Luxury Vinyl Flooring - Oh baby it's come a LONG way!

[magicactionbox id="8992"]

When you are a property investor, like myself, I often look at products that have longevity. For some investment properties, I am looking for products that can stand the test of time knowing that a variety of renters may live in the property. Flooring can take up the biggest real estate in a renovation and more and more often, I am specifying luxury vinyl flooring.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring

Let me just say that luxury vinyl flooring has come a LONG way. Back int he good ol' days, many of us had vinyl linoleum. Let me state right now, we are not talking about the same thing.

The newest luxury vinyl flooring can come in planks (looking like hardwood) or tile (to look like ceramic tile).

Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP)

I can not begin to tell you how many times I have specified LVP. There are many reasons why I have chosen LVP.

PROS

• Becuase LVP is a product that can be installed in wet areas, you can get the look of hardwood in a bathroom.

Design by Sheri Bruneau
Townhouse renovation where LVP was used throughout the entire main floor and upper bathroom.

• LVP is great for busy families and/or families with pets. You get the look of hardwood without having to worry about scratches and dents. In addition, it is a great choice for families that wish to age in place where they may be a walker or a potential wheelchair. This flooring is pretty bulletproof and is super easy to clean.

Design by Sheri Bruneau
This LVP was installed on the entire main floor of a bungalow where the entire design was focused around aging in place.

• In the past, stair nosing was the only bone of contention for me. My choices were ugly and ugly. And by ugly, I mean that a metal stair nosing was pretty much the only option.

The OLD way to do a stair nose with LVP. U-G-L-Y right?

I consider myself very fortunate that I work with an awesome flooring company, Deerfoot Carpet and Flooring. What did Deerfoot Flooring do to solve the ugly metal stair nosing? They had their installer(s) create a nosing using the product itself. And let me tell you - what a HUGE impact this has made for me! Just look at how nice the nosings using LVP can look!

Design by Sheri Bruneau
This basement re-development showcasing the LVP stair nose. A much nicer look than the ugly metal!

• Although LVP can vary in price, on the whole, it is very reasonable There is one particular line that I like to use for rental properties that comes in at $4.29 psf (per square foot) CDN. You can expect to pay more for a higher end of LVP.
• Installing could very easily be a DIY project.

CONS

You know I like to give both sides of the story so here are my very few cons.

• When installing a LVP, the floor has to be pretty level. There may be times where some self-levelling compound may have to be used. While the LVP is flexible, it is always nice to have the floor as level as you an get it.
• LVP is not hardwood. Period. I don't need to say any more on this.

Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT)

Luxury vinyl flooring can come in vinyl that looks like tile (LVT). While most of the pros are the same as above with the LVP, there are a few more pros that I wish to bring to your attention.

• You can install LVT can with or without grout (depending on the brand).

Design by Sheri Bruneau
This master bath had LVT installed with a 1/8" grout line.

• LVT can give the look of tile without the hardness or the coldness that ceramic tile can give.

CONS

The biggest con would be that you can not have a heated floor mat when using LVT. Since the LVT is glued down, the heat from a floor mat would compromise the glue. So...no heated LVT floors.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring - Why I'm So Jacked Up

As I've said above, I've been specifying LVP and LVT for quite some time. I was recently at Deerfoot Carpet looking for flooring when a display caught my eye. The display had both LVP and LVP. This particular tile really caught my eye.

Cleo Home Line LVT
Picture by Sheri Bruneau

When I posted this on Facebook and Instagram, I had a lot of people had a lot of questions:

• What was this?
• Who makes this?
• Where can I get this?

I thought it was best if I went back to Deerfoot and had my rep, Paul Geronazzo, explain all of the benefits and specs on this flooring. I put on my roving reporter pants on so here's the scoop on this new line!

Major Pros for the new CLEO Home Line

As Paul mentions in the video, what is unique about this product is the way the design is printed. The above tile that I will be using has 32 different tiles before we will see a repeat. Wowzers!

Another HUGE pro is the way this product is made. It has no PVC's at all. In addition, in April of 2018, Cleo Home had a great announcement:

CLEO is waterproof and easy to clean. It contains zero PVC, plasticizers and phthalates – all known to release volatile organic compounds...We’re proud our flooring is now CERTIFIED asthma & allergy friendly.”

Chris O’Connor, Congeoleum CEO

Specifications for Cleo Home

As you can see from their specifications, there are many, many pros for this product.

Here's a great video explaining this new line from Congoleum.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring

Have I said how excited I am to be using this product for our LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT project? I was so excited, I did up a rending to give an idea of how spectacular the master bath is going to look.

Design by Sheri Bruneau

As you can see, I am a huge fan of this flooring. As I've mentioned above, I'll be using it in our LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT project and I'll also be using it in two apartment renovations. With so many design styles and choices, I am loving this floor more and more!

Follow my projects and live updates on Facebook and Instagram!