After coming to this conclusion, many shoppers will automatically opt for porcelain or ceramic tile. These flooring stalwarts have been the go-to choice for bathrooms and kitchens for ages due mostly to their durability and high level of water resistance. And they are a great fit for these rooms, with a large variety of styles and features to choose from. However, though tile is an incredibly popular choice for moisture-prone areas of the home, it can come with its own set of disadvantages.

The properties that make ceramic or porcelain tile such a durable waterproof flooring option are also the source of its main downsides, and those downsides are especially evident in the rooms where you most want waterproof floors: the bathroom and the kitchen. If you’ve ever stepped barefoot onto a cold tile floor during a middle-of-the-night trip to the bathroom, you know that they can get uncomfortably cold. And while ceramic and porcelain’s incredible material hardness is a huge advantage when it comes to durability, that same asset can become a source of discomfort if you spend a lot of time walking or standing on a tile floor. Many home chefs (or dishwashers!) can relate to that point. Lastly, tile can make a room sound echoey and harshly loud.

Luxury Vinyl Tile and Plank Are Stylish, Durable Waterproof Flooring Options

Thankfully, there is a type of flooring that solves each of those nits without sacrificing water resistance or style—and it may even fit your budget better. That miracle material? Luxury vinyl flooring. While not a new product, luxury vinyl flooring options have continued to fly under the radar because of their association with the flimsy products many remember from decades past. But today’s luxury vinyl plank and tile are a far cry from the rolled linoleum that graced the floor of Grandpa’s basement.

Thanks to Aqua Defense technology, both luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and luxury vinyl plank (LVP) are fully waterproof flooring products. They offer incredible durability—on par with or better than ceramic or porcelain tiles—with many luxury vinyl products from Empire Today® covered by limited lifetime warranties against wear. But aesthetes need not worry that LVT and LVP are some kind of homely utilitarian flooring materials that prioritize function over form. In fact, the truth is the exact opposite.

Advanced construction methods lend luxury vinyl floors a high-end look and feel that, in many cases, can be nearly indistinguishable from real tile or hardwood floors. The photorealistic surface image accurately recreates the appearance of tile, stone, or hardwood, while the embossed textures convincingly mimic the feel of those materials. Many people don’t realize that LVT and LVP are man-made materials, even when they’re standing right on the floor. And as the product category has continued to grow in popularity, the selection of LVT and LVP available from Empire® has come to offer significantly more style options that traditional tile.

Best of all, as waterproof flooring products, they match tile’s best qualities while avoiding the aforementioned downsides. Though it is a hard surface flooring, there is a small amount of flexibility inherent to the vinyl material, which goes a long way when it comes to underfoot feel. Luxury vinyl flooring will be noticeably more comfortable to walk barefoot or stand on for long periods of time. The synthetic surface will also feel warmer than a tile floor when the temperatures dip. That flexibility also tends to make rooms with vinyl floors a bit quieter than if the same surfaces were covered in porcelain or ceramic tile. Additionally, a variety of underlayment choices can further augment each of these benefits—an option not possible with traditional tile, which needs to be installed on a totally rigid surface to prevent the risk of cracking.

Overall, vinyl products offer perhaps the most comprehensive solution when having waterproof floors is your main goal, but also strongly value style and comfort. If you’ve been debating new floors for your kitchen, bathroom, or anywhere else where water damage is a risk, but aren’t thrilled by the idea of ceramic tile, then luxury vinyl flooring might be exactly what you need.

The post The Best Waterproof Flooring for Your Bathroom or Kitchen (That Isn’t Tile) appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

Because of this, the best kitchen flooring needs to be prepared for every eventuality. It should be able to withstand regular exposure to water, whether from accidental juice spills or the weekly mopping typical in a kitchen. A kitchen floor should have a durable surface, to endure constant foot traffic, the scraping from chairs and tables regularly being moved around, and the dings and dents that can occur from dropped dishes and silverware. And perhaps most importantly: it has to look good. It’s likely that your kitchen will be the most viewed and visited room in your home, so you’ll want to make sure it’s dressed to impress. In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at what we at Empire Today® consider to be the most important features to have in a kitchen floor.

Water-Resistant Floors Are a Must in the Kitchen

Before a customer begins the process of picking a particular category or style of kitchen flooring, we always stress the importance of considering water-resistant or even fully waterproof flooring. This is the one feature that all of the best kitchen flooring materials will have in common because the floor in the average kitchen will experience exposure to wetness on a daily basis. Whether it’s overspray from the kitchen sink, accidentally overfilling a glass at the fridge water dispenser, or just the typical spills and splashes that happen in an active kitchen, those floors will get wet—consider it an inevitability.

