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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Vinyl Flooring - Naff??

45 replies

Rainydaze · 09/01/2011 21:34

We need to replace the carpet in a bathroom and the kithen floor tiles are old and chipped.

I thought vinyl seemed like a good (cheap!), practical solution, but my friend said it's really naff. Is he right?

Thank you! :)

OP posts:

Sanesometimes1 · 09/01/2011 21:54

bit naff tbh, there are loads of alernatives now, laminates specifically made for steamy areas - have a look at focus/b&Q etc.

hester · 09/01/2011 22:03

What about rubber? Is that naff too?

Is vinyl EVER ok? [Sorry to hijack, OP - I'm considering my options too!]

MrsSharp · 09/01/2011 22:06

If it was a choice between laminate and vinyl - vinyl every time. Less noise, more slip resistant, and (sorry) I think laminate is super naff!

RenniesFromHeaven · 09/01/2011 22:09

Vinyl is great. It's wipe clean, it's cheap, it's pretty, it's hygienic and doesn't warp like laminate will.

Plus you can get offcuts for a bathroom for just a few quid with a bit of negotiating at the carpet shed. And have enough left over for a bottle of wine and get another square next year.

Fab!

cece · 09/01/2011 22:14

Vinyl would be more practical. We have the suitable for bathroom laminate and it is rubbish. It has been wrecked with 3 years by splashes.

My friend has a wood look vinyl and it is very relaistic.. well I was fooled by it! I think you need to go for a good quality one.

Original poster

Rainydaze · 09/01/2011 22:31

Thanks very much everyone for your replies.

Laminate isn't really an option as the rest of the downstairs in 'proper' wood flooring, so laminate would look odd.

We're hoping to put the house on the market soon, but my friend said he'd "Run a mile" if he saw a kitchen in vinyl floor as it would look as though the house would be done on the cheap. I'm not sure he's right though as, as many of your say, it can look good and like real tiles.

Hmmmm, it must be warmer too!

OP posts:

Grockle · 09/01/2011 22:41

Good quality vinyl is fine. I bought my house in the summer and it had awful, ancient, thin ripped vinyl. Is easy to replace so didn't put me off the house.

DisparityCausesInstability · 09/01/2011 22:56

I put limestone look vinyl tiles in my old bathroom - they looked brilliant - the vinyl tiles came from Homebase, they had a great range and were really cheap - had a self adhesive which didn't work too well so I bought additional flooring glue and used that.

Very, very easy to lay and much better than laminate.

I think the people who think vinyl is naff would be surprised at the impressive range available now.

Pannacotta · 09/01/2011 22:57

I think vinyl is fine (much nicer than laminate IMHO) but do get decent quality which is not too thin, as the thin stuff rips easily, ie under kitchen chairs/tables etc.

jbond · 10/01/2011 00:00

both vinyl and (to a lesser extent) laminate are both rubbish in my opinion. when i got the new house one of the bedrooms had laminate flooring and i thought it was great but it's actually really annoying. there's no grip so everything slides around and i realised how bad it looks. with proper floor boards you don't get that! i would definitely go for the real deal.

in our kitchen we've got lovely stone flooring which didn't cost a bomb. i just went to the tile warehouse in the local industrial estate and said i was doing a buy to let and i got trade prices. got about 30% off so DH was happy.

i just got some free business cards (all you've got to pay for is postage) to 'prove' i was in the buis. perfect.

Clunge · 10/01/2011 00:03

I have vinyl in my kitchen and I detest it. If I walk in there in my boots and catch my heel on the floor it leaves lovely black marks. I dropped a teabag near the bin and it stained. It's fairly new though so can't justify replacing it just yet. I've bought a big rug to hide most of it!

PocketMouse · 10/01/2011 00:06

We have good quality vinyl in our kitchen. Without exception everybody asked about the new slate tiles we'd put down :-) (until they walked on it without shoes of course....)

RenniesFromHeaven · 10/01/2011 11:07

It's all about the dough.

OP - unless your friend spends a great deal of time lying on your bathroom floor, his opinion doesn't matter that much.

noddyholder · 10/01/2011 12:41

It can never look like 'real' anything.Tiles not much mroe expensive

RenniesFromHeaven · 10/01/2011 12:57

Dammit, and there was I hoping my zebra patterned lino would pass for the real deal.

Seems everyone's got me sussed!

1percentawake · 10/01/2011 14:43

Pocketmouse - we've also surprised people with our new tile effect vinyl kitchen floor. Either they have taken acting lessons or they really were fooled!

Wouldn't have been my first choice but vinyl was best option for us. We were very surprised when we saw the range of vinyls these days.

PocketMouse · 10/01/2011 15:39

noddy, you'd be surprised!

noddyholder · 10/01/2011 15:49

I doubt it!I have been renovating houses for years and have used karndean twice under duress!And it never looks as good.I know it is practical but I think anything fake always looks a bit odd and those expensive vinyls are so much more than a decent tiled floor.Dalsouple is nice in the right setting but is quite hard to clean

MrsThisIsTheCadillacOfNailguns · 10/01/2011 15:55

We had Rhinofloor put down in our kitchen,as a replacement for the freezing cold terrazzo that was there before.It is VERY tough,marks wipe off and you have to look very hard to realize that it isn't slate.It is so much warmer too.We have got to renovate the bathroom and toilet next and have had tiles down for 18 months,but are going to replace them with good quality vinyl too,the tiles are too cold,too slippy and every mark shows.I wish we'd never wasted the money on them to begin with.

GColdtimer · 10/01/2011 15:56

Problem is, tiles can be freezing and if you dro anything on them it can shatter like you wouldn't belive. And they can be really slippery. But perhaps that is just our tiles. A friend has that really posh vinyl and I honestly thought it was slate.

deemented · 10/01/2011 15:58

I have vinyl everywhere in my house except for my bedroom and the stairs, and it is fantastic - when manshape first moved in he was impressed with my laminate laying skills, until he realised it was vinyl

I think you get what you pay for though, and the one i have was expensive.

wubblybubbly · 10/01/2011 16:05

We had tiled floors in our kitchen when we moved in. They were so cold I peed myself everytime I made a cuppa

Vinyl is warmer, easier to clean and things you drop tend to bounce rather than shatter.

noddyholder · 10/01/2011 16:14

Each to their own I still say naff though especially the expensive ones which are trying to look like tiles WHY??????(runs for cover)

Bucharest · 10/01/2011 16:16

Vinyl is fine.
It's laminate that looks cheap'n'nasty to me.

Pannacotta · 10/01/2011 16:26

I think that real lino, eg Marmoleum, is nicer than vinyl, esp vinyl which looks like wood/real tiles.
But lino is more expensive and if budget is an issue than vinyl is a good alternative, esp if it looks like vinyl!

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