It would be great to see any photos you have of this converted factory - sounds amazing! Sorry I have not had experience with these floor boards. Hopefully someone else here has. Or have you already made a decision?

TIPS:

Ensure that the waterproofing/underlay is done correctly!

Test how easily the product scratches (for high traffic areas I usually recommend the use of laminate instead of vinyl) - A key is a good tester.

The below images are a sneak peek of some finishes we offer in Vinyl (PVC FREE), our Laminate options are much wider too!

Contact me should you like these or want to see more

(I just added a photo for illustrative purposes)

I also have no experience but I always use common sense when planning these types of projects. Set a price that you can not afford to spend over. Look at the products in that range, maybe the product isn't the most expensive on the market but take extra care by checking out the classification e.g. is it listed as "suited for a high traffic area", "is the company local and how long have they been in business", "what is the product made from", "where is the product manufactured", most important "what is the product warranty period and what are they covering under the warranty". In New Zealand I try to also deal with a company that supplies product in New Zealand and meets a known "standard". Good luck in your search.

My parents have this kind of flooring in their living area (laid about ten years ago) and whilst it wears very well - there is not a sign of wear yet - I find the sound of them very irritating. They don't sound anything like solid floorboards and are very "clacky" (for want of a better word) to walk on. We also had them in my workplace until a recent refurb and again, they sounded very loud and thin under foot. Try to check them out in a home where they have been down for a while to see if you could handle the noise.

Hello, Perhaps you have already made a decision but if not hopefully I can add to the information above. We used vinyl planks (bastard elm) in a farm cottage renovation with great success. It was laid in high traffic areas (lounge, kitchen/dining and back area to the outside laundry). We lived in the cottage for two years while building our new home so frequent tradesman visiting plus many meetings. We are surprised how resilient this product has been, it has stood up to furniture being dragged across the surface dirt and stones on work boots, wood fire and all the mess associated with using one of these. But it is very easy to clean and maintain. The only change over time has been slight gaps appearing between some of the planks, mainly near the large sliding door out to the deck which gets a lot of sun. We also live in a dry climate which may contribute to this change given that I have also seen this happen with solid floorboards. And as mentioned above planks can easily be replaced. (photo: newly laid vinyl planks)

Hey,I think what Debex is referring to is a laminated board that clicks together like floating floor..I have had experienced laminate planks from Karndean that are laid on Masonite or a self leveller.AMAZING on performance and absolutely no clicking noise.Extremely easy to maintain and all I did was use a polish that can be put on by mop once a year.
To clean a little metho in hot water.
Huge variety of board width and colour to choose from,although I doubt work there Choices flooring have a great range that I have had in two homes and can recommend.
Big choice but back yourself!

W

I put a vinyl plank floor, over cement, in my investment unit, up in cairns. The vinyl was soft and cool underfoot, without the harshness of cold hard ceramic tile. It's an excellent option for hard wearing and easy live-ability. I was quickly converted, great for kitchen, lounge and bedrooms. I found the wood tones gave me that warm, comfortable feel without the chill and worked well with my rugs and wooden furniture. I will track down a photo, and add to the comment.

Thanks for this thread Maya, I have been looking at options myself and I'm reading very favourable things about vinyl, so I will be watching comments closely. I had heard about the clicking with laminate and was wondering about the noise in comparison too, so thanks for your input holden girl.

If I may ask a question too, I'm looking at buying a new home and most of the homes that meet my needs unfortunately have tiled living areas that are just too hard for me to live on. Is it possible to lay vinyl boards over the tiles?

There is no clicking, or in fact, any noise using vinyl, they are soft underfoot. I'm fairly sure you will need to lift the tiles prior to laying. Here's a better shot if the room w.vinyl planks and some furniture.

Thanks Rosemary, it will probably depend on how well the tiles are laid and also how the extra height might affect things. The houses are mostly slab on ground so the tiles probably won't be a simple lift, which translates to extra $$$$. Your planks are lovely, I like that beachy/distressed look.

What's wrong with the marine ply?

At work we have just Lino (good quality) it's been there for at least 10 years, all customers think it's timber, doesn't have any scratch marks even after I dragged furniture on top of it, heavy filing cabinets, and is quite and easy to clean.

I'd keep the marine ply.

Yes, I was referring to the laminated boards. Very noisy. Can't comment on the vinyl.

We have vinyl floorboards in our family room. this is a high traffic area with kids and dogs. Previously we had laminated floorboards which faded in the sun baked areas, scratched and were noisy. The vinyl floorboards and the best ever!. No noise, look fresh, no scratching, don't show the dirt just an all round excellent product. Highly recommend them.

