The wife and I have found a luxury vinyl style that we really like and plan to put into our Master Bedroom. Vinyl advertises that it is water proof, but because it is slightly more flexible than tile I question its ability to not break open caulk seams in a bathroom (i.e. right next to the shower). This is the 2nd story as well, meaning the sub floor may have slightly more give/flex than if it were on a concrete foundation.

Does anyone have any experience on vinyl flooring in a bathroom?

Also considering vinyl to replace tile in an upcoming bathroom remodel.

Your caulk is also flexible.

Vinyl is used in bathrooms and other wet areas all the time - I wouldn't be concerned about it.

Are you installing yourself? If you're having it installed professionally, you can always ask for your installer's thoughts regarding the specific product you're looking at.

I've been considering doing this through my whole rental. Agent says to do it in the bathrooms too but I keep going back and forth between this and a tile. Interested to see how yours turns out!

I am considering doing this myself as I have done a lot of work around the house (painting, custom moulding, baseboards, etc.), but not flooring yet. Is vinyl extremely easy to install? Lay base layer, cut vinyl to fit (if needed), and snap into place? It would definitely save us a lot of money.

Are you doing vinyl tile or plank? We did a luxury vinyl in our old house right after my wife and I got married. Was extremely easy to put down and we grouted it. Have occasionally regretted not going to full tile but it was extremely cost effective when we were dedicated to paying off a lot of expenses and the only regrets were that the styles a few years back aren't as good as the ones available now.

I have it in every room of two of my rentals, about 3200 sf total. I haven't had an issue in the 2.5 years since I put it in the first house that is pier and beam and was built in 1956. They have dog and I havent noticed any horrible scratches.

Recently bought a new build and all the wet areas have the luxury vinyl. We really like it - looks great and is actually really nice to not have the wet slippery tile we've been used to.

aezmvp said:

---

Are you doing vinyl tile or plank? We did a luxury vinyl in our old house right after my wife and I got married. Was extremely easy to put down and we grouted it. Have occasionally regretted not going to full tile but it was extremely cost effective when we were dedicated to paying off a lot of expenses and the only regrets were that the styles a few years back aren't as good as the ones available now.

---

We are planning to do planks.

stridulent said:

---

aezmvp said:

---

Are you doing vinyl tile or plank? We did a luxury vinyl in our old house right after my wife and I got married. Was extremely easy to put down and we grouted it. Have occasionally regretted not going to full tile but it was extremely cost effective when we were dedicated to paying off a lot of expenses and the only regrets were that the styles a few years back aren't as good as the ones available now.

---

We are planning to do planks.

---

Those are great. I'd really encourage you to look at these. I've thought about tearing out the stuff we put in and redoing this but the time/benefit to doing it right before moving is probably low.

I don't know what constitutes 'luxury' vinyl, but we built in 2013, and decided to put vinyl in all our bathrooms. It's way different than the stuff I remember in the 80s. This stuff is thick as hell, probably like 4 mils? It's heavy, and it doesn't even require adhesive, this stuff is literally laid on the floor, then base molding or cabinet toe molding holds the edges in place, and it's caulked up against bath/shower.

It has texture to it; the grout lines are recessed, and the 'tile' portion has grains and bumps like a real tile. We chose it because it doesn't get cold like tile (we're in denver). I love it, it is 100% maintenance free. We have literally done absolutely nothing to our bathroom floors in 4 years now, and they look brand new. The caulk around the shower and tub areas I'm sure will need to be redone at some point, but so far it all looks solid. Our kids bath gets water all over the floor, and we don't even towel it up..

The vinyl we have is one solid sheet. There are no seams anywhere in any bathroom. Even in our kids bathroom, the sink area is the same piece as the toilet/bath area, which is a separate room. It would be really hard to cut that piece, in my opinion.

I had a few large scrap pieces that we put down in basement, and used a box cutter to cut, and doing it by freehand is definitely risky.. that blade very quickly and easily gets of course and will cut a big 4" slice. You have to use a straight edge.

Satellite of Love said:

---

I don't think I have every seen luxury and vinyl floor used in conjunction, ever. Not to derail the thread, but that gave me a chuckle.

---

Same. I keep picturing the poorly laid super thin, crappy, ugly as sin vinyl "tiles" my parents installed 15 years ago.

Turrible.

It is getting pretty common in commercial situations it would surprise me if you hadn't walked on it and just weren't aware.

OP, in your situation vinyl is preferable because it will flex. Ceramic or porcelain tile is very hard and will crack and break before it flexes. As previously pointed out, caulk will flex - as it is supposed to. That is why you use it when sealing up the gap between different planes or materials that expand/contract at different rates.

If you are worried about movement and used a ceramic/porcelain tile, you would need a decoupling layer such as Kerdi Ditra. That just adds extra cost and labor. Since you are good with vinyl, go for it.

Shop around find something you like and put it in. That stuff has come a long way. As AggieGunslinger said, you have most likely walked in it in the past and did not realize it.

Thank you all for the responses. We are going to move forward on installing the vinyl planks in the master bed and bath. Does anyone have an underlayment they'd recommend?

another question to tag onto the thread is.

As far as it goes selling the house, which would help the price more, wood look vinyl planks or wood look tile planks.

I see vinyl, I think linoleum.

I realize they aren't the same, but a bad install or finishing of the job makes me think that.

Depends on the price of the house. I am clearly an advocate of LVT but if I was going to drop 300k on a house in my area I wouldn't want to see it.

That's sort of what I was thinking. Bought my house for 365 and now nicer redone ones in the neighborhood are going for 500.

Can't do wood floors because there's not really enough height. Would have to move all the doors up as well. Right now the floors are tile on slab.

stridulent said:

---

Thank you all for the responses. We are going to move forward on installing the vinyl planks in the master bed and bath. Does anyone have an underlayment they'd recommend?

---

Post pics after the install. I have a pier & beam house and the tile in our kitchen and master bath has cracked. I hadn't heard of this before, but it seems like it would work out pretty well for us

We have Coretec in our kitchen and mudroom. 1964 pier and beam house. Stuff is pricey but worth it. No scraches, nothing.

I would assume that when most people say luxury vinyl they are speaking of vinyl plank. Its an awesome product that works well in high-use environments or in environments with low maintenance.

We have it in our office and its great. Many hotels are also using it. We then also install it in the low-income housing we build. The maintenance / warranty by far outweighs any incremental costs.

Regarding sales price and use of vinyl planks - I have seen it used in homes routinely selling for north of $400k.

Part of the low income housing we built was on 15'-20' pilings on the coast. The vinyl plank is basically the perfect solution for a foundation that is somewhat "flexible".

Many installations indicate the planks can be laid without glue. This is dumb and I would never install without glue.