The wear layer is the clear armour on top, and it decides how long a vinyl floor lasts. Big-box LVP often runs 6 to 12 mil. Frankie stocks 22.
Every luxury vinyl plank looks the same in a showroom photo. The number that separates a floor that lasts twenty years from one that greys out in five is printed on the box, and most stores would rather talk about the colour.
Mil is the thickness of the clear layer over the pattern. It is what grit, claws and chair legs have to get through before they reach anything you can see. Twenty-two is a commercial-grade number in a residential floor.
Not water resistant. Waterproof. The core does not swell, so a burst supply line or a bath that overflows is a mopping job rather than a replacement job.
A click-lock plank is only as good as its edge profile. A weak lock separates at the seams under a rolling chair or a heavy sofa. Frankie’s words on the boards he stocks: the lock system is great.
Wood cups, laminate swells, carpet holds it. In a room that sees real water, luxury vinyl is not a compromise choice, it is the correct one.
“It’s not paper thin. It’s very heavy, and the lock system is great. You’ll be so happy with this. It’ll last you for many, many years.”
The resilient-flooring mills, not the bargain bin.
A mil is a thousandth of an inch, and it measures the clear wear layer over the printed pattern. Twelve mil is a normal residential floor. Twenty mil and up is what gets specified in shops and offices. Frankie stocks 22 mil for houses.
The plank itself is. Water will not swell the core the way it swells laminate or cups hardwood. Standing water can still get through the seams to the subfloor if it sits for days, so a burst pipe still needs dealing with, but the floor survives it.
If the room can get wet, LVP, no argument. If it stays dry and you want the hardest possible surface against scratches, 12 mm laminate is excellent. Frankie will bring both so you can put them side by side.
Usually yes, as long as the existing floor is flat, sound and dry. Click-lock LVP floats, so it does not need to be glued to the old surface. Deep grout lines sometimes need skim-coating first.
Less than tile, more than carpet, and it warms quickly. It also works over most radiant heat systems, which is worth mentioning at the estimate if you have it.
Every material we carry, side by side, with the same straight talk.
Tell us the room and the floor you’re dreaming about, carpet, hardwood, laminate, or LVP, and we’ll bring the samples and a straight price.
Financing through Synchrony — 0% available for qualified buyers.
