Vinyl Floors

Resilient flooring is one of the most practical of all flooring materials. With resilient flooring, a dropped milk glass has a chance of survival...and the resulting spill is easy to clean up with a damp cloth. Underfoot, resilient flooring is comfortable, skid-resistant, quiet and warm. In addition, it's relatively inexpensive and available in an unbelievable array of patterns and colors. Resilient flooring is made from vinyl, rubber, cork, linoleum and composites, but vinyl is by far the most common material. In fact, the industry uses the term "resilient" to refer to vinyl.

In older homes, linoleum is commonplace. This natural material is made from linseed oil (from flax), pine resins, wood flour, granulated cork and a burlap backing.

Vinyl flooring is laid as either sheets or tiles. Sheet flooring is applied from 6, 9 or 12-foot-wide rolls; tiles are normally 12 inches square. Sheet flooring is generally used where a seamless look is wanted; tiles are more likely to be installed by do-it-yourselfers. In fact, some tiles are adhesive backed for easier installation.

Two manufacturing techniques are used to produce sheet vinyl floorings: inlay and rotogravure printing. With inlaid flooring, the pattern goes all the way through to the backing. In manufacturing, vinyl granules are generally applied to a backing through a series of templates, giving the design substantial visual depth. Multiple layers are fused together. Then the surface is given a wear layer for protection.

With a less-expensive rotogravure floor, the pattern is printed with vinyl inks onto a coated mineral felt backing and a wear layer is added.

Vinyl tiles may be a composition-a mixture of vinyl, mineral fibers and clay or, for more durability, they may be solid vinyl.

Quality vinyl flooring has a clear, protective wear layer for durability and to help in repelling dirt and spills. Between wear layer coatings of vinyl or urethane, the latter finish comes closest to meeting the "no wax" promise but even it may eventually lose its shine. Vinyl is a bit more stain resistant.

Vinyl is applied over a flat, smooth, clean surface such as plywood, wood, concrete or an older resilient floor. (Because older resilient floors or their adhesives may contain asbestos that is dangerous when airborne, leaving an old floor in place and covering over it is common practice.)

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/ Wood floors / / Solid wood floors / / Tile & stone floors / / Carpeting / / Stairs /

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