At its heart, plank vinyl floor, also known as luxury vinyl plank (LVP) or luxury vinyl floor (LVF), is just vinyl flooring that comes in long, narrow strips rather than the traditional square tile shapes. But structurally this is a different product. Sheet vinyl is generally flexible vinyl with a printed top layer covered by an obvious wear layer, while vinyl plank flooring is really a multi-ply product which includes four layers:
A topmost layer of aluminum oxide, designed to prevent light scratching and scuffs A clear film layer that protects against more severe ripping and tearing A style layer that gives the photo-realistic look of wood or stone A backing layer made from fairly rigid vinyl, comprising almost 90 percent of the full total thickness of luxury vinyl
Luxury vinyl is therefore almost five times thicker than traditional sheet vinyl, letting it be semi-rigid. Rather than being rolled out over the ground and glued down, luxury vinyl planks snap together. Manufacturers of luxury plank flooring offer dozens of different styles to complement the distinctive appearance of different wood species—because of textured surfaces that mimic real wood grain. Plank vinyl floor also tends to possess deeper embossing and better graphics, making it a deeper simulation of wood and stone than previous iterations of sheet vinyl flooring or plastic laminate flooring.
You may also find vinyl planks with a heavily antiqued or distressed look, hand-scraped, dinged, scratched, and peppered with nail holes. But the products tend to be more expensive since the planks must be quite thick to handle such deeply textured embossing.
Vinyl flooring planks typically are 48 or 36 inches long. With many planks, the width is about 6 inches, although some go around 7 3/4 inches wide.
Vinyl Plank Flooring Cost
Rarely will a vinyl plank floor cost as much as genuine wood flooring, which will be usually five to 10 times more costly than vinyl planks. Charges for materials usually range from $2.50 to $5 per square foot. Professional installation could add $1 to $3 per square foot, but this is one of the easier flooring materials to set up yourself—much like plastic laminate flooring planks. Overall, the expense of vinyl planks is comparable as for laminate planks, though vinyl planks are arguably a superior flooring material.
Material costs for luxury vinyl plank prices are similar to ceramic/porcelain tile, but with tile, you have to element in the cost of additional materials (thinset and grout), plus tile-specific tools. And ceramic tile is a more labor-intensive installation for DIYers.