Still think vinyl plank is the best flooring option? I changed my mind after 2 years

Everyone raves about luxury vinyl plank being waterproof and indestructible, but I had a job in a basement in Grand Rapids last year where the subfloor had a tiny dip I didn't catch. After 6 months, three planks started separating at the seams because the locking system just flexed. I still prefer gluedown sheet vinyl for basements now, it's more forgiving. Has anyone else seen LVP fail when the floor isn't perfectly flat?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren_thomas164d ago

Hold up, I gotta push back on this a little. A tiny dip in a basement subfloor isn't always the subfloor's fault, sometimes it's how you prepped it. LVP is designed to handle a certain amount of flex but if that dip is even an eighth of an inch off over a few feet and you didn't use a self leveler or a good underlayment, the locking system is going to pop eventually. Blaming the product for a bad installation seems a bit much when glue down sheet vinyl is way harder to repair later if a seam does fail. Plus three planks separating sounds like a weirdly cheap brand or maybe you just didn't click them in all the way tight during install, I've seen guys skip tapping blocks and then wonder why gaps show up later.

rosel835d ago

Wait, wait, wait - THREE planks separated just from a tiny dip in the subfloor? That's wild to me! I thought those locking systems were supposed to flex enough to handle that kind of stuff. I've installed LVP in like five rooms and never had issues, but now I'm wondering if I just got lucky with my floors or if I'm missing something obvious.