Vinyl Plank Flooring

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artcmom

My dh seems set on ceramic tile for the kitchen, laundry and bathroom. I've been reading conflicting opinions on putting ceramic tile in a manf'd home. Some say it's ok as long as you have backerboard, but then others say don't do it at all. I am concerned about the possibility of tiles breaking if/when the house shifts. The thing is that when my dh sets his mind to something it's really hard to change it and whenever I bring up my concerns, I get the usual "non" response.

I keep looking at flooring options, hoping that the right thing will jump out at me and tonight I discovered vinyl plank flooring. It sounds really nice and I'm reading a lot of positive reviews, although I don't know if any were from people using it in manf'd homes or not.

Dh and I both love the look of wood floor, but there's no way we'd put real wood or laminate down in a wet room. But the vinyl planks are supposed to be water resistant and the "perfect" option (or so they say) for wet rooms.

I was just wondering if anyone here has used it and if so, how did you like it? Like other things, I'm finding that there are some brands that are supposed to be better than others. One that is talked highly of is by Novalis.

I do know that the vinyl square tiles we put in in the kids bathroom when we moved in 4 1/2 years ago has gaps and doesn't look the greatest. Of course, the kids splash and get water all over the place, so that doesn't help. One reason we were staying away from the vinyl squares was the fear of it getting the gaps and looking like the bathroom. I'm wondering if the planks would be any different?

Jen
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texasprairierose
Posts: 86
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:19 pm
Location: Texas

Hi artcmom,

We liked the look of ceramic tile but also were leery of putting it in a mobile home due to the shifting. Our neighbors put ceramic tile down with backerboard and they regret it now because it cracks very badly. We put 18" x 18" luxury vinyl tile down in our laundry room and kitchen and then grouted it; everyone thinks that it is stone.
Image

We have purchased the vinyl plank that you are describing to put in our den and dining room, but we don't have it down yet. However, I have talked to people that have it or have seen it down and said that it was beautiful.

Diane
User avatar
Brenda (OH)
Posts: 325
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:57 am

I have used the vinyl plank flooring, both the tile pattern and the wood pattern in 3 mobile homes. I have used it in bathrooms, in front of sinks in kitchens, and recently did my whole kitchen in my apt. I needed an extra box of the tile patterns vs the wood pattern, because you want to match the fake grout lines, and loose a lot more material that way when you trim and start the next row vs the wood pattern, which you just have to stagger the
seams so they are at least 6 inches apart, like laminate installing.

the vinyl planks seemed better than stick down tiles because even if you get a small space while you are installing it, that space has the overlapping glue strip behind it, and water stays on top of the flooring for a long time, but not forever, giving you time to mop it up before it reaches the subflooring. what I mean by "not forever", I had a roof leak in a home. found it a few days later. water was laying on the floor, mopped it. fix the roof, had the leak return, it was about 3 cycles before the particle board underneath swelled slightly from the small amount of water that got through. Had one home have a fire, hoses were used. floor swelled up after three days, because we could not removed the wet insulation or uninstall the floor until the insurance adjuster made a report. the flooring is tough, it could have been cleaned and reused, but my buyer tossed it out because he wanted to move the bathroom wall. in a pinch, you can remove the molding and lift the flooring up, since it is a floating product.

The flooring can forgive minor level changes, and tiny subfloor gaps, and is easy to cut. It doesn't require another material underneath, i did use plastic 6 mil plastic under some of it, it just made it harder to install so i stopped doing that.
(these were areas that had laminate next to it, and I had the plastic down for the laminate.)

downside for installing, you have to be constantly vacumming during the install to keep all loose materials like dust and crap off your work area, because the glue strips gather all of it and won't be flat when you join them. and don't point a fan or have the ceiling fan on if you can help it.

also, the brand i used let me have about 2 seconds to pull apart the planks if i make a mistake, then they set very strongly. I have heard you can use gentle heating to get them back apart, I have not tried that.

I have used flat carpet strips to transition it to laminate. One time where it had gone over a metal transition strip next to hardwood, it was laying so well, straight and only 1/8 gap, and flat, at the doorway, I did not add the strips, and after 3 months, no problem.

I used allure brand from home depot. wood planks were 8 inches wide by 4 feet? the tile pattern 1 foot by 3 feet.

in the apt the flooring is very quiet. in the mobile homes, i may have had some noises if I trapped any junk under them.

hope this info helps, I will be using the product in the home I just bought to resell in two bathrooms, its ease of install balances the cost for me in small spaces, and using it at exterior doorways and by kitchen sinks prevents future floor damage.

Brenda (OH)
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