We know this goes against our past selves who used to be against anything faux wood flooring, but a lot has changed in the last few years in the “wood” vinyl tile world and we now officially recommend it and specify it all the time for clients.
Why the change of heart? We’ve specified quite a lot of high-end versions of luxury vinyl tile in the last few years – LVF for short – because you can’t tell it apart from real wood. The new stuff coming on the market is (1) much less expensive than wood which makes it perfect for Airbnb, vacation home, or the STR budget; (2) high-quality LVF looks identical to wood but has the advantage of being waterproof and scratchproof; and (3) just like wood, it’s a great option to create a clean, warm, welcoming surface. Let that sink in for a minute.
There is one very, very important thing to keep in mind though when purchasing LVF – most of it looks fake so you have to know exactly what to look for when purchasing it so listen up and learn….
Our Secret to Selecting the Best LVF “Wood” Flooring
1. Thicker embossed wear layer and a high repeat number
The best vinyl plank flooring comes with an embossed wear layer, made to mimic the texture of real wood. It also comes with several different wood grain options in each box, so you don’t repeat the same pattern frequently. Therefore, make sure the wear layer is on the thicker side – 40 mil (1.0 mm) – and that the repeat is a high number. Low-quality LVF will have neither.
2. Low Sheen Equals the Look of Real Wood
We’ll give it to you straight: a high sheen on LVF is a dead giveaway that you’ve gone plastic. This is why we order samples of everything we are thinking of buying online because just because it looks good digitally does not mean it actually looks that way in person. This is why we frequently go to a flooring store to specify our LVF for clients so we can save time and look at the product samples in different lights. We are a bit OCD about it to be honest, resorting to taking planks outside – full sun and shade, placing planks near windows and also in dark corners just to check out the sheen. In general, the lower the sheen, the more like wood it looks.
3. All Bevels are Not Created Equal
We err on the side of practically no bevel to a small, subtle, V-shaped bevel. Too many LVF brands do a very obvious bevel that ends up making their products look big-time fake. Check out samples very carefully to make sure the bevel isn’t screaming in your face, “I’m a bevel and I’m proud!!!”
Last but not least….what about stairs and LVF?
Most LVF brands have special pieces specifically geared for stairs so no worries there. However, the labor cost is going to be more expensive. One idea, if you already have wood stairs that won’t match your new LVF, is to paint them an eye-catching color. We recommended to our Canadian clients that they paint their stairs blue and they turned out beautifully as you can see…..
