We had also had LVT put in our daughter's living room and hallway before she moved back in, and within a year, it was coming apart in big sections. She wanted to put in more expensive LVT, thinking that would help, so we had the guy who does our commercial flooring go out to measure and give her a price. After he saw it, he suggested laminate because he said that rolling chairs at their computer desks were starting the problem, and it was just going from there. He said that LVT can not hold up under high foot traffic or things being pushed or rolled over them, like in an office or dining room and laminate was about the same price of the vinyl she wanted.
He said with rolling chairs that the only way to save it is with those clear mats under the chair, like those used with carpet.
With that said, we have laminate in the game room. I put my desk and sewing table in there, and there is one spot where the corner of the laminate has caught, and the edge is getting ragged from rolling my chair over it. It is going to have to be replaced; luckily, it is near the edge.
The flooring guy's recommendations were:
1) wood flooring
2) engineered wood flooring that is nailed or glued down, not floating
3)laminate, with a liner under it, but the floating can come apart in some circumstances
4) commercial LVT that is glued down
5)LVT if it has very little traffic or you are selling it quickly.
* 5-6mm plank thickness is better for durability in living rooms and kitchens (home is usually 4-6mm and commercial is 6-8mm thickness. The wear layer in residential is usually 12 mil while commercial is 20 mil) The higher numbers you can afford of thickness and wear layer the better it will hold up.
Vinyl flooring starts tearing after some time even if you buy an expensive one.
I will say that our daughter's house has had laminate in the bedrooms for almost 20 years, with pets and children, and still looks good. It was in the hall and her friends that she rented it for 6 months, which turned into 10 years, let the AC stop up because they didn't put the pills in every month in summer, and where it backed up on the floor, it came all to pieces.
The lake house had new LVP when we bought it, but it is not used much, maybe four months if all the time people have been there was put together, and we don't have a rolling chair there, so I can't tell you if taking care of it makes it last better or not. The dining room area does have scratches from the chairs scooting, and there is a scratch in the living room where the chair scoots around when the tall boys just flop down. These are not very noticeable unless they catch the light just right.
We did have a tree go through the roof in a storm when we were not there, and of course, the floor was full of water. The next-door neighbor mopped it up the next day, and so far it is still sticking well with no buckling. As I have said before, most laminate, unless waterproof all the way through (which my mother has in her bathroom and it looks like a real wood plank in thickness and is vinyl all the way through like Trex) will come up when wet. There is a place in the kitchen where the floor is not level, which wants to stick up enough to catch the toe of a shoe occasionally. It is not noticeable to look at, but I am sure it will need to be replaced soon. Thankfully, they left a few planks in the closet.
*Both can scratch if not careful
*Both can move if they are floating
*The glue-down of either seems to work better on slab foundations or older houses that are not perfectly level.
*A rolling mat under rolling chairs helps preserve the lifetime of either vinyl plank or laminate
Often, laminate and vinyl cost about the same to buy and install, so choose what will work better in your situation. For my husband and me, either would probably be about as good.
I do know from experience that some vinyl can peel up from the floor when there is no heating or cooling on for a day or so. If you have a problem with the power going out for days, you might consider that.
I hope this helps.
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