Does any of this sound familiar?
"Hardwood is just too valuable to cover over and not refinish!"
"Hardwood floors are classic and always the best route."
"You’re going to destroy your hardwood floor if you cover it"
"Nothing matches real hardwood floors"
It may be perfectly OK to cover your hardwood floor with LVP
There are many reasons someone may want to cover a hardwood floor in their home. The current hardwood floor could be structurally sound but in need of heavy refinishing that’s either cost or time prohibitive. The color, pattern, size, species, or other characteristic of the existing wood floor could be unattractive to the current owner. The process of refinishing a hardwood floor is not conducive to a home already lived in requiring heavy sanding, harsh and caustic chemicals, and extended time when you cannot stay in the home. Hardwood flooring comes in many grades and levels of quality. If the wood floor in your home is thin or is a lower quality engineered hardwood, there may not be much of anything to sand and finish. If you are someone who tries to DIY it all then taking on a project to lay new vinyl floors is much wiser than doing your own refinishing.
Why would you want to cover hardwood with vinyl?
Whatever your specific reason is for wanting to cover your hardwood floors with vinyl planks, rest assured this is far more common than you may think. When people add up all of the benefits of going over existing flooring with vinyl planks or tiles it becomes tough to disagree.
Maybe…
- The wood floor doesn’t look how you want it to
- The refinishing cost or process is putting you off
- The floor is cheaper hardwood or can’t be refinished anymore
- The planks are too small, skinny, or wide vs the look you want
- You like to change your style and color more often
- You want to cover the wood floor and refinish in the future
- The floor you want would never be affordable using real wood
- You love your dog and don’t want to strain your relationship over wood floor damage
- You don’t want to yell at everyone to be careful on your precious hardwood floors all the time
Why would you want to cover hardwood with vinyl?
Whatever your specific reason is for wanting to cover your hardwood floors with vinyl planks, rest assured this is far more common than you may think. When people add up all of the benefits of going over existing flooring with vinyl planks or tiles it becomes tough to disagree.
Maybe…
- The wood floor doesn’t look how you want it to
- The refinishing cost or process is putting you off
- The floor is cheaper hardwood or can’t be refinished anymore
- The planks are too small, skinny, or wide vs the look you want
- You like to change your style and color more often
- You want to cover the wood floor and refinish in the future
- The floor you want would never be affordable using real wood
- You love your dog and don’t want to strain your relationship over wood floor damage
- You don’t want to yell at everyone to be careful on your precious hardwood floors all the time
- It can be cheaper to go right over your wood flooring with vinyl plank than to refinish
- It will be much faster to install new LVP than to redo existing wood flooring in most circumstances
- You can get a wood or stone look in vinyl flooring that you might otherwise never be able to afford. Rigid core vinyl planks today are high definition and super realistic.
- Vinyl planks on top of existing wood flooring is not likely to cause any damage that refinishing later wouldn’t fix. Vinyl plank flooring can be a temporary solution or stay in place for the life of your home
- Installing LVP is very DIY friendly whereas refinishing a hardwood floor is better left to very experienced pros.
What happens to the hardwood if I go over it with vinyl?
Covering your wood floor with vinyl planks may not significantly change its condition over time. If you have large spills or more significant mishaps on the vinyl you should consider pulling up the planks to make sure moisture is not trapped between the two floors. Any moisture that passes through the vinyl plank connections and settles beneath the planks will have a negative effect on the wood floor beneath. Check that your individual wood flooring installation and moisture conditions are appropriate and safe before proceeding. Covering wood flooring with pent up moisture can cause serious issues. Always consult a professional installer before covering hardwood floors.
Am I crazy for covering my hardwood floors?
Its not crazy to cover hardwood floors that need a lot of work with vinyl plank. If you like the new floor, how it revitalizes your home, and the lower effort to make it happen, you are likely making the right call.
Now that you’ve made up your mind to cover that old wood floor you should take a look at Allure luxury vinyl by HMTX. ShopHMTX.com has unique rigid core flooring designs you won’t find anywhere else.
Installing Your Floor
