Buyer's Guide

Luxury vinyl plank, explained properly.

What LVP actually is, how to read a spec sheet, and how to tell a floor that lasts twenty years from one that looks tired in three.

Luxury vinyl plank flooring installed in a modern room — Fallen Leaf, Mohawk SolidTech Discovery Ridge, from Advanced Flooring in Kitchener-Waterloo

What is luxury vinyl plank?

Luxury vinyl plank is a multi-layer floor built to look like wood and behave like plastic — in the good sense. A high-resolution photographic film of real timber sits under a clear, tough wear layer, all of it pressed onto a rigid or flexible core. It comes in planks, it clicks or glues down, and unlike real wood it does not care about water.

"Luxury" is a marketing word, not a grade. What actually separates a good LVP from a bad one is three numbers: the wear layer thickness, the core type, and the overall plank thickness. Everything else is finish and taste.

The acronyms, once and for all
LVP — luxury vinyl plank. Long and narrow. Looks like wood.
LVT — luxury vinyl tile. Square or rectangular. Looks like stone or ceramic.
SPC — stone-plastic composite. A dense, rigid core. Most common today.
WPC — wood-plastic composite. A rigid but softer, warmer core.
Rigid core — umbrella term covering both SPC and WPC.

How a plank is built, top to bottom

Layer 1
UV-cured urethane coat
A microscopically thin top finish. It handles stains and makes the floor easy to mop. It is not what stops scratches.
Layer 2
Wear layer
Clear vinyl, measured in mils. This is what stops scratches. The single most important number on the box.
Layer 3
Decorative print film
The photograph of the wood. Better floors use more unique plank images, so the pattern doesn't visibly repeat across a room.
Layer 4
Core
The body of the plank. Determines stability, dent resistance, sound and how forgiving it is over an imperfect subfloor.
Layer 5
Attached underlay (IXPE or cork)
Not on every floor. Adds quiet and a softer step, and saves you buying a separate roll of underlay.

The wear layer: the number that decides how long the floor lasts

Measured in mils (one mil = one thousandth of an inch). Do not confuse it with millimetres — a 20 mil wear layer is 0.5 mm. If a listing quotes overall thickness but hides the wear layer, that's usually because the wear layer is thin.

Wear layer Where it belongs Realistic life
6 mil Rentals, quick flips, closets. Big-box entry level. 3–5 years
12 mil Low-traffic residential. Bedrooms, spare rooms. 5–10 years
20 mil The residential sweet spot. Kids, dogs, kitchens, whole-home. Also rated light commercial. 15–20+ years
22–28 mil Retail, offices, clinics, salons, rental turnover. 20+ years commercial
30 mil + Heavy commercial, hospitality, high-traffic public space. Spec-driven
Rule of thumb: if you have a dog, do not go below 20 mil. Nail scratches on a 12 mil floor show up in the entry hall within a year, and there is no sanding a vinyl floor back.

Core types: SPC vs WPC vs flexible

SPC (stone core) WPC (wood core) Flexible / glue-down
Feel underfoot Firm, solid, cool Softer, warmer, more give Firm — you feel the subfloor
Dent resistance Excellent Good, but softer under point loads Excellent (fully bonded)
Heat / sun stability Very stable — best for sunrooms and big windows Expands more with temperature swings Very stable once glued
Hides subfloor flaws Somewhat Best of the three No — telegraphs everything
Waterproof Yes Yes Yes
Best for Most homes. The default choice. Comfort-first rooms; older, wavier subfloors. Commercial, heavy rolling loads, large open spans.

A note on laminate, since it gets compared constantly: laminate has a wood-fibre core. It is harder and often photographs beautifully, but its core swells if water sits on a seam. LVP does not. In a basement, a kitchen, or a house with a dishwasher, that difference is the whole argument. Read the laminate guide →

Three ways it goes down

Floating click-lock

Planks lock edge to edge and rest on the subfloor — nothing is fastened down. Fast, clean, and the floor can be lifted later.

Needs: a flat subfloor (within 3/16" over 10 ft) and a 1/4" expansion gap at every wall.
Glue-down

Fully bonded to the subfloor with adhesive. The most stable option, and the standard for commercial work and very large open areas.

