What is Vinyl Flooring?
The overview about vinyl flooring
If you are a new homeowner, or someone who is on the market for alternative flooring options, you may have heard of it but feel unfamiliar with what it is as a flooring material.
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At first glance, vinyl flooring is similar to natural hardwood flooring. But that’s only in looks – vinyl floor planks are engineered to look like it. Over the years as the material technology for vinyl flooring developed, it is also possible to aesthetically engineer vinyl flooring to mimic various types of material such as marble or ceramic.
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The material composition of vinyl flooring, however, is completely different from wood, marble or ceramic flooring. It is primarily made of PVC, or polyvinyl chloride. (And yes, that’s how the term vinyl flooring came about.)
Since vinyl flooring is made of PVC, is it toxic for my home and family?
You may have read that PVC releases VOCs (volatile organic chemicals) and/or phthalates over time, causing subtle and slow degradation of one’s health.
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While this may be a valid concern in the past, you have nothing to worry about in this modern day and age. As mentioned, material technology for vinyl flooring has advanced tremendously since its origination in 1872. The improvements are not only in aesthetics, but also in safety regulations. Thus, most vinyl flooring manufactured nowadays is phthalate-free, low in VOCs and safe for everyday use.
Typical composition of a vinyl floor tile/plank
Every vinyl flooring planks/tiles consist of several layers, but would vary amongst the different suppliers. Nevertheless, you can still identify typically common layers in a vinyl floor tile/plank:
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A top, transparent layer. It prevents scuffing, scratches and stain.
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Beneath the transparent layer is a high-grade print of the floor texture (it could be wood, marble or ceramic). This is how vinyl floor suppliers can provide so many variations, colours and textures to consumers - it is printed!
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The middle layer is usually the core of a vinyl plank. The core itself can be composed of different materials varying from amongst the different suppliers, but are usually waterproof.
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A layer of fibre glass backing lends rigidity to the vinyl floor plank.
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Finally, the bottommost base layer is usually to provide sound and impact absorption.
How are vinyl floors
installed?
Before installing vinyl floors, it is recommended for the subfloor to be as flat as possible. The subfloor could be a barren concrete floor or your existing tiles even.
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Vinyl flooring may be installed by gluing down every individual plank/tile. However, it is more common now to install it with the glueless method, also referred to as the "floating method". As you can see from the image on the left, every vinyl plank has grooves around it. The planks simply click and interlock with the other plank to be secured in place.
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Vinyl planks may be installed in a left to right direction. Or, if you have big windows where sunlight streams in, you may also want to install it longitudinally to the direction of the sunlight (as depicted in the image on the right).
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The most important thing of all is to leave an expansion gap between the wall and the vinyl floor. The expansion gap is usually 5mm. Without the gap, the vinyl planks may expand when hot and hit against the vertical wall, causing it to buckle and deform.
