If you have been looking into the possibility of getting new flooring for your home or business, chances are that you have heard a lot about luxury vinyl or WPC (wood plastic composite or waterproof core, depending who you talk to) and, now, SPC (stone-polymer composite).

Vinyl is definitely an extremely popular choice, but before you dive headfirst into putting a wood or stone look vinyl into your home, Shirley Pai Hilton of Kahala Floors highly recommends that you take a few minutes to weigh out your choices, especially with regard to total cost. Flooring and installation, after all, are not inexpensive.

Advertisement

Hilton explained that at the Kahala Floors showroom, there are dozens of vinyl selections that give you the look of real wood or real stone and tile. Both the real stuff and the vinyl offer many different attractive looks, and you can probably find something in either material that will make you happy from a design perspective. However, they will definitely feel quite different to the touch, and they will also feel and sound different as you walk on them. Also note that wood is much more environmentally friendly than vinyl.

As far as durability goes, although wood flooring does scratch, so does vinyl. The big thing here is that you can refinish the wood flooring several times, making it a lifetime product, and you cannot do that with the vinyl. Conversely, the main advantage that vinyl has over wood is that it is usually waterproof and not as susceptible to moisture. However, there is no such thing as a flood-proof floor. While the material itself may be waterproof, a big enough leak will result in water under your vinyl and you will have to pull it out to clean things up.

Hilton says that if you are looking at wood, the majority of customers these days are using engineered wood flooring due to stability and easier installation. You can use the floating method of installation for most engineered woods and it is the same for most vinyls. Therefore, although vinyl flooring in her store costs about 25% less than the Kahala Floors lines of engineered woods, the installation costs are identical. After careful analysis, many of her customers have been pleasantly surprised to find that by spending just a little bit more, they can have their true desire — a high-quality wood floor, instead of their original vinyl selection.

Advertisement

To learn more and help you in your product research, attend Kahala Floors’ seminar, Great Flooring 101, which will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 19 at its showroom. All attendees enjoy refreshments, receive a great education, and a special exclusive discount on their flooring and installation.

KAHALA FLOORS
CONTACT 808-847-7711
ADDRESS 1540 S. King St. Ste. A, Honolulu