home’s with pets and children.

There are also several disadvantages associated with ceramic flooring. This material can be quite slippery and can pose a potential hazard to the elderly or young children.

Ceramic also does not conduct heat and can be quite cold to touch. Therefore, walking on ceramic tile, especially in the winter, can be uncomfortable.

Shop ceramic bathroom accessories, Handmade ceramic tiles, & ceramic corner shower shelf

Concrete

A slightly unconventional but widely available flooring material, Concrete can come in a variety of colors and designs that can add texture and depth to a room via its flooring. Floors made out of concrete will also increase the overall energy efficiency of a home and improve a home’s fire protection. The material is not combustible and acts as an additional source of insulation.

Concrete floors are very hard to repair. Any section that does crack or fade can’t be easily patched or replaced. Concrete floors also can be quite loud and uncomfortable to stand on for long periods of time. Shop: Concrete polishing pad, concrete cement board

3. Wood

A classic home flooring material, wood floors are an investment and drastically increase the resale value of a home. This material is also highly customizable and comes in a variety of shades, designs, and patterns. Wood floors are also a good source of insulation in a home. However, wood floors are also very expensive, easy to damage, and require extensive ongoing maintenance and care. Shop: hardwood floor cleaner, hardwood floor installation kit

Vinyl

In recent years, vinyl flooring has seen tremendous advances in design and functionality. Similar to linoleum, this flooring material is normally installed in kitchens and bathrooms. The material is very easy to clean using a broom and dustpan. Vinyl flooring is also water-resistant and can be moped and dried quite easily. The disadvantages of vinyl flooring relate to the chemical compounds of the material. These compounds are quite harmful to the lungs and eyes when broken down. Therefore, vinyl flooring has to be removed completely to replace even the smallest of defects.

Laminate

Laminate flooring is designed to imitate hardwood flooring in a home. This material is easy to install and easier to maintain than wood flooring. The material is also highly inexpensive and comes in a variety of shades, designs, and textures. The major downfall associated with laminate flooring is its water resistance. While the material is somewhat water-resistant it should never be installed in a laundry room or other area where water damage is likely.

Carpet

Carpet is making a comeback in the flooring discourse because of its consistency and softness. The material also comes in a variety of styles, textures, and designs. The maintenance of carpet flooring is also rather simple as it only requires regular vacuuming and occasional shampooing. The disadvantages associated with carpet flooring are that the material can make a home appear dated and that it is easy to stain or damage. Shop: Carpet stain remover

Enjoy Your Home’s New Floors

It’s true that there are a variety of flooring options on the market to decide between. However, homeowners who follow the list of materials above are sure to choose the perfect flooring option for their home.

Skylar Ross is a contributor to Innovative Building Materials. He is a blogger and content writer for the residential and commercial flooring industry. Skylar is focused on helping fellow homeowners, contractors, and manufacturers discover materials and methods of installation that increase property value, improve durability, and discover innovative flooring options for their home or commercial space.

Tips to Save Energy and Money on your Flooring

Every homeowner strives to make the most of available flooring solutions to save energy and money. As flooring is an important aspect of every home, selection of a suitable floor becomes a critical decision. The all-important decision of flooring should be suitably addressed after assessment of all the requirements and constraints so that the money is invested in the right flooring option.

Moreover, flooring issue needs to be addressed separately for different sections of the house. For home flooring, different sections include kitchen, bathroom, living room, dining room, bedroom, hallway and stairway. All the sections need different flooring solution due to the different applications these are put to. Kitchen being the busiest area of the house and vulnerable to food spills and stains need flooring that can be cleaned easily and can handle high foot traffic. Vinyl flooring, tile flooring and laminate flooring match all criteria of such a section and prove beneficial in the long run.

Bathroom is another section that needs special attention while laying a floor. The floor of the bathroom needs to be waterproof. Easy to wash and dry, along with being slip resistant are some of the other attributes that are necessary to ascertain safety of users. Vinyl and ceramic tile flooring are the most preferred option for bathroom flooring. Besides, affordable laminate and wood flooring with waterproofing also work for bathrooms.

Bathroom design Project

Living room being the center of the house is considered as the reflection of the entire home. One must consider all the factors, including preference and budget, while installing floor to enhance the aesthetic appeal. Hardwood flooring is one of the popular options which is available in variety of colors and patterns. Depending upon the preference, homeowners can choose among natural or engineered hardwood flooring option, which adds value to the home.

Dining room floor, identical to kitchen floor, is a heavy traffic area within the house. Being prone to food and drink spills, one has to choose flooring option carefully to counter the same. Wood, laminate and tile flooring options are often preferred by homeowners for dining rooms. Bedrooms can also be exquisitely decorated by hardwood flooring. Hallways and stairways are other areas that receive heavy foot traffic and are exposed to dirt and moisture. Thus, durable flooring options like ceramic tiles are preferred for these areas.

Warmup Radiant Floor Heating

For saving energy, homeowners should opt for flooring solutions like wood during winters that keep the house warm. Additionally, homeowners can install Warmup Radiant Floor Heating to keep the house warm. Likewise, homeowners living in areas with hot climate must opt for flooring options that keep the house cool. This simple measure would ensure less dependency on the electrical appliances like AC or heater and thus, save energy as well as money.

Choosing the right flooring option, as per the preference and budget, not only will help enhance the appearance of the house but will also prove beneficial in saving money and energy. Thus, it is advisable for homeowners to do a proper research and if need be, seek professional guidance to select the right flooring option.

