Reno Journey: How to choose Vinyl 📝

We spent close to 2 months deliberating over our choice of Vinyl and landed right back on the first design that caught our (read: 👸🏻) eye.

I went into a rabbit hole of researching about Vinyl and wanted to share my experience on how to choose Vinyl when they are so many options.

TDLR; you should always go right down to the details of the material makeup and examine layer by layer. Of course, design is impt too.

🩵Floor Xpert is usually regarded as the creme de la creme king of vinyl floors ($8 PSF up) so start there to know what’s the best in the market. They have the thickest wear layer - a thick wear layer prevents scratches, staining etc. For reference, the standard wear layers for average players are 0.5mm. Their vinyl is usually thicker than usual too - 5.5mm or more. The thicker the vinyl the better of course.

🩵Floor Xpert uses the “Uniclic locking system” from Belgium and claims it is superior Belgium quality. But if you examine competitor Vinyls, you will know that they also use this same clicking system. It is this locking system that makes it “water resistant”. So if other players uses this same tech, they are similarly water resistant, not any less than Floor Xpert. But note that competitor Vinyl may be made in China, Taiwan, Korea etc even though they use “Belgium tech” 🤪

🩵You should ask if the Vinyl is 100% PVC (the more pure it is, the better quality) or if it’s Stone Plastic Composite (SPC). SPC is considered an inferior material and it makes the vinyl more inflexible, so usually a “sponge” layer needs to be added to prevent a hollow underfoot. Some vinyl designs like herringbone usually need SPC material because it’s harder. The harder the vinyl, the less inflexible, the higher the chance of snapping. That’s also why herringbone vinyl is smaller. If design wasn’t a consideration, deffo go for 100% Virgin PVC vinyl!

🩵I also ~discovered~ that most vinyl vendors actually get their products from the same supplier and they merely print their own designs - so make sure to compare the materials btw vendors apple to apple and don’t overpay.

🩵Lastly, controversial opinion - but skirtings are old fashioned and not needed. But ask me again in 5 years if this will be a Reno regret 😂

Places we visited:

- Floor Xpert

- Evolve

- Floorscape

- Nature Living