Luxury vinyl plank I hated at first is now my go-to for basements

I was dead set against LVP for years. Thought it was cheap plastic that would never hold up. But a customer in Denver asked me to do their whole basement last fall, about 900 square feet. They wanted that rigid core stuff with the attached pad. I grumbled through the whole install but man, it was easy to cut and click together. Six months later I went back to fix a different issue and that floor looked perfect, not a single seam issue even with the humidity swings. I'm still not a fan of the hollow sound when you walk on it, but for a below grade slab where hardwood would just rot, it's hard to beat. Any of you guys had a product change your mind like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverf3429d ago

The hollow sound actually might not be a bad thing in a basement setup. If you ever have a water issue or need to pull a section up for access, that floating click system makes repairs way easier than glued down sheet vinyl or tile. Also you can throw a thick carpet runner over the main walkway and it kills both the sound and the coldness underfoot. My buddy did his whole basement in LVP and then dropped a cheap area rug over the middle, looks like a real floor with zero echo.

richard_mason29d ago

Get ready to laugh, but I noticed the same thing with my cordless drill. Hated those things for years, thought they were gutless toys. Then I picked up an 18V brushless model on a job and now I barely touch my corded one. Funny how stubborn we get about stuff until we actually try the newer version.