Warning

 

Close

Confirm Action

Are you sure you wish to do this?

Confirm Cancel
BCM
User Panel

Posted: 3/18/2017 10:56:24 AM EDT
Time to replace the carpet in the living room. Due to allergy issues and having small children and dogs inside we don't want carpet. Luxury vinyl tile/planking seems to be the most straight forward as far as diy installs don't really need to buy any more power tools or anything like that.
Link Posted: 3/18/2017 12:33:14 PM EDT
[#1]
Link Posted: 3/18/2017 12:52:42 PM EDT
[#2]
We had about 320 sf of LVT put in our kitchen.  I did the kitchen mostly myself, but I paid an installer to install the LVT.  I could have done it myself, would have taken more time i suspect.

Ours is floating, he went over every lump and bump and transition in the floor with a commercial sander before he installed anything.  It came out well and we like it.

We used Downs Invincible series tiles.
Link Posted: 3/18/2017 4:10:36 PM EDT
[#3]
Any recommendations as to brands to use or avoid? I'm on a raised slab if that makes any difference. Want to stay away from laminate due to kids/pets and having seen it swell/separate at friends houses.

Is the stuff sold at lowes/Home Depot decent (I noticed both places had the planks with the lifetime wear warranty) or do I need to look at a flooring specialty store?
Link Posted: 3/18/2017 9:37:29 PM EDT
[#4]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Any recommendations as to brands to use or avoid? I'm on a raised slab if that makes any difference. Want to stay away from laminate due to kids/pets and having seen it swell/separate at friends houses.

Is the stuff sold at lowes/Home Depot decent (I noticed both places had the planks with the lifetime wear warranty) or do I need to look at a flooring specialty store?
View Quote
I bought some vinyl wood looking plank at Home Depot for our basement.  We like it and seems pretty durable.
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 9:17:31 AM EDT
[#5]
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 9:21:03 AM EDT
[#6]
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 1:34:41 PM EDT
[#7]
Karndean for glue down

Coretec Plus for floating.  

Pm me for more info or help w pricing.
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 5:34:39 PM EDT
[#8]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I can't give a recommendation on brands, but since you're on a slab, I think the vinyl will be your best bet.

Just make sure your floor is level and smooth.
View Quote
how level and smooth are we talking? Already have vinyl (linoleum) in the bathrooms and kitchen. I'm assuming they smoothed the whole slab (only about 1200sqft) when they did those parts but I don't know for sure, it's been about 11 years.
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 7:15:37 PM EDT
[#9]
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 9:05:50 PM EDT
[#10]
I just ordered the armstrong luxe rigid core for my basement. I was planning on coretec but found this at my local flooring dealer and liked the color better. Its similar in design to the coretec with the cork underneath. The local dealer matched the lowest online price i found which was about 30% less. Final price was about 5 cents/sq foot higher than the allure ultra from home depot and a much better product.

600 sq cost me 1950 with tax
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 9:16:56 PM EDT
[#11]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Karndean for glue down

Coretec Plus for floating.  

Pm me for more info or help w pricing.
View Quote
I just put 475 sq ft of Coretec One down in my living room and hallway.

Very happy with it. Easy to put down. No need for saws for cutting it. Just score a few times with a utility knife and snap. Got it locally and with the transitions was about 1k
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 9:43:08 PM EDT
[#12]
We have the cheap vinyl plank (self adhesive backed) from Lowes. We had some issues with it sticking well and ultimately had to add adhesive to the floor. FWIW, we're on a slab and floor prep seems to be a big factor in getting it to stick well. We are happy with the finished product (for the price) so far, it looks nice and seems durable.
Link Posted: 3/20/2017 10:48:04 AM EDT
[#13]
Just finished a 320 sq. ft. basement with the LVP flooring from Costco-really easy to work with; I used tile nibblers and tin snips for interior cut outs.
Link Posted: 3/21/2017 6:21:31 AM EDT
[#14]
Man, coretec plus is almost the same price as unfinished hardwood... that seems weird to me, I know it's much easier to install completely but still.
Link Posted: 3/21/2017 6:44:23 AM EDT
[#15]
I put down about 240sf of floating planks in our basement. There are a couple of lumps where there is something under the flooring. I was careful to sweep the floor but I must have missed something.

Seems to be holding up well.

It was a huge pain to install though, if I think about it my arms get sore. Compared to regular laminate I found it really hard to click the butt ends together. I ended up using a fair amount of word pulling snot to lubricate the tongue and groove as the planks didn't want to slide at all. 

I got ours at lowes, don't remember the brand and I don't recommend it. There are way to many repeating patterns in the planks. There is one plank with a very distinctive knot printed on it, must be 12-15 of them in the one room. Super obvious. I picked planks randomly from round robin every box but when there isn't enough variety in the boxes it doesn't really matter. 
Link Posted: 3/21/2017 8:08:43 AM EDT
[#16]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Man, coretec plus is almost the same price as unfinished hardwood... that seems weird to me, I know it's much easier to install completely but still.
View Quote
yes its pricey.  but it is awesome.  
hardwood is fine unless it gets wet, plus being unfinished, you gotta finish it...  which you will never be able to duplicate the durability of a factory finish....  aluminum oxide...

i have coretec plus HD in my office and it gets beat to shit, no issues.  ive installed prolly millions of feet of the stuff.  ive had 2 claims, both were replaced w/o issue.

