Flat is not the same as level.
Schools, retail, lobbies and break rooms. Durable resilient flooring turned over section by section, on nights and weekends when the schedule needs it.
Luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and luxury vinyl plank (LVP) have become staples of commercial flooring. Durability, design range, low maintenance and flexible installation methods have made luxury vinyl one of the most widely specified products in the market.
In many commercial applications LVT and LVP have replaced traditional VCT. The key difference is the protective wear layer, which removes most of the stripping and waxing cycle that VCT requires. See our VCT page for a direct comparison.
Understanding wear layers
The wear layer is the clear protective layer above the printed design. Its thickness is measured in mils and it's the single best predictor of how a product will hold up.
Twelve-mil products are common in light commercial work. For demanding, high-traffic environments, 20-mil and heavier products are typically specified. The right choice always comes back to the manufacturer's recommendation and the actual traffic the facility sees.
Glue-down, click & loose-lay
Luxury vinyl is available in several installation systems: direct glue-down, click-lock, floating, and loose-lay or non-click floating.
For most commercial work Trade Mark Floors prefers direct glue-down or commercial loose-lay, where the product and specification allow it.
The reason is rolling traffic. Wheelchairs, carts, office chairs and medical equipment all perform better over flooring bonded directly to a properly prepared substrate. A floating floor under a loaded cart flexes at the joints, and over time that flexing is what opens seams.
Flat is not the same as level
This is the most misunderstood requirement in resilient flooring.
Level describes slope across a room. Flat describes local deviation — humps, dips and waves within a short span. Luxury vinyl tolerates a sloping floor without complaint. It does not tolerate a wavy one.
Typical manufacturer requirement:
Substrate flat to within 3/16 inch over 10 feet, or 1/8 inch over 6 feet.
Outside that tolerance, planks bridge low spots and flex with every footstep. The result is peaked edges, opened seams and joint failure — often within the first year, and usually outside warranty coverage, since installing over an out-of-tolerance substrate voids most manufacturer warranties.
We check with 6- and 10-foot straightedges across the floor in a grid before any product goes down. Where the substrate needs correcting, see floor preparation and self-leveling.
More than 300,000 square feet installed
Trade Mark Floors has installed more than 300,000 square feet of LVT and LVP throughout Louisville, Kentucky, and surrounding areas.
Our experience includes the University of Louisville, Angel's Envy, Brown-Forman and Bellarmine University, along with numerous other commercial projects across educational, corporate, healthcare and hospitality environments.
Design options
LVT and LVP reproduce the appearance of natural hardwood, stone, concrete, ceramic and other hard surfaces, along with solid coordinating colors and decorative patterns. Solid colors have become popular in schools and elementary environments where a facility wants durability without a wood or stone visual.
Send us the prints.
Upload drawings and a scope and we'll send back a number — or call the office and talk it through.