Luxury vinyl plank
The right floor for the rooms where wood is the wrong answer.
Basements, bathrooms, mudrooms, laundry rooms, kitchens with a dog, rental units that turn over every September. Rigid-core, waterproof, 20 mil wear layer or better, installed with the same subfloor prep we give a hardwood job.
Honest about it
We install hardwood for a living. Here is when we tell people not to.
A finished basement in Massachusetts is going to see water at some point. A bathroom floor gets wet every day. A rental unit in Allston gets moved into and out of on a two-year cycle with furniture that nobody puts felt under. Hardwood in those rooms is a floor you will be replacing.
Good rigid-core vinyl plank does not swell, does not cup, does not need refinishing, and the better lines are hard to tell from oak from standing height. It costs less installed, and it is done in a day or two. That is the whole case for it. The case against it is the cheap stuff, which is most of what gets sold.
Specifications
What we install and how
Property owners
Rentals, condos, and turnover units.
For landlords and property managers we keep it simple: one or two product lines we trust, installed fast between tenants, with leftover cartons labelled and left in the unit so a damaged plank can be swapped in five years without hunting for a discontinued color.
Multi-unit and repeat work gets scheduled and priced as a program, not a series of one-offs. Call Mike about a building.
Questions
What people ask about vinyl plank
Is luxury vinyl plank actually waterproof?
The planks are. Rigid-core LVP (SPC or WPC) is a stone or wood-polymer composite that does not swell or warp when wet, which is why it belongs in basements, baths and mudrooms. What is under it still matters: water that gets through the seams sits on the subfloor. We use a proper underlayment or vapor barrier over concrete and seal the perimeter in wet rooms.
What wear layer should I get?
The wear layer is the clear coating on top and it is the whole difference between a floor that lasts 20 years and one that scuffs in two. We spec 20 mil minimum for a home and 22 to 28 mil for rentals, pets or commercial. The 6 and 12 mil products sold at big-box stores are why LVP has a bad reputation.
Can LVP go over my existing floor?
Often, yes. Over tile, sheet vinyl, concrete or plywood if the surface is flat to 3/16 inch over 10 feet. Not over carpet, and not over a floor that flexes. Grout lines wider than 1/4 inch get skim-coated first or they telegraph through. Height at doorways and appliances is checked before we commit.
Why hire a hardwood crew for vinyl?
Because the subfloor prep and the layout are the same skills, and they are what makes a click-lock floor last. A flat subfloor, a squared starting line, expansion gaps at every wall, and a plan for transitions into wood rooms. The plank itself is the easy part.
Does it work with radiant heat?
Most rigid-core products are rated for radiant floors up to about 85°F surface temperature. We confirm the spec sheet for the exact product before installing over radiant.