Luxury Vinyl Plank, Fitted Properly.

Why LVP Took Over Florida

Three reasons, all of them practical. It is genuinely waterproof, which matters in a state with afternoon storms, sliding doors and high humidity. It is hard enough to survive pets and children. And the printing and embossing have got good enough that a decent plank reads as wood from standing height.

It is now the default recommendation for main living areas in most of the homes we work in.

The Number That Actually Matters

Not the price per square foot. The wear layer — the clear protective film on top, measured in mils.

A thin wear layer scratches within a year in a house with a dog and a back door. A thick, commercial-grade wear layer will still look right in a decade. Two planks that look identical in the hand can differ enormously here, and it is the main thing separating a cheap floor from a good one.

When we bring samples we will tell you the wear layer on each and let you scratch them yourself.

Rigid Core vs Traditional Laminate

These get confused constantly. Traditional laminate has a fibreboard core — it swells if water gets into it and it is the wrong product near water. Rigid-core luxury vinyl plank (SPC or WPC) has a waterproof core and does not.

In waterfront communities like Apollo Beach and MiraBay we will not fit moisture-sensitive laminate at all. See laminate flooring for the full distinction.

Preparation Is Most of the Job

Plank telegraphs everything underneath it. A slab that is out of level, an old adhesive residue or a soft spot will show through a floating floor as a dip, a hollow sound or a seam that opens within a year.

Most early LVP failures we are called out to fix are preparation failures, not product failures. We check and correct the substrate before anything goes down — see subfloor preparation.

Common Questions