Within the last ten years significant advancements have been made in the field of synthetic flooring that have shot its popularity through the roof. There are now a couple of superb choices homeowners have when choosing a high quality flooring option: LVT/LVP flooring. These stand for LVP (luxury vinyl plank) and LVT (luxury vinyl tile).
What Is LVT/LVP Flooring?
Luxury vinyl plank is made to mimic the look and feel of real wood, while luxury vinyl tile is made to look and feel like stone or ceramic tiles. These floors are made from resins and are embossed as well as printed with a wood or stone pattern for a natural look. Both options are incredibly resilient and completely water proof. Nowadays there are hundreds of color options and textures to pick from to compliment any kitchen, so obtaining the perfect look for your space has never been easier.
What Makes LVT/LVP Special?
Due to their easily customizable appearance, customers can purchase luxury vinyl flooring that looks identical to rare and exotic hardwoods without the huge price gap. This makes it much more affordable for homeowners to get the kitchen of their dreams without the added cost. It allows for more style options that would typically be closed off due to budget constraints, while still being a tough and beautiful flooring choice. While also stylish, LVP and LVT are also very easy to install, making them great options for DIY-ers!
How Did It Come About?
Luxury vinyl flooring wasn’t possible until 1926 when American chemist Waldo Semon (who is sometimes incorrectly credited with inventing bubble gum!) created vinyl: a rigid yet flexible material. Vinyl was primarily used as wiring insulation until 1933 when it was first introduced to the public as a flooring tile option at the century of progress exposition in Chicago. With its wide variety of colors and patterns, resilience, and affordability, vinyl flooring quickly became a widely popular flooring. However, these earlier forms for vinyl flooring were not realistically textured or printed to mimic stone or wood convincingly. It was not until the 1970’s that we finally saw the first vaguely realistic vinyl flooring.
But in the past 7 years, vinyl flooring has experienced great leaps and bounds of innovation that allow us to mimic traditional hardwood floors so closely that it can be difficult to tell the difference between the two!
Why You Need It for Your Kitchen
Let’s face it: kitchens get messy. REALLY messy. Especially if you have kids or like to entertain guests. Spills and drops are inevitable when you have people cooking, eating, and drinking all in one spot. Fortunately, LVP and LVT floors are incredibly resilient and made with anti-fungal properties and bacterial blocking compounds. Traditional hardwood is naturally porous and absorbing, so if something is spilled on to the floor and the liquid makes its way through, it can greatly damage hardwood flooring. However, high quality LVT/LVP flooring is 100% waterproof, making them an excellent flooring choice for these spill-prone areas such as kitchens. It’s also non-slip, so you won’t need to worry about falls and slips that usually happen on a slick hardwood floor.
It’s also super easy to install! LVT can be installed in one of three ways depending on what you purchase. First, there’s the glue method that requires the sheets of vinyl to be glued to the floor. Then there’s the loose lay method which requires the outside perimeter of the floor to be glued down and then the remaining inside sheets be laid down without adhesive. And finally there’s the click method which requires no glue at all because the boards easily just snap together.
Unlike hardwood, LVT is incredibly simple to maintain. No resealing or refinishing is needed to keep your stylish floors in tip top shape. Occasional deep cleaning and regular sweeping will do the trick to keep things looking perfect.
Where to Get LVT/LVP flooring
With LVT and LVP being as popular as they are, there are many different sources where you can buy this incredible flooring from. One quick method is to search online. There are countless manufacturers and distributors that have an online store with many different colors and patterns to choose from. Many of them also offer to send samples of flooring that you’re interested in. This lets you see and feel the material before you make the big decision to buy. Many of these companies offer return policies and full refunds on orders. Just in case you do purchase something online that you end up not liking the look of.
If shopping online doesn’t suit your fancy you can always look locally for flooring companies with storefronts in your area. In our local area we recommend buying at Floor & Decor, because we’ve had nothing but great experiences with them. But there are undoubtedly many great places across the US to find this awesome product!
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