Author Topic: LVP flooring recommendations  (Read 2382 times)

wotan

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LVP flooring recommendations
« on: May 30, 2019, 06:17:22 PM »
selling house and we need new flooring. located in Myrtle Beach. most people do not want rugs. thinking of installing LVP flooring.
any recommendations?
anybody try Home Depot Life Proof, price seems reasonable.
have about 1350 sq. feet. to do.

Daley

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2019, 08:45:05 PM »
The closest Floor & Decor shops are a couple hours away from you, but given the price point you're looking at with the Despot... it might be worth the drive to Charlotte or Savannah, depending on the color and style you're after. We've got their DuraLux Performance in tribeca oak in our house, $1.59/sqft. Went down fast and easy and is very DIY friendly, reasonably easy to cut with a straightedge and boxcutter for the short edge cuts, or a pair of tin snips depending on if you need to cut the long way. Not waterproof, but pretty darn water resistant. Comes with its own foam backing. Holding up really well thus far. My only recommendation would be to spend a little extra and buy the 6 mil black plastic vapor barrier from Lowe's instead of F&D or HD. The Blue Hawk there at Lowe's has some of the best quality control of the stuff available and lays flat really well, and doesn't run a whole lot more per sqft. We tried using a roll from F&D and it was wavy and crinkled, especially along the seam edge. Made for such noisy flooring that I pulled the planks back up and replaced it with the Blue Hawk.

If you do use LVP, get rigid core to keep from having furniture dent issues down the road... even if you are selling the house. You'll also want around 4-6mm thickness. Too thin and it telegraphs imperfections in the underlayment. Too thick and it's just a PITA to work with. Also, don't forget to order an extra 10% of what you need if this is your first flooring job. For 1350sqft, get about 1500. Leave the extra for repairs. If one of the $1.59/sqft DuraLux LVP colors works for you, you'll be looking at around $2400 for the LVP and underlayment for around $255 plus trim and taxes out the door.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2019, 08:56:24 PM by Daley »

LifeHappens

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2019, 12:45:46 AM »
Paging @Dicey for LVP knowledge.

We installed LVP in our master bedroom this Fall. The previous homeowners already had the other two bedrooms and the entry room done so we just picked a product to match. The install was very easy and so far we're happy with it.

Louisville

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2019, 05:09:18 AM »
Consider using real wood instead of LVP. It will set your house apart from others for sale. Even the very best looking LVP products look like shit next to real wood. Don't overbuild the neighborhood, of course, but think about it.

wotan

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2019, 06:54:13 AM »
are you talking about real wood or engineered wood?
most of new building here is with LVP as an upgrade over carpet.
will be putting it over slab concrete.

Dicey

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2019, 11:19:40 AM »
LVP is the bomb, IMO. It's waterproof, so it can be used continuously in kitchens, baths and laundry rooms. It resists scratching and makes cleaning up after kids and especially pets a breeze. The cork backed stuff feels amazing underfoot and doesn't have that hollow laminate sound. It's also pretty easy to install. We just put it in our flip house. Yeah, the house that's going to sell for over a million dollars. It looks awesome.

As with anything, there is cheap crap and there is quality material. Cheap crap will give you poor results.

lthenderson

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2019, 11:23:36 AM »
LVP is the bomb, IMO. It's waterproof, so it can be used continuously in kitchens, baths and laundry rooms. It resists scratching and makes cleaning up after kids and especially pets a breeze. The cork backed stuff feels amazing underfoot and doesn't have that hollow laminate sound. It's also pretty easy to install. We just put it in our flip house. Yeah, the house that's going to sell for over a million dollars. It looks awesome.

As with anything, there is cheap crap and there is quality material. Cheap crap will give you poor results.

It does have a few drawbacks that I've seen, namely large beds, appliances and such can leave permanent dents in it for the next occupant to notice and unless you walk on throw rugs, high traffic areas will lose their luster after several years which requires frequent use of chemicals to "restore" the initial shine back temporarily.

Daley

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2019, 01:28:28 PM »
It does have a few drawbacks that I've seen, namely large beds, appliances and such can leave permanent dents in it for the next occupant to notice

This is not an issue with the rigid core LVP.

The cork backed stuff feels amazing underfoot and doesn't have that hollow laminate sound.