Needs: a genuinely flat, clean, dry subfloor. Prep is most of the job.
Loose lay

Heavy planks with a high-friction backing that hold position by weight, often with a perimeter tack. Easy to swap a damaged plank.

Needs: stable room temperature; not ideal under heavy rolling loads.
Order 7–10% extra. Cuts, waste, angled rooms and the odd damaged plank all eat material — and dye lots change between production runs, so a top-up box bought six months later may not match.

Where LVP works — and where it doesn't

Kitchens & baths
Waterproof by construction, not by coating.
Basements & below grade
Goes over concrete where hardwood can't.
Living & bedrooms
Quiet underfoot with an attached pad.
Light commercial
Offices, clinics, retail — with 20 mil or better.
Be careful in these cases
Unheated four-season rooms and sunrooms. Big temperature swings move any floating floor. Choose SPC, leave a generous expansion gap, or glue it down.
Direct, intense sun on a dark plank. Prolonged UV can fade or, in extreme cases, distort. Blinds and a UV-stable product solve it.
Very uneven subfloors. LVP is thin. It does not level a floor — it follows it. Levelling compound is not an upsell, it's the job.
Heavy point loads. Pianos, gun safes, appliance feet. Use load-spreading pads, not felt discs.

Reading a spec sheet

Wear layer (mil) Thickness of the clear protective top layer. 20 mil is the residential benchmark.
Overall thickness (mm) Plank body, sometimes quoted with the attached pad included. 5–8 mm is typical for rigid core. Thicker feels more solid but says nothing about durability.
EIR Embossed in register — the surface texture lines up with the printed grain. This is the difference between a floor that reads as wood and one that reads as vinyl.
Bevel Micro-bevel, painted bevel or square edge. Bevels define each plank and hide small subfloor variation.
Coverage per box (sq ft) How the floor is sold and quoted. Divide your area by this, then add 7–10% waste, then round up to whole boxes.
FloorScore® / GREENGUARD Indoor air quality certification. Worth having, especially in bedrooms and nurseries.
Radiant heat rating Most rigid-core LVP is compatible up to about 85°F (29°C) at the floor surface. Exceeding it voids warranties.
Warranty Read what it actually covers: wear-through and manufacturing defects, generally — not scratches, dents, or damage from an out-of-spec subfloor.

Keeping it looking new

✓  Sweep or vacuum on hard-floor mode. Grit is what dulls a finish, not water.
✓  Damp-mop with a pH-neutral cleaner. LVP is waterproof, but pooling water can still creep under edges.
✓  Felt pads under every chair and table leg. Replace them yearly — they collect grit and turn into sandpaper.
✗  No steam mops. Heat and pressure attack the seams and the adhesive.
✗  No wax, polish, or abrasive scrubbers. The finish is engineered — leave it alone.

Common questions

Is LVP really waterproof, or just water-resistant?
The plank itself is genuinely waterproof — the core will not swell. The installation is water-resistant: water can still travel through seams to the subfloor and sit there. Wipe up standing water, and seal around tubs and toilets.
Can I install it over my existing floor?
Often, yes — over tile, sheet vinyl, plywood or concrete, provided the surface is flat, sound and dry. Not over carpet, and not over a floor that's already loose or cupped.
Does it add to home value like hardwood?
Not the way solid hardwood does. But in basements, kitchens and rentals — places hardwood shouldn't go anyway — a well-chosen 20 mil LVP shows better at resale than tired laminate or carpet, at a fraction of the cost.
Can a scratched plank be replaced?
On a glue-down or loose-lay floor, yes — individually. On a click-lock floor you generally have to unlock back to it from the nearest wall, or cut the plank out and glue in a replacement. Keep a spare box.
Does it need to acclimate?
Most rigid-core products want 24–48 hours in the room at normal living temperature. Skipping it is the most common cause of gapping and peaking a month after install.
How much do I need?
Room length × width in feet = square footage. Add 7–10% for waste (more for diagonal layouts or lots of angles). Divide by the box coverage and round up. We'll do this for you on a quote — including transitions, trim and underlay.

Still not sure which floor is right?

Tell us the room, the traffic and the subfloor. We'll narrow it to two or three products, send samples, and quote supply-and-install.

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