topic Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring in Home

Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Writer with Flair — Tue, 19 May 2020 03:14:48 GMT

We are thinking of replacing some carpet (that was damaged in a flood) with Luxury Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring and installing it ourselves. The base floor is a cement slab. We will be replacing flooring in a master bedroom, master bath, hallway, powder room, and a laundry room.

It would be helpful if anyone who has installed this type of floor (floating floor--no adhesive) yourself could let us know the following about the brands you have used:

The easiest/most difficult to install?
Which wears well/poorly?
Where you bought your flooring.
If you have had any problems with the floor after you installed it? (buckling, separation, mold, moisture problems, scratching, denting, or any other types of problems)
Did the company honor the warranty if you had problems with the flooring?
What do you use to clean your floor?

Did you use a moisture barrier or some other underlayment underneath this product?

If you don't like this type of flooring, what other type of flooring do you like better?

Do you think this type of flooring can successfully done by home do-it-yourselfers?

We have begun to research the following brands online:

Smartcore (Lowe's)

Lifeproof (Home Depot)

Shaw (Lowes)

Mohawk (Lowes)

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Carolm — Sun, 17 May 2020 04:05:10 GMT

I had luxury vinyl installed last year in both my lower level family room, and my first floor living room, dining room and powder room. Love it. Its Mannington's AduraMax. No issues at all, but I must tell you that it will dent. I understand rigid vinyl is available for people who use wheelchairs, and it will not dent. It looks expensive, get lots of compliments and is very easy to maintain. Wash with warm water with 1/2 c. vinegar.

I purchased it from WeShipFloors.com. It arrived by truck, price was excellent and didn't have any issues with the company or the shipper, and I hired a gentleman to install through Thumbtack. I'm planning on putting it in my kitchen, hopefully this summer.

I much prefer it to carpeting and laminate.

Best of luck and if you go the vinyl route, I don't think you will be sorry.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

itsmagic — Sun, 17 May 2020 08:14:40 GMT

We had Cortec HD luxury vinyl planks installed in our kitchen/dining room 2 years ago. I’m very happy with it. Easy care (I just use a damp mop to clean it) and it looks like real wood planks. I watched the installer put it in and I think it would be a fairly easy do it yourself project if you had the right tools to cut it with (he had to cut planks to fit around kitchen cabinets. Otherwise it is a floating floor tongue and groove system with no glue. We have had no problems with buckling or separating. Like the other poster said it can dent though. We have extra left over flooring for future use in case a plank is damaged but we have not had to use it yet. I would recommend having it on hand though in case your particular flooring is discontinued and you need a small fix. Our base floor was a wood underlayment. We bought our flooring through a local flooring company.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

hick — Sun, 17 May 2020 10:30:57 GMT

Two years ago, I had Home Depot install Lifeproof luxury planks in my kitchen, dining room, living room, hallways, and 2 bathrooms.

I live in a condo that's on a slab.

I'm very satisfied with it.

I wipe it up with a damp mop with stuff that's made for vinyl plank.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Skyegirl21 — Sun, 17 May 2020 10:36:26 GMT

We installed an Armstrong vinyl plank floor in the basement. Called Luxe Plank with Fastak. It's a peel and stick, but does require a chop-saw to cut. It looks like stone, a marble look. It was pretty easy to install ourselves, looks fabulous. It's not advertised as waterproof but survived a flood here of several inches of water overnight and no damage whatsoever. I recommend it.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Caffeina — Sun, 17 May 2020 16:03:15 GMT

@Carolm wrote:
I had luxury vinyl installed last year in both my lower level family room, and my first floor living room, dining room and powder room. Love it. Its Mannington's AduraMax. No issues at all, but I must tell you that it will dent. I understand rigid vinyl is available for people who use wheelchairs, and it will not dent. It looks expensive, get lots of compliments and is very easy to maintain. Wash with warm water with 1/2 c. vinegar.

I purchased it from WeShipFloors.com. It arrived by truck, price was excellent and didn't have any issues with the company or the shipper, and I hired a gentleman to install through Thumbtack. I'm planning on putting it in my kitchen, hopefully this summer.

I much prefer it to carpeting and laminate.

Best of luck and if you go the vinyl route, I don't think you will be sorry.

We had a Mannington Adura Max floor installed when we remodeled our kitchen about 2½ years ago, and haven't had any problems with denting. DH has pulled out our refrigerator and range twice so I could clean under and behind them, and there are no dents or scratches at all.

I wonder if your subfloor didn't meet Mannington's guidelines.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

wagirl — Sun, 17 May 2020 14:54:11 GMT

WE just had Lifeproof, from home depot, lux vinyl flooring put in our upstairs bathroom last summer----I love it and when we do the rest of the hard surface floors, I think I will go with the same. We didn't install it but my hubs has before being a carpenter. Now we have no kids or dogs to worry about so none of that type of heavy duty living. It looks really good and feels good under foot. Cost was about $3.50 a foot maybe--we spent $600 all total for pretty small full bath-----I think being in a bath , water proofing is a good idea, not sure if it was or not.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

depglass — Sun, 17 May 2020 15:18:17 GMT

I chose Mannington laminate for bathroom 13 years ago. Garbage. Thank goodness we went with something else from Costco for the rest of the house. Therefore Mannington is on my blacklist for life.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

henderson — Sun, 17 May 2020 15:58:50 GMT

We had our handyman install LifeProof for our kitchen. I purchased the planks from Best Laminate (you can google them). Free shipping and no tax. They delivered them inside my garage. No moisture barrier needed. I don't think it was easy to install.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Reever — Sun, 17 May 2020 16:53:55 GMT

@henderson wrote:
We had our handyman install LifeProof for our kitchen. I purchased the planks from Best Laminate (you can google them). Free shipping and no tax. They delivered them inside my garage. No moisture barrier needed. I don't think it was easy to install.

