Choices, choices, choices in vinyl flooring!

[TreeBee123]

I used to sell flooring. Ceramic is the best for a kitchen as far as resale. The question is how much standing will you be doing in the kitchen. Vinyl is your standard flooring in houses. Hard wood is BEAUTIFUL in kitchens and there are engineered hardwoods that are just as easy to install your self as any lamenent (pergo). If there are no pets or children dropping drinks on the floor I would highly suggest hardwood. Also there is Marmoleum which is a natural product that is linoleum. Then there is Dura ceramic that is put in like a tile but has a vinyl covering. The grout is a premixed, sanded acrylic grout that is stain resistant. Then there is bamboo. The bottom line is there are so many other alternatives then vinyl.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by eggalegga

It's nice to see there are still a few people who prefer vinyl flooring. I HATE, HATE, HATE ceramic tile. I don't want to clean grout lines, I don't want to have an aching back after standing on it while in the kitchen and it's too cold unless you live in a warm climate or have radiant floor heat. So many home improvement shows/magazines hype tile constantly. It's not for everyone. I have wood laminate in my kitchen and vinyl in my bathroom.

A few additional thoughts regarding Vinyl from a Germ and Infection control point of view.

I'm responsible for Hospital Compliance Standards and I think anyone would be hard pressed to find ceramic tile still used in operating rooms... even going back 30 years... and the reason is infection control.

The Hospital Standard is Medntech Vinyl Flooring which is 100% inlaid with no backing... the material is the same on both sides... it is highly stain resistant, takes punishment from OR equipment including portable C-Arms and heavy Operating Room Tables and most importantly, it is the most suitable surface for disinfecting by providing a continuous, almost moisture proof, non-porous surface... including seams and coving.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

It is very accurate for the low end Vinyl.

High End Vinyl floor is inlaid with the color and pattern extending almost through the material. The Vinyl is fused together and makes a very durable surface. Heat is necessary to form it and it only comes in 6' widths due to it's weight.

Low End Vinyl is made using the Roto Gravier printing process. The color or pattern layer is paper thin and easily scratched or damage by moving heavy objects. Most low end vinyl comes in 12' width because it is much lighter in weight.

I have a little experience with Maple Floors.

My brother owns Australian Shepherds... a medium size active breed.

His home had old Vinyl Flooring in the kitchen that he changed to real maple as part of an extensive addition and remodel. Looking across the maple floor it is easy to see all the nicks and marks from dog traffic... apparently this is the norm for medium to large dogs with Hardwood. He went with Maple because of it's hardness.

Tell him to get a better coating on the floor. We have English mastiffs well over 150 pounds and no scratch marks (at least not form the dogs). We used a product called Glista or Glitsa. It is smelly when applied and pretty expensive, but very durable.

They told me that once they took the aesbestos out of linoleum and vinyl flooring it lost all of its durability.

I had a house for a while that had stick on wood looking squares made out of some sort of vinyl something. It held up fairly well and looked nice, but it was placed over two layers of older floors so you could not see the nail tops and seams showing through. It did nto do all that well with the mastiffs' claws through.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Tell him to get a better coating on the floor. We have English mastiffs well over 150 pounds and no scratch marks (at least not form the dogs). We used a product called Glista or Glitsa. It is smelly when applied and pretty expensive, but very durable.

They told me that once they took the asbestos out of linoleum and vinyl flooring it lost all of its durability.

I had a house for a while that had stick on wood looking squares made out of some sort of vinyl something. It held up fairly well and looked nice, but it was placed over two layers of older floors so you could not see the nail tops and seams showing through. It did not do all that well with the mastiffs' claws through.

Thanks for the tip on Glitsa and I will pass it on to my brother when I see him over Christmas

He loves the warmth, speaking visually, of Maple and plans to keep them, scratches and all. I never new an energetic Aussie could damage the hardwood by just being a dog...

Asbestos is found in just about all Linoleum of a certain vintage... it was a natural cushioning, fire resistant backing that wasn't too sensitive to water.

The Vinyl we use at the Hospital in the OR's has no backing... it's 100% vinyl, through and through.

All of the Vinyl I've seen at the Home Improvement places isn't inlaid material and you can be 99% certain any vinyl that comes in 6' widths isn't high quality inlaid.

[CarolinaWoman]

Originally Posted by eggalegga

It's nice to see there are still a few people who prefer vinyl flooring. I HATE, HATE, HATE ceramic tile. I don't want to clean grout lines, I don't want to have an aching back after standing on it while in the kitchen and it's too cold unless you live in a warm climate or have radiant floor heat. So many home improvement shows/magazines hype tile constantly. It's not for everyone. I have wood laminate in my kitchen and vinyl in my bathroom.

I hate ceramic tile too. We have vinyl in our kitchen and bathrooms ... Armstrong makes excellent, durable and beautiful vinyl ... I can't stand to walk barefoot on ceramic tile ... it's like fingernails scratching a chalkboard to my system for some reason ... that's just me. Our son has ceramic tile in his home and he will be here after Christmas and thinks he is going to install ceramic tile in our guest bathroom. LOL