If you have decided that luxury vinyl plank is the way you want to go when you replace your flooring, then you may have already discovered that you have many options. All of the major flooring manufacturers have at least one line of LVP, as do many manufacturers that are known to people in the flooring industry, but not to the general public. Each of these lines claims to be the best option for people, and they might be depending on a person’s list of wants and needs from their flooring. Further complicating the decision is the fact that most flooring sales are commission-based, making it difficult to know whether the sales person is encouraging you to make the choice that is right for your home or the one that offers the best commission. We offer many different LVP options to fit different budgets and lifestyles, however, if you are looking for the premier vinyl option, we believe PermShield simply cannot be beat.
You already know about all of the benefits of LVP. It is rigid, making it capable of handling temperature and humidity extremes that would be detrimental to hardwoods and most laminates. It is waterproof, providing an option to stones and ceramics in water-heavy areas. It has a long lifetime, especially when cared for properly. It is easy to maintain. It is easy to install for the skilled DIY person. All brands of LVP are going to offer these benefits.
However, there are some common drawbacks to Luxury vinyl flooring. One of the complaints people have about some brands of LVP is that it looks like a manufactured floor. Most LVP is patterned to look like some type of wood, though there are options available that look like stones or other types of natural flooring. In less luxurious brands of LVP, the wood clearly looks fake. Instead of mimicking the appearance of a hand scraped, high-end hardwood floor, the result looks more like the sheet vinyl that once decorated the floors of manufactured homes. It is easy-to-clean and durable, but it simply looks cheap. There are two reasons for this. First, there is a lack of variety in the planks, giving it a uniform look that does not occur in nature. Second, the pattern is confined to the surface. In PermShield, there is a wide variety of patterns in the print runs, allowing for a natural-looking variation. Moreover, the pattern is deep and the tiles are slightly textured, mimicking the look of nature. You get all of the beauty of a classic natural-surface floor, with the easy maintenance, lower cost, and flexibility of LVP.