When we built our first single-family home we didn’t have a huge budget to get all of our wants in the house. We chose the elements we knew we could not install afterward and chose to keep base options for areas we knew we could later upgrade. Our floors were a project we knew we’d change later down the road. We received carpet in our living and entryway in addition to the entire second floor and basement. After only being in our home for 3 years our carpet was starting to bubble. It looked terrible and drove us all crazy. It was becoming a walking hazard and we knew we wanted to rip out the first floor carpet and install something nicer. Originally we thought we’d change our carpet and LVP to all hardwood floors. We thought it would be best to do the project after our children knew how to walk. We purposely selected carpet to help with them bracing their falls. It was not until we saw our community Facebook group take a pool that everyone preferred LVP over hardwood floors. We knew after reviewing the results we might have made a poor choice for our style of living and immediately started discussing finding the LVP that was installed in our kitchen. We decided to install LVP on the first floor, and buy materials for the second floor but install them when the children were old enough to walk properly. The stairwell would have hardwood installed and stained to match our LVP.
1) Why did We Choose Luxury Vinyl Plank?
Luxury Vinyl Planking (LVP), is designed to look like luxury flooring but at the fraction of the cost. LVP is an excellent substitute for both hardwood and tile since the material is low maintenance and easy to clean. The floors are great for homeowners worried about children and pets since they are waterproof. LVP is also extremely affordable and easy to install. Starting the project was a no-brainer since we realized LVP was more affordable than we anticipated and easy to install. After realizing we might have made a mistake in never investing in LVP from the beginning, we decided to install new floors. The first thing we needed to do was find our LVP. It has been 3 years since we built our home and we were not sure if our floors were discontinued.
2) Searching for Our Floors
The first step was to reach out to Ryan Homes. Our model home was still active in our neighborhood and we were able to find the interior style we selected for our home. The Ryan Homes Sales Associate provided the correct flooring. The swatch that was provided had our cabinets, LVP floors, tiles, and carpet. If you still have a model home in your neighborhood Ryan Homes was extremely helpful. If you have an older community you can always call the builder and they should have your home’s information on record. Once I had our interior information I began my google search. Joe and I were looking for the model “Armstrong Peppercorn”. We then measured the length and width of the LVP in our kitchen and tried to find the model we needed online. I won’t pretend to say it was easy to find these floors. It took a lot of research. Many sights did not carry the Armstrong brand or were out of stock. This was no surprise to us because we were still in the midst of the pandemic when we started the project. We discovered a vendor by the name of Hosking Hardwood who did have our floors in stock. I gave them a call and they did indeed have the floorings. They have amazing customer service and helped us calculate how much LVP was needed for our installation project (Purchased 29 pallets for those who have a Columbia Model and want to replace the carpet in their flex room and living room). They even confirmed how much crown molding we needed (something we had not thought about).
3) Finding A Contractor
We found our contractor through Angi’s List. We received a few calls. Many of them consistently called us to request our business despite us not being interested. The person we felt was the best fit for the job was the person that only called us once and left a voicemail. We thought he was the best choice and most experienced because he was not constantly cold-calling us for business. Finding contractors for any project during the pandemic was a challenge. The best and most experienced contractors were always taken first. We felt because he only called us once and he had a list of customers to serve that he was the best fit out of all of the vendors we screened. Everyone was able to get us in right away. That idea scared us after letting an inexperienced contractor finish our wet bar a few months prior. We informed the vendor we were happy to wait as long as it took. Luckily we only waited 3 weeks. He came in to do an assessment and sure enough, he was extremely knowledgable. It helped that our. contractor use to work with Ryan Homes and was knowledgeable about the floors we chose.
4) Installing Our LVP
We were very lucky to have found our contractor. He worked alongside the company we purchased our LVP from to make sure it was the right match. We learned although we found the right “Armstrong Peppercorn” the teething to attach the LVP together was discontinued. This means we had to install a vinyl T-track between the kitchen and the living room space so that the teeth of the LVP would connect together. Honestly, the contractor really wanted to not have this occur. However, we were very happy that we found the right color LVP and did not have to rip out all of our first-floor LVP that was installed to only replace it and spend more money. The T-track saved us from spending more and we were grateful. It took a weekend for our contractor to install the floors. He worked by himself and was extremely meticulous. By the third day, we had our floors installed and they were a perfect match to the first half of the house from when we built our model.
Part 2 of our Floor Installation Project
In a few years, we will begin part 2 of our flooring installation. We purchased enough flooring to do the hallways on the second floor. We will also install hardwood to connect the two floors. Why are we not doing LVP on the stairs? We were informed it is extremely tedious and expensive to do LVP on the floors. Many contractors refuse to do it and prefer to stain the hardwood the color of your LVP. We suspect in the next 2 years we will start this project once Gabriel learns how to walk. In the meantime, our LVP floors for the hallway are stored in the basement in a climate-controlled setting.
Our Review of LVP
I really do love our LVP floors. Had we known that LVP was more durable than hardwood we would have selected this in our building process from the beginning. They have been easy to keep clean and are more durable than I anticipated. LVP comes in many different styles, colors, and qualities. I do not think this house will be our forever home but one thing is for sure, we will always have LVP wherever we reside next.
