April 8, 2020

How to Protect Your Vinyl Flooring From Getting Dented and Damaged

There are so many different types of flooring to consider. How do you know what’s right for your home?

Even if you’ve decided to go with vinyl flooring, you have three more options to choose from — 

Luxury vinyl plank (LVP), Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) and Standard Vinyl.

Now before you read any further, if you’re stuck on deciding what floor type is best for your home and family, we recommend quickly reading the following: 

 

In each article, we explain the pros and cons of each floor type in the simplest and easiest form to read, as well as provide the most suitable applications and environments.

We also include what the average cost of each floor type per square metre is to help you factor in your budget.

If you’re decided, let’s get back to the matter at hand.

Will heavy objects cause dents in vinyl flooring? The short answer is yes. 

However, there are numerous prevention measures you can take to help protect your vinyl flooring and keep it looking great for longer.

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Can you put heavy appliances and furniture directly onto vinyl floors?

You may have heard or read somewhere that mentioned you can’t put vinyl under heavy appliances such as fridges or washers, or kitchen cabinets. Well if they were referring to click-lock installation vinyl, they weren’t wrong.

Click-lock Vinyl Plank Flooring

Click-lock vinyl plank flooring is considered a floating floor, which is installed on top of a subfloor and connected solely by a locking system. This allows for the floor to expand and contract with temperature changes. 

Placing heavy appliances on top of click-lock vinyl will inhibit the floor from expanding and contracting, resulting in buckling and damaging the locking systems.

Heavy furniture on the other hand, is perfectly fine to place on top of this type of vinyl. Just make sure you fit your furniture with protective padding (floor protectors), which helps distribute the weight of heavier items and prevents dents.

Glue-down Vinyl Plank Flooring

As for glue-down vinyl plank flooring, it is perfectly fine to install under cabinets as there isn’t a need for the vinyl to expand and contract. The same prevention methods for click-lock vinyl with heavy furniture can be applied to glue-down vinyl planks, using floor protectors.

 

TIP: How to protect your vinyl when moving heavy furniture and appliances.

If you do intend to move heavy furniture or appliances around, we strongly recommend lifting them. Attempting to drag heavy items at the minimum, will most likely leave a scuff mark, or worse, tear your floor. 

If it’s too heavy to lift, you can try adding a protective layer over your vinyl such as wooden boards, carpet or bed sheets and then dragging it over to move it. The protective layer helps distribute the weight and avoids sharp edges scratching or tearing the floor.

 

Can you use rolling desk chairs or rolling casters on luxury vinyl floors

Even with a protective wear layer, over time, rolling desk chairs or desks with little wheels at the bottom can cause wear and tear and damage your vinyl flooring. 

Quite often, these tiny wheels leave a small floor print, especially if the weight of a person is applied and leave behind a small dent. Daily movement will eventually cut into your flooring and tear the vinyl.

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t use any furniture that has wheels entirely. The easiest way to protect your vinyl flooring is to place either a rug or a PVC chair mat underneath the seating area at your desk. 

You can also try fitting chairs with felt tips, or simply avoid buying chairs and desks with wheels.

 

How to get the most out of your vinyl flooring

Exercising care when lifting heavy appliances and furniture will ensure your vinyl flooring stays in good shape for years to come. But if you truly want to get the most out of your vinyl and keep it looking immaculate and spectacular it needs regular cleaning and maintenance.

Now for those of you who just sighed, you can relax. Vinyl flooring is low maintenance and one of the easiest floors to clean. 

Check out our quick and easy guide on how to clean and maintain your Luxury Vinyl Floors to keep it looking beautiful all year round.

 

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