While the small occasional splash will rarely pose a risk to floors that are not water-resistant, we don’t recommend counting on being able to control how often that happens. The frequency of these little messes is what will often lead to permanent floor damage. This is why installing tile in the kitchen has historically been such a common choice—for many years it was the only durable and stylish floor product that was also water-resistant. But today, vinyl plank, vinyl tile, and laminate flooring products are all available with some measure of water resistance, greatly opening up your design options.

One of the side benefits of choosing a waterproof floor is the extra ease it lends to regular cleaning tasks. Your household may be diligent in preventing spills and splashes, making you think that your floors don’t need any extra protection against moisture. But a waterproof or water-resistant floor is significantly easier to clean than one susceptible to water damage. Cleaning a genuine hardwood floor often requires paying careful attention to how much water you use on a mop and how long the floors stay damp. Over the course of time, a bit too much water here and there can add up to lasting damage to hardwood floors.

But if you have waterproof kitchen flooring, like an Aqua Defense wood laminate or vinyl plank product from Empire®, you can go heavy on the water when cleaning stubborn stains. Soak that mop, and even let water sit on the surface for a few minutes to loosen up the really tough messes. Best of all? You’ll still get to enjoy the look of a real wood floor.

Overall Durability and Reliability.

Going hand-in-hand with water resistance is overall durability. Your kitchen floor may see sharp-clawed paws, hard-soled shoes, dropped pots and pans, and all manner of abuse typically absent from the rest of the home. That means whatever kitchen floor material you choose, it should be something that’s built to survive all of these things and more.

Empire Today is proud to offer flooring products from the industry’s top brands, and these products are covered by some of the best warranties around. And while every product we carry is built with reliability in mind, there are a host of optional features to consider that can help extend the useful life of your floors, especially in highly active households.

For the ultimate in durable kitchen flooring, look for a wood laminate product protected by a urethane oxide finish. This robust top layer provides extra scratch, scuff, and dent resistance, which can be of great benefit in busy kitchens—especially those with integrated eating areas where chair and table legs can be a common source of surface damage.

Fading can be caused by more than just physical wear. Just like cushions on your patio furniture or your favorite baseball cap, the vibrancy of your floors can get diminished by the sun’s UV rays. If your kitchen receives lots of exposure to the sun, a UV-resistant coating can help maintain its beauty over the long haul.

Non-Slip Surfaces

This is a feature that you’ll often find included on most water-resistant or waterproof floor products. Non-slip flooring products are made with a specially textured surface that is designed to increase traction between your feet and the floor, especially when the floor is wet. So, if there’s ever a spill in your kitchen, you and your family members will be much less likely to take a spill. A non-slip surface can even help give your pets more traction when running through the home. Non-slip tile is the most common form of this product, but the feature can also be found on vinyl tile and vinyl plank flooring.

Mold and Mildew Resistance

Mold and mildew are problems typically associated with the corners around a tub, shower, or sink in the bathroom. But the truth is, these annoyances can arise anywhere that gets regularly exposed to moisture. In the kitchen, areas of the floor around the sink or under the fridge are common spots for mold or mildew to develop. Something as small as a few drops of water a day can end up leading to unsightly, unhealthy problems with the passage of time. While diligence in quickly drying these messes will go far in keeping mildew and mold growth at bay, taking a major preventative step like choosing mold and mildew-resistant flooring can go a long way towards winning that battle. You can find this feature in various vinyl plank, vinyl tile, wood laminate, and porcelain or ceramic tile products offered at Empire.

Comfort

The comfort level of floors is perhaps the one trait most often overlooked by shoppers. Kitchen floors are just hard surfaces, and one hard floor is the same as all hard floors…right? Actually, not quite! It comes as a surprise to many, but there can be a drastic difference in comfort levels between hard-surface floors that might initially feel the same. Any runner will tell you that there is a big difference in the feel of running on a concrete street vs an asphalt one, even though they are both hard surfaces built to withstand immense wear and weight. Asphalt is a slightly softer surface, and that adds up over the countless footfalls the average runner makes. The same logic applies to your kitchen floors, where minuscule differences in hardness can add up to big increases in comfort over time.

