What is Luxury Vinyl?
Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) and Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) are often referred to as resilient flooring. They are designed to meet the high demands of active families and those with busy lifestyles who still strive for beauty in their home. Each Luxury Vinyl option provides the owner with the look and texture of wood and tile.
Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) is a vinyl product designed to mimic the look and texture of stone or ceramic tile. Featuring gorgeous natural colors and textures, these tiles look and feel like the “real thing” while offering additional qualities not found in the original. And some designs by Shaw Floors are even made to be installed using real grout.
Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) is similar, but in plank form. The difference is the plank allows the luxury vinyl to mimic hardwood or ceramic planks. They come in a variety of styles that vary from hand-scraped wood to long tile sections complete with the embossing and texture of each. The size and form allow them to be installed uniformly, staggered, or even diagonally for a fully customized look of a home or office.
Another version of vinyl flooring is the classic sheet vinyl. This style is a cushioned flooring that can be glued to the subfloor or floated and is ideal for high-traffic or high-moisture areas of a home. Shaw Floors sheet vinyl designs available here at Colonial Interiors are just as beautiful and sophisticated as LVT or LVP but installed in one piece. The cost benefit of sheet vinyl over the alternatives puts the product in the hands of most consumers who are looking for the same level of realism of hardwood and natural stone.
What is Resilient Flooring?
While resilient flooring is sometimes used interchangeably with luxury vinyl flooring, the two are not the same. Resilient shares common features but it specifically refers to its ability to bounce back into its original shape after being compressed.
Resilient flooring can be defined as floors with give, or which bounce back. They occupy the middle ground between rigid, hard surface floors and soft surfaces such as carpet. Vinyl is one example, but this category also includes cork, rubber and linoleum. Resilient flooring is typically very durable, flexible and relatively inexpensive when compared to natural materials.
Luxury vinyl is a type of resilient flooring engineered to resist some of the broader category’s downfalls; particularly, it will not dent as easily as other resilient products. While it may be less “resilient”, luxury vinyl tile and planks are often times just as durable and stable and resistant to moisture and climate.
Still have questions about luxury vinyl or resilient flooring? The experts at Colonial Interiors are here to help you decide whether LVT, LVP or resilient are good choices for your project and budget. Stop by our showroom, give us a call, or send us an email. We’re here to help you along the path to getting your new flooring.
