Vinyl flooring buying guide
Sheet vinyl
typically comes in widths ranging from 6' to 12' (sometimes 13'). It's stylish, affordable, durable,
waterproof, low maintenance, and is easy to install. Available in an assortment
of colors and patterns, you can get anything from wood, stone, and ceramic tile
looks as well as florals, colorful geometrics, chevrons, herringbone patterns,
and more. Your imagination only limits you!
Forget any thoughts you may have about vinyl from decades past. Modern technology has given it improved
color, clarity, and patterns. Textures,
such as the trending wire-brushed, hand scraped, weathered and distressed are
available, as is filigree, a process that gives a weathered, hand-painted look.
The patterns are created with digital technology and have micro beveling and
deep embossing to make the images, especially wood, stone, and tile,
true-to-life echoes. The layout is critical; the installer needs to ensure that
squares and patterns are lined up correctly.
All vinyl is
durable, and thicker is better since thicker hides subfloor imperfections
better and is quieter. Sheet vinyl
flooring ranges in thickness from 2-mm to 4-mm and then 8-mm and above for
higher quality products. The product is layered and, at the top, is a
transparent melamine coated wear layer that protects the floor from scratches
and scuffs and keeps spills and stains from absorbing.
The product
is waterproof, made of PVC vinyl. A
waterproof product is composed entirely of waterproof materials. The capability is inherent, and it is
waterproof from the top and the bottom.