Which Brand of Vinyl Flooring is Best

The winning LVP flooring in this video is no longer available from the supplier. Here is a link to a similar LVP product👇🏼 https://simply-surfaces.comI recently installed and loved Watch this tutorial to learn how I installed it 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/waCiOUOaR_A

I've slowly gathered all the necessary knowledge from all these videos to make my house look amazing and last. This may be just the fine details but the only thing I need now is a house.

We put down engineered hardwood in a living room/dining room area some years ago. With 3 kids and 2 dogs, it was scratched and dented in under 6 months, and it was time to hit the redo button. We went with Mannington vinyl plank flooring (and, no, I don't work for the company). It looks (almost) like real wood with the grain and all. Fast forward 4 years, and it looks like we put it down yesterday. (And, yes, those darned 3 kids, all their friends, and the dogs are still in the house.) Nothing lasts forever, but I'm favorably impressed. Tip #1 for those who decide to use wood grained vinyl plank: Each box will have a differing variety of faux wood grains. However, the patterns do repeat. Keep an eye on mixing them up as you lay them down so you don't end up with the same patterns next to each other. Tip #2: If you're covering a relatively large area (and are buying a correspondingly large number of cases of plank), it is possible that the die lots will vary from case to case. Open up several boxes and mix up the planks from them as you go. Otherwise, you could end up with a bunch of slightly lighter ones in one area of the room and a grouping of slightly darker ones in another section.

The flooring in this video is still out of stock. I am actively researching and testing out new flooring options and will be filming an updated video soon. Edited: I've added a link to a comparable product from Home Depot in the video description. In the meantime, I will do a YouTube LIVE to answer your flooring questions, throw them in here. Cheers!

I'm surprised you didn't mention the difference between WPC and SPC. As I've researched it, WPC (wood pulp core) is a mixture of sawdust and plastic to form the thick central core. It's good stuff and works well, but it will dent if you bang it. SPC (stone pulp core) is basically constructed the same, but has sand mixed with the plastic. Sand is cheaper than sawdust, so the product is usually a bit less expensive. It also will not dent. I've pounded on it with a hammer and can't leave a mark on it. I've put down several floors over the years as the products have evolved. SPC plank is by far the best way to go.

I'm not sure if it was actually mentioned, but WPC and SPC stand for wood-plastic composite and stone-plastic composite, respectively. WPC is supposed to have a slightly more cushioned feel when walking on it, which also makes footsteps quieter. SPC is generally thinner and often more expensive than WPC, and it is marketed as having better impact resistance.

Just finishing up my third room with Home Depot Lifeproof 7mm. Installed the flooring directly onto the concrete stab in all three rooms. I'm in CA so I am not sure what works in different parts of the county. As long as the floor is flat there is no need for padding underneath the flooring. In fact I prefer it because with padding it makes the floor sound clickie. Straight on to the concrete slab is quiet and there is still some cushion in the flooring. It also already has the vapor barrier built into it. 1st room was 5 years ago, lots of traffic, no issues whatsoever, still looks great. 2nd room was 2 years ago, again no issues whatsoever either. Right now at HD is $65 for 20 square feet, $3.25 per square foot.

As someone who has the original Life proof, low end vinyl planking flooring for 17 years now, it wears amazing. Unless you're dragging heavy machinery over it, you will never go through your wear layer.

My contractor went shopping with me when we were picking out our laminate floor and he had us go with the pergo higher end floor with a lifetime warranty. That was five year's ago and our floor still looks brand new. I'm glad he took the time to go with me because my husband wanted to buy the cheapest floor out there.

Hi Jeff, Thanks for bringing the "wear layer" to our attention. I wanted to supplement this video by mentioning that manufacturers disclose this by using the measurement "mils" - which is a measure of vinyl thickness. A mil is 0.0254 mm which is 1/1000 of an inch. I have seen product for sale on the thin side of 3 mil and the thickest I found was 30 mil. Everyone should definitely be looking for these numbers to see how thick their wear layer is. A cheap plastic trash bag is 1.7 mil thick ... so be careful ...

I know you aren't an expert on everything but you relate pretty well to the average person. In conjunction with others I use your channel to help me with almost everything on my house whenever I question my abilities on any particular task. Then I call my father who is a Civil Engineer and has renovated many of his own homes throughout the years. The engineer's mind is a wondrous thing. You don't always have to do things by the book. And often times, as long as you actually know what you are doing, there's better and more affordable but still sound ways to do things. I don't know your background professionally outside of this channel, but your suggestions usually jive with my father and that's a compliment considering he's an accomplished building engineer.

I was starting my career as a florring contractor back in the day. You are an amazing explainer. We used the cheap stuff in apts. The good stuff went into houses. We included padding in the price. We wouldnt install unless it was done correctly. And I am not a big fan of the hd or lowes vinyl. I preferred pergo or armstrong.

Love these videos, jeff keeps me from standing in the home centers aisles for hours confused about what product to use.

Shopping for vinyl has been overwhelming and of course the staff at HD just trying to push you on the most expensive so this video has been super helpful in understanding what we need to look for so we can make a great choice. Thank you!

As someone who is an assistant manager of the wood dept. at F&D, it was very refreshing to see such an honest video about the current market

Great demo brother..everything you said is so true..ive laid flooring for years and learned so much with newer labels newer products but the protection layer and costs should always come hand in hand whenever installing something were all walking on..you get what you pay for and dont get fooled ..alot of trickery in pricing always ask someone who knows amd go from there..great job again

I'm really glad you appeared on my phone one day. You are so easy to understand and your voice & tone are so pleasant to listen to. You answer all my questions before I even ask, Very thorough. Thank you for all the time and energy you put into these videos for all of us. I really appreciate it.

I used the Lifeproof stuff since I have dogs with pee problems. I left a sample in a bowl of water for a week with zero damage. Pretty awesome stuff

Another thing to consider when getting to the 3.50/sq.ft price point other than moving to maybe hardwoods, is that vinyl planks are easier to transport, lighter, less package volume, and I don't think they have to acclimatize inside your as long before install.

Many many thanks. We really appreciate viewing and listening to you.😊