The short answer: A lot of times when people are looking at LVP, they want to know two things: the overall thickness and the wear layer. Those are important, but there's a lot more that goes into LVP than those two things. Here's what we tend to like:
- WPC with a wear layer of at least 20 mil and at least 6.5 mm overall thickness.
- SPC works well at 6.5 mm overall. For a true high-end SPC, look for a core of at least 8 mm.
- A ceramic bead coating to resist fine scratches.
- A quality locking system, such as Uniclic® or Välinge 5G™.
- Avoid the older, thin flexible core LVP.
LVP is an umbrella term
The first thing to understand is that LVP (luxury vinyl plank) is an umbrella term, and there are a lot of different products that fall under that umbrella:
| Type | What it is | How it installs | Our take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flexible core | The first generation of LVP, very thin. You don't see much of it now. | Older product | Stay away from it |
| Dry-back | Solid vinyl, usually 2 to 5 mm thick | Glued down, no click system | Very durable; best for water issues, wheelchairs, heavy weight, and uneven basements |
| SPC | Usually stands for "stone plastic composite" or "solid polymer core." Vinyl mixed with calcium carbonate. Some stores call it "rigid core." | Click | Great on a very level floor |
| WPC | Usually stands for "wood plastic composite" | Click | The best of the bunch |
SPC and WPC were developed around the same time, as the next generation of water-resistant flooring after flexible core.
SPC vs. WPC: what's the difference?
SPC (rigid core). SPC is a combination of vinyl and calcium carbonate. When it came out, it was hailed as the next generation of waterproof flooring, and it does have some really wonderful characteristics. On a very level floor, it's very durable and long-lasting. If it does have a drawback, it's that it is extremely rigid and brittle. You have to be very careful when you're installing it, and the floor prep has to be much more exacting, because there's no flex at all in this material. In the right place, it's great.
With SPC, you want a thicker material. I think as long as you hit 6.5 mm overall thickness, including the attached foam, you're okay. But to get into what I would consider a high-end SPC product, I think the core needs to be a minimum of 8 mm thick.
WPC. I think WPC is the best of the bunch. WPC is slower and harder to make than SPC, and for that reason it's more expensive. It's more flexible than SPC and far less brittle. It's less prone to damage during installation, and it's more forgiving if the floor isn't absolutely perfect.
On WPC, you're going to want a core that's at least 5 to 5.5 mm thick, plus between 1 and 2 mm of attached foam backing.
There's no wood in WPC. WPC, or wood plastic composite, is the name it's called, but there is actually no wood in it. Possibly at one time, in the very beginning, there was wood in WPC, but there hasn't been since then. Somehow that acronym stuck, but it's important to know that there is no wood in WPC or any of our LVP flooring.
When is glue-down (dry-back) LVP the better choice?
Dry-back LVP is a very important product that people don't always think about. It's solid vinyl, and it's glued directly to the floor instead of clicking together, so there's no locking system to fail. I think it's much more durable. It's a great choice in a few situations:
- Water issues. If there's any chance of water coming in, like in a basement, glue-down is the way to go. You can just shop-vac up standing water.
- Wheelchairs and heavy weight. Where someone uses a wheelchair, or where there's going to be excessive weight on the floor, glue-down holds up much better.
- Uneven basement floors. The concrete doesn't have to be level for glue-down, just smooth, so you avoid the bouncy spots you can get with a floating floor.
We use dry-back a lot in healthcare facilities for exactly those reasons. It usually comes from about 2 mm up to 5 mm thick, and the warranty depends on how thick you go. Our glue-down dry-back LVP ranges from $1.99 to $4.99 a square foot, depending on the overall thickness, wear layer, and so on.
How thick should the wear layer be?
The wear layer is the clear top layer that protects the design, and it's measured in mils. With our products, we like to have a minimum of 20 mil.
An old rule of thumb they used to use with sheet vinyl was 1 mil per year of wear. By that logic, a 20 mil wear layer would last 20 years. I think that's a gross simplification. That would be in the absolute heaviest spot, and I think the newer wear layers are going to last 1 to 2 times that long.
Our base and middle-grade products have a 20 mil wear layer, and our upper grade has a 28 mil wear layer. Our experience has been that if you go thicker than 28 mil, it starts to have a negative effect: it makes the floor harder to see and distorts the actual look of the floor. We felt it was best to top out at 28 mil and not go thicker than that.