We laid them in our entire house. easy to lay, less than 2 days for a huge 4 x 2, 2 years later, no scratches and perfect wear. Would definitely recommend.

Olldroo.........Best to get the tiles lifted. Get someone in to give you a cost for uplift, grind floor and dumping of tiles, then you'll have a blank clean canvas to install planks. If you install floating planks, they will need to go under the skirtings, but if you install glue down planks, they can be laid up to skirtings. Floating requires room for expansion and contraction.

Thanks Flooring Vision, I was hoping not to have heard that.

Mega mega thanks, everyone, including for the photo examples. I haven't purchased any but am now confident to do so. About the marine ply....it was stained and lacquered some 20 years ago and has (reasonable for that length of time) worn unevenly in the kitchen and 'corridors' around the couch to the stairs. So I would need to sand it to get past the existing remaining staining and re-stain/lacquer. This would be more costly compared with vinyl, make a huge mess as we have few internal walls through the property and involve us (and all the furniture) moving out for that week as we cannot access the bedrooms without walking through this part. I have tried uploading photo's but not sure they are coming up.

Finally, the timber is noisy, which we are used to but reducing that would be nice.

.

and this is the view of downstairs.

Good call Maya. If you approach a local company, and not sure what they are telling you, just run it past us, and we'll interpret for you :)

Actually now you have photo's posted, my recommendation would be the Karndean Looselay Longboards.......copy/paste this link into your browser.

http://www.karndean.com/en-nz/floors/easy-fit-ranges/benefits-of-karndean-looselay

They will happily send samples out to you for free. The acoustic qualities of this product will be best for your situation.

Wow, what an amazing space, thanks for posting Maya. Hope it all goes well for you and thank you for letting me borrow your post for information I needed.

another question to everyone who has actually got them in their homes: how is the texture to walk on. I found a great colour but it is textured. I never walk around barefoot but the kids do and they say it 'feels' wrong. I bought a full plank home to test the look. Traditional vinyl is smooth, like wood but this stuff has a fake texture. Is that just the specific product I found?

HI Maya

Not sure you could tell I was such an advocate of the stuff, I actually have it in my home. All my particleboard floors needed to be replaced, so used 18mm marine ply, then used a click system vinyl plank (Lamett, now deleted, but was a Quickstep product about 3-4 years ago) - not glued down.

I love love love them, however my place is one level, hence why I think you should go for the more softer, more acoustic planks, due to your property layout. Everyone that comes into my place comments on the floor, to the point if any friends or acquaintances are considering hard flooring options, I get them to call in and look at my install ( geez, I should get paid a retainer for "showroom" fees ).

Like I said......get a hold of Karndean, they'll send you a free sample or go to a showroom to look at some already in place. Their website has a list of retailers.

P.S. kids don't stay at home forever...............get what YOU like.

I was going to mention the surface profile of the vinyl planks. I am always walking barefoot, well in the unit in cairns anyway (it was too hot not to) and I must admit it was one of the nicest aspects. It was a gentle raised surface which almost massaged my feet. It was the soft texture I mentioned earlier. I bought them from Andersons. They removed the old carpet and vinyl and laid the planks as well as taking all the rubbish away in a couple of hours.

thanks, Flooring Vision. I will get Karndean samples.

In the house we have just renovated we had luxury vinyl planks in a rustic oak laid in the living area and kitchen and I absolutely love them. They look great, feel really nice to walk on and very easy to keep clean. I will definitely get them again :)

Hi, we are looking at laying the loose lay vinyl planks over tiles and have been told that flooding the tiles with 3mm of levelling compound to get rid of the grout lines is the way to prep the area instead of pulling up all the existing tiles.
Has anyone done this and if so how successful was it?
I've had this product laid in 2 retail premises onto a concrete slab base before and couldn't have been any happier.
Just be careful with the long boards as some companies have a repeat pattern on the individual planks which can look a bit unnatural, just check the individual plank has an overall pattern along its length as that looks better when laid.

Hi Kerrie,

Sorry for the late reply, I've only just seen this post. Yes, we have done exactly that - laid Karndean looselay vinyl planks over the top of our tiles throughout our entire downstairs level. The tiles were raised in places so required a little sanding to level it out. They've been down for about 6 months and we love them BUT (and this is why I'm looking here) are having trouble keeping the vinyl looking clean.

