When it comes to choosing your new flooring product, the most common thought becomes vinyl tiles vs ceramic or porcelain tiles, as to which is better, more affordable and more durable. It’s only natural to compare these two products because ceramic or porcelain tiles have been around longer and are more common.
Vinyl flooring seems to be a fairly new product to many; but in all honesty, it has been in existence for several decades. However, it was previously made in boring solid colour shades. Thanks to technological advancement, the current generation of vinyl flooring comes in various vibrant modern colour shades and patterns that mimic wood and stone flooring.
What is vinyl flooring?
Vinyl tiles or vinyl flooring is a type of multi-layered synthetic flooring made from plastic materials like PVC (polyvinyl chloride) & SPC (stone plastic composite). Vinyl flooring typically comes in planks, tiles or sheets that can then be assembled. A core layer, potentially with an underlay or backing, makes up the bulk of the vinyl. Over this is an image layer, which can mimic a multitude of materials, including wood and stone flooring. A top wear layer of varying thickness protects the sub-layers from damage.
Why Vinyl is the ultimate flooring choice
- Resilience
Vinyl flooring is known for being resilient. This means that most vinyl flooring is water-resistant and requires very low maintenance, with long-lasting durability. Because of the wear layer, vinyl flooring will usually not stain and can survive plenty of wear and tear, which makes it a good option for any high traffic areas. MODERN FLOORS® manufactures 100 percent waterproof vinyl floors.
- Non-slippery
Have you ever slipped or felt ceramic or porcelain tiles was slippery, I bet your answer is “Yes, all the time”… Worse off, for rooms that use air conditioning, you notice it more. This is a big hazard since the worst case of a fall can sometimes be fatal. MODERN FLOORS® Vinyl Flooring is embossed on the surface, which not only gives it a natural feel, but also renders it anti-slippery.
- Comfortable & sound proof
Compared to ceramic and porcelain flooring, vinyl flooring has a ‘softer’ and more ‘padded’ feeling underfoot, which I like to call the orthopaedic feel, thanks to its layered composition. This property makes it a safer choice when you have toddlers who crawl. It also absorbs the shock and damage when a valuable item falls on the floor. These layers also insulate and help the floor maintain a consistent temperature no matter the season. Vinyl also has sound-proofing qualities, which serve to reduce both noise and echo in any room.
- Quick installation
On average, it takes just a day for a team of vinyl flooring installers to cover an area of 100sqm or more. This same area coverage, when using ceramic and porcelain flooring, can take up to 14 days. This is because vinyl flooring uses an adhesive in the case of dry back; and when installing click-lock vinyl tiles, no adhesive is required. In comparison to ceramic or porcelain, Portland cement and tile cement are mixed, applied, and set – consuming time. The cutting of stone flooring also requires the use of mechanical or electric power while regular utility cutting blades are used in vinyl flooring.
- Easy replacement
Have you ever tried to have ceramic and porcelain flooring removed? If yes, you will know it’s a very tedious procedure where the floor has to be hacked and broken. It takes a lot of time, and the process of breaking the floor poses a structural integrity risk to the entire building. When vinyl flooring has to be replaced, it only requires lifting the tiles with a flat surface tool, such as a scrapper and replacing – very simple and easy.
- Installation over existing surfaces
Did you know vinyl flooring can be installed directly on top of existing surfaces, such as regular tiles, broken tiles, terrazzo, wooden floors as well as smooth-screeded cemented floors? Now you know!!!
- Improves building structural integrity and lifespan
A square metre of 2mm vinyl tiles weighs approximately 4kg, whereas the same for ceramic and porcelain flooring weighs 15kg, which is almost 4 times more. Now imagine covering your 1st floor of 500sqm, vinyl flooring will only add 2 tonnes of weight, when ceramic and porcelain flooring will put a whopping 7.5 tonnes of weight on the floor. Scary, right? Now imagine you have more than one floor, are you doing the calculation?
- Easy to clean & maintain
The same wear layer mentioned earlier, when we spoke about vinyl flooring being resilient, is also the reason why it easier to clean and maintain. If you have ever had a certificate laminated, you will bear witness to the fact that if it stains, just a normal cloth wipe will remove the stain; the top wear layer of the vinyl tile is similar to that, hence, making cleaning very easy and cost/time saving. You do not need a soapy detergent as this will rather cause the surface to turn white; dry mopping once or twice a week and sweeping daily is recommended. In the instance of a stubborn stain, warm water with added vinegar will do the job.
- Affordable
Affordability can be a relative argument depending on the quality of ceramic and porcelain flooring being compared to vinyl flooring. However, an average quality stone flooring product costs at least 50 percent more than equal quality vinyl flooring. Vinyl flooring wins the affordability conversation hands-down when it comes to materials used during installation, those we captured above in point 4 when we spoke about “Quick Installation”. There’s a popular saying that “time is money” this principle applies in favour of vinyl flooring because labour cost will most likely be lower than ceramic and porcelain flooring, and it takes way shorter installation time – benefitting people who are building or renovating on budget.
- Positive customer reviews
Over the past 5 years, we have received consistent positive feedback from our clients regarding vinyl flooring. Many express their delight in trying something new for their homes and are amazed by the remarkable transformation it brings to their space.
Conclusion
Bottom line, if you are looking for a waterproof, non-slippery, durable flooring that is comfortable to walk on, easy to install and requires little maintenance, then vinyl flooring is your answer. However, vinyl flooring is not the longest-lasting flooring option because it can last 10 to 25 years depending on the wear layer thickness, the material used to manufacture and the traffic on the surface.
>>>the writer is CEO of MODERN FLOORS®️ Ghana, UAE, UK & USA. MODERN FLOORS®️ is a UK trademarked flooring brand which wholesales & retails the Best Quality Affordable Artificial Carpet Grass , AstroTurf , Vinyl(PVC/SPC) Tiles(LVT) , Carpet Tiles , Adhesives and other indoor and outdoor flooring products used for both residential & commercial spaces.
The worldwide recognised flooring brand has been operating for nearly five years in Ghana with four showroom locations in Spintex Road (Flower Pot), East Legon (Okponglo Junction), Weija (Broadcasting Taxi Rank) and Tema-Ashaiman (Toll Booth) all in the Greater Accra Region. For more information about Vinyl Flooring visit Modern Floors official website: www.modernfloorsghana.com
