Why
is the consumer
demand for vinyl flooring steadily growing the past
couple of years? The leading vinyl flooring manufacturers have
been paying attention and have made dramatic performance
improvements and styling changes that consumers
and designers alike are asking for.
With much better realism, exciting new visual designs
and tougher wear surfaces, vinyl flooring has become an excellent
choice for frugal homeowners looking for value, design, color
and easy maintenance. Plus, the innovations in vinyl flooring
backing systems is allowing these floors to be used over
more types of subfloors and in areas of the home
that wasn't advisable in the past.
Fiberglass-backed Vinyl Flooring
Today, the leading vinyl flooring
manufacturers have incorporated a special fiberglass
backing that adds stability, durability and makes installation
much easier over a variety of sub-floors. The fiberglass-backing
is extremely flexible and helps overcome minor irregularities
in subfloors. Most manufacturers say their fiberglass-backed
vinyl floors can be installed either loose-laid or glued down with special pressure sensitive adhesives.
Although most flooring retailers and installers prefer
the glue-down method to prevent callback issues from sliding chairs
and furniture over the top of the vinyl flooring.
Enhanced Wearlayers & Stain-Resistant Finishes
The wear layers for the better vinyl
floors have also been considerably beefed up. Many
have special, stain-resistant and scratch-resistant
finishes with aluminum oxide particles embedded in the finish to
enhance the wearlayer's performance. This is making
the new generation vinyl floors tougher and more durable
than ever offered before.
Sensational New Designs, Textures & Realism
What really is helping spur the consumer
demand for vinyl flooring is the amazing new designs,
realism and ease of maintenance. Vinyl flooring is definitely coming back into fashion. The new wood, stone
and tile designs look so real you have to literally
reach down and touch them to see if it's the real thing
or not. These better visual designs and technology
advancements are driving more and more consumers to look at vinyl
flooring as a wonderful flooring option, especially
for bathrooms, kitchens, mud rooms, foyers, basements,
rec rooms and family rooms.