If you thought that to get the benefits of vinyl flooring (easy to install, easy to maintain) you had to sacrifice in quality and appearance, then MultiCore waterproof vinyl plank flooring could change your mind.
The truth is that vinyl flooring has changed dramatically over the years. Vinyl flooring no longer comes in only rolls or square tiles. It’s no longer relegated to those areas of the home where things can tend to get wet.
Vinyl flooring manufacturers have innovated. Gone are the thin and flimsy planks that are fine for a workshop, laundry area or mudroom, where functionality trumps fashion.
Instead, manufacturers are now making vinyl plank flooring with rigidity and embossed surfaces that more closely resemble the look of real wood and can go anywhere in the home. Among those higher-end, no-limit options is MultiCore waterproof vinyl plank flooring.
Rigid, No-Wood Core
A lot of vinyl plank flooring at its core is still woodfiber. That means that while it’s water resistant, it’s not 100 percent waterproof.
That’s not the case here. MultiCore vinyl plank flooring is made with an extruded thermo-composite core. That makes the planks more rigid than other vinyl planks, even at a relatively thin 5mm and 6.5 mm thickness.
By removing the wood fiber, the makers of MultiCore have also removed the floor’s ability to react to humidity and the shrinking and contracting that can come with it.
This new core also makes the MultiCore extremely stable, allowing it to be installed across large spaces. It does not need the typical transition pieces between rooms that you see in more traditional laminate floors.
Easy installation
What might be the most frustrating part about laying your own plank flooring? Whether it’s real wood, vinyl, or laminate, it’s getting to the actual installation of the floor.
All you want is to start seeing the new floor go down, but first you have to make sure that the subfloor is level.
That could mean starting the installation with leveling compound or self-leveling concrete and waiting for that to set or dry. Then, you have to install an underlayment to provide cushion for the flooring.
It’s a lot of work before you can even start laying planks. Not with MultiCore vinyl flooring. MultiCore comes with a cork backing on each plank. That eliminates the need for an underlayment and also will even out uneven spots in the subfloor. No need for levelers, either.
And cork makes for a great underlayment. In addition to it being extremely hypoallergenic, cork feels soft underfoot and is great as a sound reducer. Goodbye click-clacking of hard-heeled shoes.
Also, since there’s no wood in the core of these planks there’s no need for saws. You won’t need to run back and forth to and from the garage to cut the next board needed down to the right size.
As long as you have a straight-edge and a good utility knife you can stay in the same room where you’re working and get the project done faster.
Realistic Wood Look
Used to be that with any kind of synthetic plank flooring, you were trading a real-wood look for a drastically cheaper price. While the surface may have had a wood grain appearance, that “sticker” that was on top of the core didn’t really hold up to much scrutiny.
Not any more. With new manufacturing technologies, laminates are becoming almost indistinguishable from the real thing. It’s now even possible to recreate the popular rugged, rough look in laminates.
Well, the vinyl floor manufacturers said, “We won’t be outdone” and they have worked hard to create a synthetic flooring that looks exactly like wood. MultiCore is one of those flooring lines. Using a process called embossed-in-register, MultiCore matches the ruts and ridges embossed on the vinyl layer to the grain pattern, creating a look that even some contractors are fooled by.
Variety of Size Options
MultiCore flooring comes in two grades. There is the standard MultiCore flooring product. It’s thinner, narrower plank–just 5mm thick and almost six inches wide. That’s still a good width that can answer some of your worries if coverage is a concern.
The MultiCore Premium line offers a wider and thicker board: more than 7 inches wide and 6.5 mm thick. That’s about half the thickness of a traditional higher end laminate plank, something to keep in mind when making your purchase decision.
While there are no complaints about the flooring that we could find, it tends to be accepted wisdom that a thicker vinyl plank means better soundproofing. But, then again, those traditional floors don’t typically have a cork underlayment.
Variety of Colors
The MultiCore line of floors isn’t just a study in brown, something I always like to see because it means this is flooring that could be a solution for more than the traditional design problem.
And, honestly, why aren’t there more color options in laminate flooring? The process for making an overlay shouldn’t change whether it’s a bright blue or a dark brown.
While MultiCore doesn’t dip into the blues or reds, it does come in multiple shades of gray, and in a world filled with a million different versions of brown that’s something worth noting.
Reasonable Price
Put aside the waterproofing. Put aside the woodless core. And yes, put aside how easy these vinyl plank floors are to clean maintain.
Maybe the MultiCore vinyl plank flooring’s most remarkable feature is its price relative to other LVP options. It runs between $2 and $3 a square foot, drastically cheaper than most of the high-end laminate flooring options which can run more than $5 per square foot.
Coming with that reasonable price is a lifetime warranty on residential installations. For commercial installs it’s a 15-year warranty.
Conclusion
Very few home improvement DIYers are flooring experts. There’s no need for them to be.
But if the last time you looked at vinyl floors was a couple of years ago, maybe it’s time to look at them again. With its wood-free core, cork backing, and grain-matching textures, MultiCore seems to be changing the game.
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