Help Your Clients Choose Flooring

Available as rectangular planks (LVP) or square tiles (LVT), this click-together option looks nothing like vinyl. Available in convincing wood grain, stone patterns and other patterns, LVP and LVT combines extreme durability with a unique and valuable feature. Both options are flexible enough that they can conform to irregularities in the subfloor. This makes them ideal for homes where small undulations in the subfloor make it difficult or impossible to use rigid types of flooring such as click laminates or large format ceramic tiles. Installation is easy and both LVP and LVT are extremely durable. Even in high traffic situations, luxury vinyl options can go for years with no wear showing. HOME BUILDER luxury vinyl tile/plank underlay is specially designed to ensure that new installations are quiet under foot and stay that way.

While many homeowners love wood floors, no one likes the reality that as wood floors wear out it can take a lot of work, noise, mess and fumes to refinish and make them look good again. This is where wood-grain ceramics and porcelain come in. Looking remarkably like real wood, this option is very durable and never needs refinishing. Wood-grain ceramics even come in short planks to further simulate the look of wood. The main thing to understand about all types of ceramic and porcelain flooring is the tremendous advantage that uncoupling membranes offer. Uncoupling membranes go down over subfloors and under tile, greatly increase the crack resistance and reliability of the ceramic and porcelain above. The best uncoupling membranes come with a complete guarantee of crack-free performance when installed according to specs.

Even many renovation professionals don’t realize how vital it is to always use a raised, moisture-resistant subfloor before finished flooring goes down in a basement. It’s not enough to roll out a foam underlay directly on the concrete followed by a new finished floor because any condensed water or the slightest bit of leaking will trigger mold growth. This is especially true of carpeting in basements during humid summer weather. If warm, humid indoor air is allowed to come in contact with concrete under the carpet, tiny droplets of mold-triggering condensation can form. A raised system of subfloor panels solves this moisture-related problem as well as others, boosting insulation and comfort at the same time. Barricade panels use a raised plastic layer to lift the subfloor surface above the concrete, allowing a space for small amounts of leaked water to drain away harmlessly.