Unless you are very handy I would recommend a professional or a handy man to do it. It involves use of a saw and especially if there are anglular cuts it may not be easy to fit the pieces together. I used Lifeproof also from Home Depot on recommendation of a contractor. He did not recommend it in the bathroom if there are men in the house, specifically around the toilet. He recommended porcelain in there. Hope that helps some.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

morganjen — Sun, 17 May 2020 22:17:22 GMT

We got LifePoof from Home Depot installed about a year ago in our kitchen and utility room. I recommend it highly! Very easy to clean and haven't had a bit of problem with it.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Writer with Flair — Tue, 19 May 2020 03:13:57 GMT

@hick wrote:
Two years ago, I had Home Depot install Lifeproof luxury planks in my kitchen, dining room, living room, hallways, and 2 bathrooms.
I live in a condo that's on a slab.
I'm very satisfied with it.
I wipe it up with a damp mop with stuff that's made for vinyl plank.

Hi, Hick,

What is the name of the product that you use to clean your vinyl plank flooring that's specifically made for that type of flooring? Thanks for your help.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Writer with Flair — Tue, 19 May 2020 03:18:17 GMT

@depglass wrote:
I chose Mannington laminate for bathroom 13 years ago. Garbage. Thank goodness we went with something else from Costco for the rest of the house. Therefore Mannington is on my blacklist for life.

What product did you get from Costco? Was it a vinyl plank floor?

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

LOVEMYFURBABY — Tue, 19 May 2020 03:44:33 GMT

We had it put in and I do not like it. The planks keep moving leaving big gaps in our floor. It was put in when they remodled our kitchen. It was Lowes who did it.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

hick — Tue, 19 May 2020 10:42:42 GMT

Hi There - I initially used vinegar and water. I read that yes, it's good for the floor and then no, it's not.

So.....I picked up some "Rejuvenate Luxurty Vinyl Floor Cleaner". Got it at Home Depot - it got good reviews from people.

I don't scrub my floors very often but this product seems to do a good job.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Writer with Flair — Sat, 23 May 2020 20:12:29 GMT

@depglass wrote:
I chose Mannington laminate for bathroom 13 years ago. Garbage. Thank goodness we went with something else from Costco for the rest of the house. Therefore Mannington is on my blacklist for life.

depglass,

What was it that you found at Costco? I'd be intersted in knowing the name. They carry several brands.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

SANNA — Sat, 23 May 2020 20:45:22 GMT

We were thinking about luxury vinyl, did research on cheap and very expensive European brands, but honestly they all look fake to me. We are also on the concrete slab and couldn’t do a real wood.

After a long and painful process we settled on Pergo Outlast Plus Waterproof laminate( Home Depot has it in many options) , I picked Applewood and it looks and feels amazing. Everybody think# it’s the real wood.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Writer with Flair — Wed, 27 May 2020 03:02:18 GMT

@SANNA wrote:
We were thinking about luxury vinyl, did research on cheap and very expensive European brands, but honestly they all look fake to me. We are also on the concrete slab and couldn’t do a real wood.
After a long and painful process we settled on Pergo Outlast Plus Waterproof laminate( Home Depot has it in many options) , I picked Applewood and it looks and feels amazing. Everybody think# it’s the real wood.

Sanna,

I was unfamiliar with that product. Thanks for telling me about it. I just took a look at it on HD's site and it looks great.

It appears that Pergo Outlast Plus Waterproof flooring is a floating floor that does not have to be glued down. Was that how your floor was installed?

Did you install it yourself? We'd like to find something that is easy to install so we can do it ourselves.

Also, did you use an additional underlayment beneath the floor and the concrete? Because the vinyl planks we looked at were so thin, we felt like we would have to do that to guard against moisture, etc.

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

eurolady — Wed, 27 May 2020 11:04:59 GMT

We have Coretec installed and I love it. Our contractor installed it and after looking at various brands settled on this one for 2 reasons....1 it had a cork backing and 2 our contractor used it in a florist shop and after several years it still looked great. I am not sure you would want to install this yourself. Any negative reviews I read re Coretec or other brands had to do with improper installation, but then you might have more DIY experience than I do.....in fact, almost everyone has more DIY experience LOL!

Re: Waterproof Vinyl Plank Flooring

Writer with Flair — Thu, 28 May 2020 03:07:21 GMT

@eurolady wrote:
We have Coretec installed and I love it. Our contractor installed it and after looking at various brands settled on this one for 2 reasons....1 it had a cork backing and 2 our contractor used it in a florist shop and after several years it still looked great. I am not sure you would want to install this yourself. Any negative reviews I read re Coretec or other brands had to do with improper installation, but then you might have more DIY experience than I do.....in fact, almost everyone has more DIY experience LOL!

Eurolady,

Thanks for letting me know about your experience with Coretec. I have heard good things about it, but have had a hard time finding it in our area. I'll keep looking for it.

We defintely want something that will look good for a long time.