Is vinyl plank flooring durable?

The durability of vinyl plank flooring

Flooring is a major aspect of a home. It serves multiple purposes, including comfort, appeal and strength. Although, the characteristic that supersedes most other flooring characteristics is durability. Generally speaking, most homeowners prefer flooring that will last a long a time. Moreover, a floor whose value will exceed its cost. Vinyl plank flooring, for instance, stands out as a durable floor type. 

Here are some reasons why:

Water resistance

The biggest selling point of vinyl plank flooring is its water resistance. It’s not confined only to living rooms and bedrooms. Instead, it can be installed in any room of a home. It can withstand the usual moisture brought on by bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms. Honestly, vinyl plank’s only limitation is the outdoors. It’s water resistant, but completely not water impenetrable. If you expose it to outdoor conditions, then you’ll limit its lifetime.

As you probably know, the main issue with hardwood flooring is its vulnerability to water. It’s known to be a risk to install hardwood floors in moisture-prone areas like the kitchen or bathroom we mentioned earlier. If you’re looking for a flooring material that looks like hardwood but is more capable of withstanding moisture, vinyl plank flooring is a great option.

Multi-layered

What makes vinyl plank water-resistant? It’s layered. And one of the handful of layers is a wear layer located towards the surface. The wear layer is meant to withstand all kinds of threats. Water is among them, but so is routine foot traffic, heavy impacts and dust.

Its multiple-layer composition is similar to engineered hardwood flooring. Engineered hardwood is layered as well, making it difficult to damage. However, engineered hardwood is topped with real hardwood, while vinyl plank is topped with an innovative hardwood photographic image to create the look of real hardwood. This makes engineered hardwood more appealing to some, but it will cost you significantly more than vinyl plank flooring. In fact, engineered hardwood costs nearly the same as actual hardwood.

Hardness

The layers of vinyl plank flooring give it extreme hardness. Its hardness doesn’t quite match the hardness of real hardwood, but it’s quite close. As a matter of fact, vinyl plank flooring is actually harder to scratch than real hardwood. In the end, vinyl plank’s moisture and scratch resistance make it very appealing to homeowners, especially those on a budget. Not only does it have a look similar to that of hardwood, but it’s also much easier to maintain.

So, just how durable is vinyl plank flooring? Without a doubt, it should be able to last for at least 15-20 years. That’s with minimal maintenance and few to no additional costs along the way.

If you are interested in vinyl plank flooring, visit Protex Flooring Company! We always have plenty of it in stock for you. If you have questions about vinyl plank, we have experts who are ready to help. Also, check out our blog for more flooring information.