Vinyl Flooring In Cold Weather

Our three season cabin is on the north shore of lake michigan in the upper peninsula of michigan.

Vinyl flooring in cold weather.

Vinyl plank flooring is engineered to look like wood but doesn t expand and contract as oak or maple would. In the colder weather the opposite is true and the floor can contract leaving gaps between two of the tiles. That is one of the reasons why you should use insulation for this particular type of floor. A material that provides all the benefits of carpet but with increased durability is vinyl plank flooring.

We are now finishing an 18x18 foot addition that has a crawl space underneath. This will also keep your feet warm during those cold winter months. But as vinyl is a thinner material installed directly on concrete it may be hard and cold. One of the major causes of buckling in vinyl plank flooring is expansion and contraction of the material.

However you ll need to take some precautions. The big temperature swings will shorten the life of the vinyl of any non stone tile floor. As the material becomes warmer it can expand slightly causing the floor to buckle. I would expect 7 10 years out of a floating vinyl floor.

While solid hardwood is as warm as engineered hardwood it s prone to shrinking in the cold and expanding during warm weather. It is perhaps the best choice for cold climates because it is durable waterproof stylish and has insulating properties. Poor quality vinyl improperly installed is like poor quality wood and poor quality ceramic poorly installed. Using a thermal underlay is a good choice.

At the end of the day vinyl plank flooring is a good choice for cold temperatures. Hardwood will stay warmest in newer well insulated homes. If your home is drafty the cool air will make your hardwood floor cold as well. The cold winters will probably be too much for an adhesive to deal with.

Though vinyl floors are near perfect for all kinds of weather conditions they may not be a good option for those cold winter months. As solid hardwood changes it can become warped or develop cupping. We would like to install some type of hardwood or engineered hardwood on the floors but we re concerned about having no heat in the cabin through the winter months and what that might do to the flooring. Adhesives become brittle and then crumble below 40f some can get to 28f but then you are done.