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Before deciding to choose vinyl for your floor surface, you should carefully weigh its pros and cons to ensure that you are getting the floor were expecting.
Pros Of Vinyl Flooring
1. Wide range of design options – Vinyl’s malleability allows for a wide variety of beautiful colors and styles that often mimic other materials, such as wood, tiles, and stone. They also add an element of luxury to the rooms; the floor takes a large percentage of the rooms, as a result its design will affect the appearance of the rooms. Vinyl floors also comes in different kinds of textures from smooth to beautiful pebbled textures. Non slip finishes can also be added to the surface of the vinyl floor for safety.
2. It is easy to clean and hygienic – One of the main reasons for people choosing vinyl flooring over the other flooring options is that it is easy to clean, and it is quite hygienic. Vinyl floors are water resistant, and they have very few seams, as a result they are very few places that bacteria and mold to hide and grow. Vinyl floors can easily be cleaned with a wide variety of disinfectants without damaging it. Due vinyl floors being water resistant, the disinfectant used to clean the floor will not be absorbed by the floor and leave the disinfectant odor in the room, this makes the vinyl floor the best option for allergy and asthma sufferers.
3. It is economical – Per square meter, vinyl flooring is a lot cheaper to buy and install than the other flooring options, and you can even eliminate the labor costs by installing it yourself. Since vinyl flooring is able to convincingly emulate the look of other flooring options such as wood or stone, you can easily get the natural wood or stone look without incurring the high cost of purchase and maintenance of wood and stone floors. It is also long lasting, as a result you will use it for a number of years before replacing it, which will save your money.
4. Durability – Most vinyl floors have a wear layer (sometimes up to 3), hence if laid correctly vinyl floors are able to last for many years and will require very little maintenance. It is also able to excellently handle heavy foot traffic without wearing out. Most of the manufacturers provide warranties of fifteen years or more.
5. Vinyl floors are more comfortable – Vinyl flooring provides a softer surface than other flooring options such as wood and stone because it has a thin layer of foam or felt. The additional soft layer makes the floor more flexible, this makes it easy to stand on it for a long period of time.
6. Stain resistant – Printed vinyl sheets and tiles have a clear wear layer that acts as a surface barrier that protects the floor from spills and stains. This makes it easy to clean and maintain. However, composite and solid vinyl does not have this protection and are more susceptible to stains.
Cons Of Vinyl Flooring
1. Subfloor damage – When installing vinyl flooring it is important that the floor is perfectly smooth and flat. If any grains, dirt, or particles are trapped beneath the floor, they will wear out the vinyl flooring and cause lumps to appear on its surface. Over time, the vinyl flooring will wear out, and tears and rips will appear.
2. Vinyl chemical stains – Although vinyl flooring is generally stain resistant, it susceptible to discoloration when it contacts rubber. Rubber shoes that drag against the floor, or mats that have a rubber backing can permanently discolor vinyl flooring.
3. Toxic fire hazard – When a vinyl flooring catches fire it releases toxic chemicals into the air. Because of this it isn.t recommended for application where fire is a constant hazard such as in commercial kitchens.
4. Ecological waste problem – Vinyl flooring isn’t biodegradable, and it is rarely recycled, this means that old and worn out vinyl flooring ends up in landfills. Over time the chemicals in the vinyl flooring leach into the ground and contaminate groundwater.
5. It can easily be gouged or scratched by a sharp object – When moving furniture in a room with vinyl flooring it is important for you not to drag the furniture around since you could easily scratch or gouge your vinyl flooring. To prevent this, you should install furniture pads on the feet of all your furniture.
