A buyer’s guide to vinyl flooring

Vinyl flooring is a popular option amongst homeowners. This kind of flooring is a plastic material usually sold as tiles or sheets. The sheets provide a seamless look and protect your floors from water damage.

Tips for choosing vinyl flooring

Different manufacturing techniques

Two types of manufacturing techniques are used to make sheet vinyl flooring. These are rotogravure and inlaid flooring. Inlaid flooring is the most durable of the two techniques and is designed to allow the floor’s pattern to go through to the backing.

During manufacturing, vinyl granules are applied to the material’s backing that give the design its depth.

Multiple layers are then fused together, and a wear layer is added for further protection.

With the rotogravure process, patterns are printed using vinyl inks on a coated mineral felt backing. A wear layer is also added.

Vinyl tiles can be either solid vinyl for superior durability or a composite, which is usually a mixture of vinyl, clay and mineral fibres.

There is a massive variety of vinyl flooring which Melbourne homes get from Market Timbers to suit all kinds of styles and budgets.

Installing vinyl flooring

Vinyl flooring come with plenty of installation options, which means you have the luxury of choice.

Interlocking

Depending on the tile, this type of installation can either be tiles that click together or tongue and groove. Both are extremely easy to install and are as easy as they sound – either click or slot into place.

Peel and stick

While peel and stick tiles may sound too good to be true, they are as easy as they sound. Just peel the adhesive back off the tile and stick onto the surface.

Loose lay

Loose lay is an impressive kind of installation. With loose lay tiles, each one of the tiles has a backing that grips to your subfloor to keep it in place. So, you just lay the tile down, no glue needed. This is ideal for rooms that don’t get too much traffic.

But, if your space does get a lot of traffic then use double-sided tape around the edges as well as underneath the tiles to keep them from moving around. Alternatively, you can use glue for a permanent solution.

Glue down tiles

Speaking of glue, these tiles are the ideal solution for high traffic areas where the flooring needs to remain securely in place.

Groutable tiles

Finally, if you want to create a stone look without actually using stone, opt for groutable tiles. They do look like real stone, and you can add grout for an authentic look. You can install these tiles with either the double-sided tape or glue down method and then grout them the same way you would real stone tiles.

Vinyl flooring conclusion

Vinyl flooring can be applied over a range of flat, smooth surfaces, such as concrete and plywood subfloors. Or, you can even apply it over your existing vinyl, linoleum or wood floors.

Vinyl flooring is extremely versatile and comes in a huge range of styles and qualities, so you’re sure to find the perfect flooring for your home.