Luxury Vinyl Plank Wear Layer

Choose a wear layer of 10 mil 0 01 in or more for most family areas.

Luxury vinyl plank wear layer. Before we take a look at wear layers or the overall thickness of a plank or tile it s important to understand what luxury vinyl is and how it s made. The wear layer is urethane with ceramic beads for toughness. The wear layer for vinyl flooring is the top coat that provides durability and resistance. I know you are all excited about the wear layer so i will cover that first.

It is considered an entry level or builders grade flooring. Wear layers of many luxury vinyl floors are composed at least in part of pvc. It is a transparent coating covering the top of your floor s visual or pretty picture as i like to call it. The level of wear on a vinyl plank is measured in mil one thousandth of an inch a mil is not the same as a millimeter as roughly 40 mil equals 1 0 mm 39 4 mil to 1 mm to be exact.

The composition of the wear layer. What the luxury vinyl wear layer does is protect your floors from scratching and denting keeping them looking their best for a lot longer. Bestlaminate blog a helpful resource for your laminate vinyl and hardwood flooring projects. Since luxury vinyl s quality is often based on its thickness you ll find that shaw s luxury vinyl plank flooring lines are all at least 5 mm thick or about 0 197 of an inch thick.

But still 6 mils which is 06 inches is pretty thin. Unlike traditional vinyl this style of flooring is comprised of layers which always include a core vinyl top layer and wear layer. Luxury vinyl wear layers. You can find vinyl planks with wear layers starting at as little as 2 mil 0 002 in but these will wear out quickly.

A thicker layer is more resistant to scratching and denting. Additionally shaw s wear layers are a full 20 mil thick or about 0 02 of an inch thick. Planks with a wear layer of 10 mil 0 01 in are considered to be appropriately durable for use in moderate to high traffic areas of your home. Better quality flooring tends to have the highest wear layers but is more expensive.

Shop luxury vinyl planks. If not then it might not be as high quality as it claims. Learn more about the wear layer of vinyl in this article. Luxury vinyl flooring construction.

The wear layer is simply an extra layer of protection placed between the printed design of your vinyl plank or tile flooring material and the protective finish that goes on the very top. Some manufacturers incorporate additives into the wear layer including aluminum oxide nylon or ceramic beads and claim to provide extra protection against scratches. This is typically made from a urethane based protective coating. 6 mils wear layer.

Its warranty is lifetime for residential and 5 years for commercial use.