What is Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring? The Basics of this Leading Flooring Category
Everything you need to know about Luxury Vinyl Plank, the fastest growing category in flooring.
Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) is indeed the fastest-growing flooring choice! With amazing innovations and beautiful styles, it really is the floor that does it all.
OMW! Oh, my word, the flooring industry has way too many TLAs (three-letter acronyms.) As new home construction designers, we need to talk the talk and walk the walk, especially with the fastest growing segment in the market.
Luxury vinyl planks have been taking share from laminate, hardwood, carpet, and tile, and for good reason. This exciting category resonates with buyers from multifamily to single family and everyone in between, including the big box stores. It is incredibly durable, easy to clean and maintain, waterproof from the top down, feels great underfoot, and looks gorgeous to boot.
RCB (rigid core board) lingo is everywhere. So, let’s dive into those acronyms you will often see with LVP flooring to help you know more, and design better, without the jargon.
Luxury vinyl planks, or tiles, are vinyl products that are created to look like realistic hardwood, stone and ceramic tiles that look and feel like the real thing, but oftentimes better. Increased durability and water resistance are features that elevate LVP.
For installation, they can be either glue down or floating depending upon the product that is spec'd or purchased. We highly recommend our floating Floorté and COREtec collections for new home construction. The core of these products makes all of the difference.
Water Proof core, also known as wood plastic composite, is a vinyl plank flooring best known for being 100% spillproof from the top down. It is luxury vinyl flooring kicked up a notch with a unique waterproof core that makes it perfect for just about any residential room. It is a floating floor and super comfy underfoot.
Supino HD + Natural Bevel from our Floorté Collection is a WPC.
Solid polymer core has similar waterproof attributes but is different from WPC at the core. SPC is made from a stone polymer core. The limestone is stiffer and sturdier, perfect for more commercial applications. But don’t let that fool you. It is also a floating application and an excellent choice for new home construction.
Pride Plus is a Made in the USA 🇺🇸 SPC
Embossed In Register is a flooring term that describes an added touchable texture in the flooring world. This embossing creates a "natural variation" on a vinyl plank that is realistic looking and feels texturized. This technology has made a unique material very similar to natural wood's look.
If there's a knothole or a mineral streak texture, you can see and feel it on the floor. It gives the flooring authenticity and mimics the grain of natural wood, down to the smallest detail. As we designers describe it to clients: "If you see a knot, you feel the knot."
I love the texture and beauty in Epitome from our COREtec line.
NB stands for natural bevel. This is a crucial detail you want in your luxury vinyl. Look for this attribute to ensure that your planks rival natural hardwood. The beveling emulates hardwood closer to anything else on the market. This elevates the look of your floors. This may be my favorite attribute. Seeing is believing!
High definition is another detail you may see on our luxury vinyl planks. This technology gives a beautiful, realistic visual so planks do not look cookie-cutter. The planks emulate the beauty of nature, from sapwood to mineral streaks and knotholes. High definition helps to tell the story of the tree. It brings genuine authenticity that fools the eye.
No matter what design you want to achieve with your luxury vinyl, Shaw Builder + Multifamily has you covered.
Are you looking for a driftwood visual because your customers lean toward modern coastal? How about a more rustic feel for a lake or cabin home? Do you see more minimal looks trending and love a clean white oak for a Scandinavian feel? Or do you want a more grounded boho mid-century modern design?
Ask your Shaw Builder + Multifamily representative, and we can help you identify which styles work best for homebuyers in your region.
From a charred industrial look to a saturated modern moody to airy light and bright, let us help personalize your flooring lineup. Let’s design from the ground up, from trendy to traditional and everything in between.
What other acronyms are you hearing about? We haven’t even scratched the surface yet (pun intended!) Stay tuned, and you will soon be the teacher’s pet.
Tracy Daves—Regional Manager of Design and Marketing
