As a hardwood floor contractor, you may find that some homeowners balk at the prices of hardwood floors and are tempted instead to turn to vinyl flooring which closely resembles wood floors. However, homeowners must be properly educated on the pitfalls and disadvantages of vinyl flooring.
As the methods to recreate the look of wood floors in vinyl become more advanced, more homeowners will be tempted to opt for vinyl instead of actual hardwood floors. The look of vinyl is essentially created by producing a photographic image layer between the backing and the clear wear layer.
Luxury vinyl flooring can look convincingly similar to real hardwood floors, but the fact is that they are worlds apart.
Though vinyl planks may be appealing due to their low price point, especially compared to hardwood floors, they may wreak havoc on a homeowner’s wallet and potentially their health down the road.
The disadvantages of vinyl floors
Yes, vinyl floors are remarkably inexpensive and look like they’re made of real wood, but choosing them can actually cost a homeowner much more in the long run.
Some disadvantages of vinyl flooring include:
- Cannot be repaired
- Can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- Shorter lifespan than wood floors
- No impact, or negative impact, on home resale value
- Difficult to remove, especially if adhesive is used during installation
- Not eco-friendly; difficult to recycle
Faced with this long list of disadvantages, any homeowner who’s thinking about the big picture would most likely turn down vinyl flooring. But what should they install instead?
A quality alternative to vinyl flooring
Photo credit Boen. Style pictured: Oak Gunstock (plank)
What’s a homeowner to do? Faced with the low price point of vinyl flooring and knowledge of its pitfalls, it may be hard for them to decide on an alternative to vinyl floors. However, as a hardwood floor contractor, you have a no-brainer option to offer them.
If the homeowner is looking for an inexpensive flooring that requires little maintenance, easy to install, and durable, a quality alternative is prefinished engineered hardwood flooring.
Depending on labor costs, prefinished hardwood flooring can be more expensive than solid hardwood flooring per square foot, but it offers many of the same benefits of vinyl flooring that homeowners are looking for, including stability and durability. Prefinished, engineered hardwood flooring features a 1 mm to 4 mm thick wear layer of wood on top of a thick inner core made of plywood, birch, or pine, which contributes to the stability of the planks.
Compared to vinyl flooring, prefinished, engineered hardwood flooring is slightly more expensive, but it offers the following benefits:
- Improves the resale value of the home
- Available in eco-friendly varieties
- Less time required for installation — prefinished flooring arrives already sanded and finished
- No drying or curing time required
- No strong odors or dust from sanding during installation
It’s clear that when compared to vinyl flooring, prefinished engineered hardwood floors offer more advantages and are better suited to those who are big-picture thinkers. With a bit of education and some guidance, you can steer homeowners from vinyl flooring to a much better choice!
For more information, call us at 1-800-737-1786 or email info@cityfloorsupply.com.
why would vinyl flooring bubble up installed over cement base
Hello. I will preface this by saying I am not very familiar with vinyl flooring. Not sure if this product is a sheet good or tile. Typically a bubble would occur with adhesion loss. I would suggest contacting the manufacturer of the product for help.
Thanks,
Joe Glavin
Like everything, vinyl flooring also has its pros and cons. There are some disadvantages to using it in your home. Really nice article on explaining the details of it. Really informative. Keep up the nice work.
I thought that it was interesting when you said that tone thing to consider when you are looking for inexpensive flooring that requires little maintenance is to have prefinished engineered hardwood flooring installed. I have been thinking about getting new flooring installed but I have been worried about the cost. I would be sure to hire a professional to install the prefinished engineered hardwood flooring so that it won’t cost a lot of money but will still make my home look beautiful.
Such nice blog .Thanks for sharing such great information for me. I hope you will share some more information about Please keep sharing!
Great article,Thanks for sharing this amazing information.Easy to read & Easy to understand the information given here.
My mom told me that she would like to replace the floor of her house but she does not have much of a budget for that. I like how you said that vinyl floors can look similar to real hardwood. I will recommend her to take a look at this material so that she can have a new floor without spending a lot of money.
Its very good blog.Thanks for sharing such great information for me. I hope you will share some more information about Please keep sharing!
I have a balcony and I am debating what should I install, I heard about the vynil and laminate and prefinished hard wood, I need something 100 % water proof. Because you said vynil plank and laminate is hard to removed.
Beware the VOCS!!!
Thank you, helped me.
I have been recommended the vinyl flooring but has duration 5-6 years , unless you take good care and not moving hard stuff over it for years, but VOC that you have mentioned made me to think again.