Gosh Lorraine, that is disappointing - I'm sold on putting these down in my home too. Have you used a steam mop on them? I presently have sheet vinyl in the living area that is 16 years old and the steam mop is bringing it up nicely.

Hi olldroo, yes we did try the steam mop. Surprisingly it didn't really help and after using it I read that you should never use a steam mop on vinyl as the heat of the steam can ruin the glue and make them start to lift over time, so I haven't used it again. Have you been using the steam mop in your living area for long? Or have you just started that recently?

Hi Karen,

Would you mind sharing what you use to clean your luxury vinyl planks please?

Hi Lorraine. What kind of issues are you having? Karndean vinyls need a ph neutral detergent when cleaning. From memory they actually make their own cleaner as well. I would call your supplier or check on Karndeans website... cheers

Hi Two's Company Renovations, thanks for your comments.

We're having problems with dullness, patchiness and every mark showing on the floor - footprints, dog prints, scuff marks, vacuum/broom/mop marks, you name it! Floor looks good when first done but as soon as you walk on it every single mark shows.

Have tried PH neutral detergents, plain water etc. Karndean do have their own cleaning products but they are v expensive and, more importantly, I've read lots of comments that say they don't work!

Is this a thick vinyl? And when you say footprints/dog prints, do you mean dirt or impressions? What cleaners have you been using?

They're Karndean Looselay 5mm vinyl planks in Lemon Spotted Gum.

No, not impressions, just dirty marks, like muddy footprints [even though our feet are clean] everywhere the floor is 'touched', and the entire surface has dull and patchy marks all over it.

That sounds like it has residue from eg a cleaner on it. Have you called Karndean about it? (1800 423 963) I would call and ask about the best method to clean and tell them about your issues.

They have a stripper/refresh which would be the first place I would start. Here are some instructions in a short video. Not sure how it goes on the loose lay but I'm sure Karndean could confirm that for you.

As a quick aside, what was the treatment of the floor before the laying of the planks? What was used to fill the gaps in between the tiles?

Cheers

Hi Lorraine, sorry I missed your question. I only bought this house a few months back and the glue has deteriorated anyway so I used the steam mop to test it out before I get new flooring. Because many animals lived in this house I was hoping the steam would help kill germs. I've read so many opinions on the use of steam on both vinyl and laminate so I'm at a bit of a loss now. One of my joeys has laminate and has been using a steam mop on it for 12 years now with no ill effects at all, despite that supposedly being a big no-no, but she found it so quick and efficient when the kids were toddlers particularly and the floor needed doing almost daily.

I just have to wonder these days how much manufacturers are protecting themselves and not giving consumers honest information. How often do you buy an item of cotton clothing and then find the label says "dry clean only". This does not mean the item can't be washed, it is to protect the manufacturer from someone doing something like washing in boiling water. We need more transparency in care instructions, only then can consumers make informed decisions on the right product for them.

If steam is going to affect the glue, then it follows water will too so then it comes down to just how do you clean your floors. Manufacturers' special products that are always ridiculously expensive are not the answer and having access to these products is not always possible for country people either. I believe there are two types of vinyl planks too - one type are glued down, the others are a floating floor which would not require glue, but I was told in the event of damage, a glued plank is much easier to replace than one in a floating floor. There are so many glues on the market now too, there must be one that could be used to reglue a plank that has come adrift.

Hi All

I can't stress enough that if you do not follow manufacturers instructions, you will void any warranty. When installing vinyl planks via glue down method, there is a recommended product to be used by the installers.

Steam mops, meths etc etc are not recommended, as there is a protective PU coating on Karndean (and all vinyl planks), and these products will destroy that coating.

Please don't shoot the messenger, I'm trying to help you all, but I would recommend you all contact either your local supplier, or the manufacturer.

Thanks Flooring, I think this is the problem, we are all very keen to care for our flooring correctly but there is so much conflicting information. Understandably manufacturers are keen to sell their product and protect themselves from consumer misuse, but manufacturers have to understand the consumer's mistrust in ridiculously priced products being the only way, in this case, of cleaning and maintaining their floors. You really feel like you are being held to ransom. You go to a cleaning store and are constantly reassured their products are safe to use - naturally they just want to sell their product too but how does one know what is safe and what isn't especially if one is on a budget?

As well I don't think manufacturers factor in availability of their products, not everyone lives conveniently near shops and ordering online (if that is possible) only adds more expense to an already expensive product with delivery costs not to mention delays in deliveries as well.

I think this has totally turned me off vinyl flooring. Back to the drawing boards.