What is ceramic bead, and do I need it?
Ceramic bead is a topical coating applied at the factory. The way I would describe it, it's a hardener for the top layer, and it's going to help with micro scratches. A couple of good examples are animals, or sand that got in the house on your shoes. Without ceramic bead, over time you're going to see micro scratches, and they'll dull the finish. With ceramic bead, it's going to help resist micro scratching, and your finish will stay better longer.
We highly recommend using ceramic bead. We have it on all of our LVP products except the base grade. We order it that way from the factory, and it's included in our price, so there's no additional cost.
Does the locking system matter?
Yes. The other thing that factors into flooring is the type of locking system. We primarily use these two:
- Uniclic® by Unilin. This is the most common one, and it's a good system.
- Välinge 5G™. We really like this one. It's actually a more expensive system to have produced because of its drop-and-lock capabilities.
We really pay attention to the locking system and make sure that we don't use a substandard one.
What warranty comes with LVP?
Our featured LVP brand is Lux Premier, and we carry other brands as well. Everything we typically carry in stock is part of our Lux Premier line: WPC Pro, WPC Plus, and our SPC line. Here are the specs:
| Product | Type | Overall thickness | Wear layer | Backing | Locking system | Ceramic bead | Residential warranty | Light commercial warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPC Pro (upper end) | WPC | 8 mm | 28 mil | Cork | Välinge 5G | Yes | Lifetime | 10 years |
| WPC Plus (most of our line) | WPC | 6.5 mm | 20 mil | IXPE | Uniclic | Yes | 25 years | 10 years |
| SPC | SPC | 6.5 mm (5.5 mm core + 1 mm IXPE) | 20 mil | IXPE | Uniclic | No | 10 years | 2 years |
| Elevate (our high-end collection) | Lightcore SPC | 10 mm | 28 mil | Attached foam | 5G-i Drop and Lock | Armor Coat finish instead | 30 years, plus a lifetime waterproof warranty | 10 years |
The Elevate collection (upper-end SPC). Our upper-end SPC line is the Lux Premier Elevate collection, and it's $4.49 a square foot. This actually might be our nicest product in the line. It's 10 mm in overall thickness, and the planks are 60 inches long by 9 inches wide.
- Lightcore SPC. The problem with regular SPC is that it's so dense that it's extremely heavy. Lightcore is a new generation of SPC that brings the weight down but still keeps the quality up. The manufacturer describes it as a micro-foamed core designed for the perfect balance between performance and value.
- Armor Coat finish. This is the thing that sets it apart from our other products, even our higher-end products. The manufacturer says it's 9 times better for micro-scratches than regular SPC, and it has anti-stain and antibacterial features. It's the only thing we have where, if you accidentally made a mark on it, say with a permanent marker, you could clean it off.
- Waterproof. It says 100% waterproof and will never swell when exposed to water. It has a lifetime waterproof warranty, plus a 30-year residential and 10-year light commercial warranty.
- Locking system. It uses the 5G-i Drop and Lock system.
- Certifications. It's FloorScore certified and phthalate-free.
- Wear layer. 28 mil, the same as our top WPC.
What is IXPE backing? Certain backings have real outgassing, or a real smell to them. IXPE foam is low-odor and low-VOC.
For dry-back glue-down LVP, the warranty depends on the thickness, which usually runs from 2 to 5 mm.
For prices on these lines, see How Much Does LVP Cost Installed?
Do you carry waterproof laminate?
Yes, we carry two colors of waterproof laminate, and right now it's $2.79 a square foot. They have a 100-hour surface water warranty, which means standing water won't damage the surface for up to 100 hours. If water gets under the floor, the core has a 3% to 4% swell rate. (See Waterproof Laminate vs. LVP.)
The bottom line
So, to summarize: LVP is an umbrella term. We tend to like WPC products with a minimum of a 20 mil wear layer that are at least 6.5 mm in overall thickness. An SPC product can be very nice if you go thick enough, and for high-end I think that needs to be a minimum of 8 mm in core thickness. I would stay away from any of the older LVP products made before SPC and WPC.
Want to see the difference in person? Stop by our Provo or Lehi showroom.
Uniclic® is a registered trademark of Unilin. 5G™ is a trademark of Välinge Innovation.