Odds are, the kitchen is the one room where you and your family members will be doing the most standing: whether it’s while cooking, entertaining, or doing the dishes. While a few steps here and there might not demand floors that prioritize comfort, the amount of time you spend standing in the kitchen definitely should. In general, a porcelain or ceramic floor will be the hardest of all, and your knees might feel the difference at the end of a marathon cooking session. Laminate and vinyl floors will both offer the tiniest bit of give that can make a big difference when you’re constantly standing. This trait can be further tweaked with the type of underlayment that is used when installing either of these floor types.

If you’ve made it this far, you might feel a bit overwhelmed by all the things you should consider—things you may not have even thought of just twenty minutes ago. We know how confusing this can all be, and we’re here to help. A cornerstone of the Empire experience is the knowledge and guidance we provide along the entire journey. Schedule your Free In-Home Estimate today to learn more about the ideal kitchen flooring for your home.

The post Kitchen Flooring: What to Consider When Planning a Renovation appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

1. Waterproof Vinyl Plank flooring

Vinyl plank flooring is one of the top-requested waterproof floors available today because homeowners can enjoy a natural wood look without the maintenance worries. Vinyl planks are softer, too, for added comfort, noise reduction and they’re a cost-effective option as well. They’re especially popular in kitchens, bathrooms, and hallways, but many homeowners will go all out and use it in bedrooms and beyond.

This popular option can easily handle the spills, resist scratches and can look fresh and new in high-traffic areas for years. Pet owners love them, too! Vinyl planks can be installed on a variety of sub-floors, including concrete slabs. They come in wider planks, usually between four and eight inches, for a modern look, too.

Product: Grand Junction; Style: Aspen

2. Waterproof Laminate Flooring

Wood laminate flooring has been popular for a long time, and, like vinyl plank, offer a realistic wood look for a fraction of the cost. While vinyl plank has been at the forefront for waterproof wood-look flooring options for a while, there are waterproof laminate wood options that are great at handling big spills. These tough laminates look more like real wood than ever, and they’re a great long-term investment for any home.

Laminates, in general, are also popular for the wide range of colors and wood-grain types they offer. Waterproof laminates are no exception. You can find everything from unique grays and whites to natural traditional colors, and just about any other style or color you can imagine.

3. Waterproof Vinyl Tile

Vinyl tile is a more affordable option than authentic wood, stone, and ceramic tile and is almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing.

Just like vinyl planks, vinyl tile is softer for added comfort and warmth. It’s UV resistant, easily handles moisture and is attractive to those wanting all the beauty at the right price. These features combined with waterproof capabilities makes vinyl tile a fantastic option for your home.

Water-Resistant Flooring vs Waterproof Flooring Options

With so many features available for flooring, it’s easy to be confused. But you want to make sure you have the proper knowledge when searching for flooring that can handle moisture and spills. The biggest thing for you to know is the difference between water-resistant and waterproof flooring options. What’s the dividing factor?

Well, water-resistant flooring does as the name suggests: it “resists” water penetration to a certain extent, but not completely. A water-resistant floor works for topical exposures that are quickly wiped up and allowed to dry. A truly waterproof floor is impermeable to liquid. Naturally, if you’re expecting water “proof” but only get a water “resistant” product, you might be disappointed.

In the end, you have a varied range of styles, colors, and flooring types to find the perfect waterproof flooring option for your home. It’s all about preference and knowing what’s best for you. Are you more interested in durability or affordability? A wood look or a stone look? The choice is yours! What’s most important is that you have the proper installation and knowledge of whatever flooring you choose!

The post Best Waterproof Flooring Options appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

Flooring Type: Vinyl Plank

Product/Color: Vallette—Acacia Samba Brown

Rooms: Dining Room, Kitchen, Living Room

Vallette vinyl plank flooring can be perfect in any room. It mimics the natural look of hardwood while being durable and 100% waterproof. That’s right, Vallette lets you have a modern wood look even in moisture-prone rooms. This California homeowner knew this 100% waterproof vinyl plank flooring would be perfect for their living room, dining room, and kitchen. They got it in the Acacia Samba Brown color for a warm, natural aesthetic.

With low-maintenance and realistic hardwood looks, this vinyl plank gave the homeowner the best of both worlds. The team did an excellent job with the installation, and the home looks nothing short of amazing!

Let Empire Today give you a durable wood look for your home! 

The post Vinyl Plank Flooring Gives Kitchen a Waterproof Wood Look appeared first on Empire Today Blog.