US Floors (parent co) is amazing.  Coretec is simply the best floating LVT floor on the market.  They developed it and have the patent, the rest are just imitators.
Link Posted: 3/22/2017 9:14:29 PM EDT
[#17]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:



yes its pricey.  but it is awesome.  
hardwood is fine unless it gets wet, plus being unfinished, you gotta finish it...  which you will never be able to duplicate the durability of a factory finish....  aluminum oxide...

i have coretec plus HD in my office and it gets beat to shit, no issues.  ive installed prolly millions of feet of the stuff.  ive had 2 claims, both were replaced w/o issue.

US Floors (parent co) is amazing.  Coretec is simply the best floating LVT floor on the market.  They developed it and have the patent, the rest are just imitators.
View Quote
what sucks is that Coretec doesn't make the pattern/color we like, the ones close still have too much "brown/tan" in them.

This is the color/pattern we like

Homedepot lvp
Link Posted: 3/23/2017 8:04:12 AM EDT
[#18]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
what sucks is that Coretec doesn't make the pattern/color we like, the ones close still have too much "brown/tan" in them.

This is the color/pattern we like

Homedepot lvp
View Quote
nothing in the coretec HD or XLE line?  Lots of gray's in there.  


i wouldnt buy shit from Home Depot.  


here's another decent rigid core LVP.  

Fusion
Link Posted: 3/23/2017 8:13:31 AM EDT
[#19]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:



nothing in the coretec HD or XLE line?  Lots of gray's in there.  


i wouldnt buy shit from Home Depot.  


here's another decent rigid core LVP.  

Fusion
View Quote
ill have to check those two lines, I was just looking at the cortec pro line. Yeah they had an open box at Home Depot and I put a few pieces together on the floor and wasn't impressed with the lock it made, the laminates I've had experience with seemed to lock much more securely
Link Posted: 3/28/2017 4:53:50 PM EDT
[#20]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Just finished a 320 sq. ft. basement with the LVP flooring from Costco-really easy to work with; I used tile nibblers and tin snips for interior cut outs.
View Quote
Same here.  very happy with the quality for the price.  Install had a little learning curve over click laminate but not bad.

We are impressed enough that we plan to use it in an addition we are doing now.
Link Posted: 3/28/2017 5:05:51 PM EDT
[#21]
Recently did the living room and my wife's craft room with Fusion Hybrid LVT, did it myself and it came out nice.
As with many things, prep is important and can take longer than the install.


Link Posted: 3/28/2017 5:57:10 PM EDT
[#22]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Recently did the living room and my wife's craft room with Fusion Hybrid LVT, did it myself and it came out nice.
As with many things, prep is important and can take longer than the install.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/devtucker/IMG_20160824_214818103.jpg
http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/devtucker/IMG_20160820_193716712.jpg
View Quote
Can you expand on the prep?

That looks real nice
Link Posted: 3/29/2017 1:06:34 PM EDT
[#23]
Floor needs to be flat
No more than 3/16" deflection in 10'
Fusion is made by Coretec.  

Floor prep is key...
Link Posted: 3/29/2017 2:08:24 PM EDT
[#24]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Floor needs to be flat
No more than 3/16" deflection in 10'
Fusion is made by Coretec.  

Floor prep is key...
View Quote
Pretty much this, you'll probably need to do a little sanding and keep an eye out for raised nail/screw heads.  Depending on the condition of your floor, you may or may not need underlayment.  Some LVT has underlayment on the back, some does not, in which case you would have to lay it down before the floor if you need/want it.

My floor was in good enough shape that I didn't need it.
Link Posted: 4/3/2017 4:05:09 PM EDT
[#25]
Here's SmartCore from Lowes.


Attachment Attached File


The joints seem like they lock solidly. The install was simple. We had to add subfloor to match the heights so there would be no transition strips in the home.

I believe SmartCore is made by CoreTec. I could be wrong.
Link Posted: 4/3/2017 4:43:57 PM EDT
[#26]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


Pretty much this, you'll probably need to do a little sanding and keep an eye out for raised nail/screw heads.  Depending on the condition of your floor, you may or may not need underlayment.  Some LVT has underlayment on the back, some does not, in which case you would have to lay it down before the floor if you need/want it.

My floor was in good enough shape that I didn't need it.
View Quote
So you shouldn't put it over linoleum? Remove it first?

@FrozInAK

That's nice, I like the lighter color. How many hour in the job?
Link Posted: 4/3/2017 5:35:53 PM EDT
[#27]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


So you shouldn't put it over linoleum? Remove it first?

@FrozInAK

That's nice, I like the lighter color. How many hour in the job?
View Quote
I've seen flooring installed on linoleum.

The room separates where the funky table is. We removed linoleum from there to the far end. We removed carpet and added subfloor from the camera to the funky table.  

The job took two guys and a laborer a week. Office with closet, living room, kitchen \dining room with three closets, bathroom.

The flooring seemed loud when walked on with a test strip laid on plywood subfloor, so we added underlayment.  Some product comes with underlayment on the plank already.
Close Join Our Mail List to Stay Up To Date! Win a FREE Membership!

Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!

You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.


By signing up you agree to our User Agreement. *Must have a registered ARFCOM account to win.
Top Top