Myths you Should Stop Believing in Concerning Tile

Are you coming up to a Home Improvement project soon where you will be replacing your flooring but are weary of choosing tile? Maybe it’s because you have heard some things about it that sound horrifying, you are now against the very idea of even considering it. Maybe you don’t hate tile that much, but today we will go through the 6 most common myths about tile and show you the truth. This way you can make an educated, well thought out decision. Here are the myths, and why they aren’t true.

Myth: Tile is boring

Reality: Nowadays with the multitude of different flooring options available tile seems boring and difficult to customize. Hardwood is available in so many different grains, styles, & colors. Carpet has been expanding to include a wider variety of texture than ever before and vinyl now can be created to mimic any natural material out there. What many don’t realize is that in the last decade imaging technology has greatly improved, now tile can be customized to mimic hardwood, natural stone, or a completely custom pattern. Today you have more opportunity for tile customization than even your choice of hardwood.

Myth: Tile flooring is cold

Reality: This myth is true in some sense but not entirely. It is portrayed much worse than it is in reality. Tile is a conductor of temperature and holds a certain temperature for a very long time (kind of like stone). Taking this into account, during the winter if you live in a cold area tile that is exposed to the cold will retain the temperature and remain cool for long periods of time without warming up. Not always though, there is such a thing as radiant heat mats that can be installed directly underneath the tile. These can be controlled by a thermostat and will often actually help you save money on your heating bill (although they are pricey to install in the beginning). Another factor to pay attention to: the location where the tile is being installed and the material underneath. Above a well insulated area that is not directly perpendicular to the outdoors the tile will not have as a great a source of cold temperature as tile installed directly over concrete.

Myth: Wood alike tile looks fake

Reality: Maybe at first, but today wood look alike tile often times looks better than the real thing. With advanced imaging technology wood textures are printed directly onto the travertine creating not only a beautiful look but an authentic feel. If you are worried about the grout lines that will give it away, don’t. You can purchase tile that is finely cut to match the surrounding pieces requiring little grout and almost no transition.

Myth: Tile flooring is expensive

Reality: Every valuable investment is made with hope that it was worth it. Although tile is significantly more expensive to purchase and install than vinyl or carpet it can last for much longer. The most durable vinyl won’t last longer than 20 years. Carpet, you’ll be lucky if it lasts 10-15 years. Tile on the other hand will last a lifetime, if not longer. There’s a reason it has been the go to flooring material for thousands of years. Spending double what you would spend on carpet or vinyl will pay off in the long run. Even if you aren’t planning on selling your house in the short term: if done right, tile will increase the monetary and visual value of your home.

Myth: Tile breaks easily

Reality: Tile; porcelain, ceramic, & travertine are much more durable than you imagined. Yes it is possible to chip or crack tile, but much less so than majority of other flooring materials. Tile is the only material that water will not damage, as well as the only material that you can be sure will not face scratching or denting from a pets claws. If one tile is damaged it can easily be taken out and replaced by a new one. Vinyl on the other hand requires repairing the whole section.

Myth: Tile requires little or no maintenance or care

Reality: Although tile is plenty more durable than most other flooring materials, it still requires upkeep and maintenance. A properly sealed tile floor requires much less maintenance as it will not be affected as much by daily wear and tear. You must periodically reseal the floor to ensure that it is protected as well as picking up stains and moisture as soon as it happens. Although ceramic and porcelain are considered strong materials the grout in between them will give way to acid and erosion, thus should be avoided.

Credit Visit our company blog at www.divinehns.com/news for more flooring industry news.

5 ways to decorate your home with tile

When your walls and floors start to look a little outdated and worn, tile is a great solution to give your home the finishing touch it needs. There are various types you can use for your surfaces, but here are a few tips to get your started.

Kitchen countertops

Tiling kitchen countertops makes your home look shiny and new, as well as potentially increasing the value of your home. Choose a stone tile for something longer lasting and practical, or a ceramic tile for a more traditional look.

Bathroom floor

The right bathroom tile with help transform your space into a relaxing spa. If you decide to opt for a design that is clean and simple, create a focal point using your favourite plant or pillar candle to draw the eye into a particular spot.

Kitchen backsplash

Is your dream kitchen rustic and cosy or modern and stylish? Smaller tiles with repeating patterns give a decorative finish, although some opt for larger tiles which are easier to clean. Whatever you choose, backsplash tiles are an easy way to add colour, pattern and texture to your space.

Entryway

The entryway is the first area that people see when coming into your home, so it’s important to make sure your choice is eye-catching and complements your home. For an entryway that is grand and elegant, a marble tile is a great choice.

Fireplace surround

As well as being a cosy spot for your living room, a fireplace can be a statement piece. Whether you choose brick, stone, or mosaic, ensure your choice can withstand the heat as well as adding style to the room.

Check out our great range of tiling on our website.

Tag: Ceramic tile

Is Luxury Vinyl Tile Flooring an Alternative to Traditional Floors

What is Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT)?

Key Benefits of LVT Flooring

LVT vs Hardwood Flooring: How Do They Compare?

LVT vs. Traditional Flooring Options

Is Luxury Vinyl Flooring Right for You?

Different Flooring Options For Your Home

Tips to Save Energy and Money on your Flooring

Myths you Should Stop Believing in Concerning Tile

Myths you Should Stop Believing in Concerning Tile

Myth: Tile is boring

Myth: Tile flooring is cold

Myth: Wood alike tile looks fake

Myth: Tile flooring is expensive

Myth: Tile breaks easily

Myth: Tile requires little or no maintenance or care

5 ways to decorate your home with tile

Kitchen countertops

Bathroom floor

Kitchen backsplash

Entryway

Fireplace surround

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