The foam backed doesn't have that issue, either.
« Last Edit: May 31, 2019, 01:30:18 PM by Daley »

Dicey

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2019, 12:51:07 AM »
LVP is the bomb, IMO. It's waterproof, so it can be used continuously in kitchens, baths and laundry rooms. It resists scratching and makes cleaning up after kids and especially pets a breeze. The cork backed stuff feels amazing underfoot and doesn't have that hollow laminate sound. It's also pretty easy to install. We just put it in our flip house. Yeah, the house that's going to sell for over a million dollars. It looks awesome.

As with anything, there is cheap crap and there is quality material. Cheap crap will give you poor results.

It does have a few drawbacks that I've seen, namely large beds, appliances and such can leave permanent dents in it for the next occupant to notice and unless you walk on throw rugs, high traffic areas will lose their luster after several years which requires frequent use of chemicals to "restore" the initial shine back temporarily.
Well, that's easy. We don't install shiny stuff.

wotan

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2019, 09:35:58 AM »
was hoping for actual product recommendations.
and how hard/easy to install.

Dicey

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #10 on: June 02, 2019, 11:32:56 PM »
Some stuff is all vinyl and you just score & snap. Easy peasy. Alas, generally the better stuff (engineered) LVP requires real saws. Typically, a compound miter (or chop) saw and a table saw.

We have purchased LVP from Lumber Liquidators that was score & snap. Our current project is Down's H20 Engineered LVP from Flooring America. That's the private label name. It's Core-tec Plus, from US Floors, wbich is owned by Shaw IIRC.They private label it for lots of companies.

lthenderson

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #11 on: June 03, 2019, 07:34:34 AM »
was hoping for actual product recommendations.
and how hard/easy to install.

Very easy to install which fortunately coincides with very easy to tear out and replace with something else which I seem to do a lot when people don't like them anymore after four or five years.

calman

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #12 on: June 09, 2019, 07:00:55 PM »
I installed about 350sf of the Home Depot LifeProof in my nephew’s basement a few months ago.  Installation was very easy.  I can't speak of its longevity.
I couldn't tell by your post if you are installing it yourself.  If you are, take the time to plan out your layout.  There are some good YouTube videos that show how to do it.  This guy explains it and has some other good videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU-1GZ8gFE8
I also bought a laminate floor cutter.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GJWJSV2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I know you can score and snap the flooring but this worked great for me.  You have a lot of floor to cut.
Good luck!


Another Reader

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #13 on: June 09, 2019, 07:12:18 PM »
Some stuff is all vinyl and you just score & snap. Easy peasy. Alas, generally the better stuff (engineered) LVP requires real saws. Typically, a compound miter (or chop) saw and a table saw.

We have purchased LVP from Lumber Liquidators that was score & snap. Our current project is Down's H20 Engineered LVP from Flooring America. That's the private label name. It's Core-tec Plus, from US Floors, wbich is owned by Shaw IIRC.They private label it for lots of companies.

Considering LVP in a rental in a nice neighborhood.  Is it appropriate in living areas as well as kitchens and baths?  Seems more expensive than tile for the actual product, but installation might be cheaper??  Will it last with tenants?

Dicey

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #14 on: June 09, 2019, 10:19:44 PM »
If you buy the right stuff, it wears like iron.  In the flip house,  we're putting it in the entire downstairs, including laundry room, and in the bathrooms and hallway upstairs.  We install it ourselves, but it has to be cheaper than installing tile and it's definitely less of a mess.

We also put it in DSD's Aspen condo (i.e. a lot more weather variation than CA) a couple of years ago and it's holding up beautifully.

If it looks cheap and flimsy, it probably will underperform. For example, we've never seen anything at Costco that we'd buy, even though the prices seem pretty good. And as mentioned above,  we always go for the matte finish.

Hope that helps.

Dogastrophe

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Re: LVP flooring recommendations
« Reply #15 on: June 10, 2019, 05:34:15 AM »
My company distributes several types of LVL and stone core products. They have become very popular in the last year or two and are quickly starting to eat into our laminate sales. In our main office, we installed a high quality LVL around 4 years ago. It sees a lot of 'gravel in boot' traffic in the run of a day and still looks very good with almost no scratches.

As others have mentioned, stay away from the cheap products. The medium to high end LVL's will be more expensive upfront ... 3 years from now you will thank yourself for spending the extra.