So, here I've got two dogs. One's actually jumped off the counter. They're both
identical species, identical breeds, same same but different. Likewise with flooring, laminate
and vinyl look the same, but very different.
Vinyl. Laminate. SPC, modern version of vinyl. On the surface, they all look the same. So how do we
identify what is right for us in our job. Laminate floor, wood, wood pulp, melamine
surface. You know, we've had this in the market quite a few years and it's
well-established but it's always had the Achilles' heel of being susceptible to
moisture. So spilling water on it and how it expands, it contracts, and the various
installation parameters or restrictions it puts in place. And also, that
clickity-clack sound. You know it's never been very desirable but there are things
that you can do to negate majority of that sound in how you install it, how
your soft furnishings within your install space are positioned to absorb
that reflective sound and then also with regards to the underlay,
you know, the underlay becomes really important as the floor is independent of the
substrate and it acts as a total floating floor. So any lumps and bumps
that create little hollows underneath the floor and then also the density of
the underlay and how that transfers and bounces sound around the room. So there's
quite a few different variables that we need to take into mind when we consider
at a laminate floor. So let's consider vinyl. Originally vinyl started in the
market in slightly thicker four millimetre, five millimetre,
six millimetre. They had various joint mechanisms, pretty much like the laminate
or they had a square edge where they're just loose laid on the floor.
Unfortunately for our South African environment, we have a lot of heat. Our
living spaces are not as climatically controlled as in the USA or Australia or
Europe. We don't have double glazing or triple glazing in all of our buildings
so the heat is able to bear down onto the floor
and the floor it's plastic, okay, so it really responds very well, which is a
negative, to heat. So heat causes it to expand and then we start getting a whole
host of problems. So the product wants to move. It can't push the weight of the
surrounding planks around and it kind of like bubbles up and that really starts to
cause major major issues on various job sites. Where the industry evolved to is
we made the product a little bit skinnier and we now bond it to the substrate. So we now go and
we glue this directly to the substrate and what that does is that when it does
get exposed to a little bit of heat it's not able to move around. That glue holds
it in place. But because the vinyl is now so thin that it kind of relaxes into
whatever the substrate, the lay of the land is, and that really causes blemishes
to transfer through the actual skinny product to the surface where you can
actually now see all those little lumps and bumps. So now we've had laminate,
we've got vinyl, which is now glued down, but there's almost like quite a high
desire to have something that actually bridges between the two. Because
laminates are a lot easier to install. Obviously it's a floating floor. You put
your underlay down, you click the planks together, which create a beautiful end
result. It's a lot easier to do than going through the whole glue down methodology.
The latest option in the market is a solid core vinyl. So here we have a
product which is called SPC. Now there's various interpretations or what SPC
stands for - solid or stone or plastic or polymer, composite or core. But ultimately
it is very similar to a vinyl component but it's got a key ingredient of calcium
carbonate on the inner inner core which is limestone.
So there's minimal air component, so it's very dense, very solid and makes the
product very rigid. So this rigidity is great because now we can mill in our joint structures.
We can click it and install it like a laminate floor
and it can bridge slight undulations in the substrate so you don't be have to be
as pedantic as you would with a vinyl, traditional vinyl product, because those
little lumps and bumps or like the grout lines on tiles are not going to be able
to telegraph through. But the problem with this product is it's a lot more
expensive and because it's so dense the sound and the feel of the product can be
a little bit hard the ear and on the foot. Generally they all come with a
built in underlay. Various options are available from cork, IXPE or various
rubber components but it is a lovely product. Pretty much all of these
products - cleaning and maintenance are pretty much all the same. SPC is a lot
more resistant to heat and temperature. So this actually really suits the South
African environment where it's rigid, it can be installed very quickly, very
easily, but you don't have to worry about the sun bearing down on the product.
When we look at purchasing one of these various products, we need to consider how
resistant it's going to be in your conditions. So laminates have been very
resistant to sun. They have proven themselves. There's a high UV resistance
and color retention. You know, they they they work. High scratch
resistance. They really have proven themselves and that's why they became so
popular as they did. When we start looking at vinyls, they've been both slightly
differently and the vinyls, they do bleach out. They do change colour with
direct sunlight. So you've got to be a lot more careful when you're
considering a vinyl. They can turn green. They can fade out. So direct sunlight for
a couple of hours everyday, it's going to be a problem. So you're gonna have to
consider either UV protection on the windows or a pagoda while some kind of
screening or closing of the blinds during the main sunny periods of the day.
And that's a bit restrictive so think about it carefully on what's going to
be suitable for your install. When we look at SPC, SPC although it's using very
similar technologies to the vinyl, I have, my personal experience, is that it's been
a lot more resistant to UV discoloration or fading. Extra ceramic
bead protection for scratching and the higher quality UV coatings is definitely
making a difference. So it's definitely something something to consider when
you're looking at your various options. When we consider scratching for laminate,
vinyl, SPC, laminates have a melamine finish with an aluminium oxide coating
so that surface, and because the planks are so rigid, that surface it's
really intense, let's get some keys here. You know there really are hard core and I'm sure
you've received that kind of demonstration in most of the various
retailers or box stores. So there there's a lot to be said for scratch resistance
and we've really become accustomed to that scratch resistance when we've been
exploring various products. When you start looking at the various vinyls
though, because various the various vinyls have been quite
flexible, they've had a thin layer of clear plastic that has been sandwiched
on the surface and then they have various UV polyurethane lacquers that
are then coated on on top. Now those UV lacquers or scratch resistance lacquers,
they are they do very well. You know, I'm not going to knock them, they they do
very well with regards to scratch resistance. But they're not as strong as
a laminate. So you going to definitely need those carpet coasters when you moving
furniture around. It can scratch so be careful. Understand that not every
product is bulletproof and there's various scales of scratch resistance and
this definitely falls underneath laminates. Laminates are a lot stronger. So
when we consider SPC, obviously it's a much more rigid product. They've got
various ceramic bead or silica bead coating systems to them. They are highly
scratch resistant but they're not bulletproof again and they are not as
good as the laminates. So you still have to be careful. Well, I hope you found that
interesting. Please share it on with your clients who are a little bit confused
about the different products or let your team know that they need to sell the
right product to the right environment and even though you're going against
other competitive quotes, say listen, I can give you option A what you've asked
for but my professional opinion is option B in that it's going to last
longer, it's going to service you better, and these are the reasons why. I think if
people are given clear information to make an informed decision, you're going
to get a lot more secure and safe installations, happier customers for the
long-term, better business referrals and word of mouth compliments. It's it's just
it's it's a no-brainer of when you give the right information, you do the job right
the first time, job satisfaction. Thank you
Plank Squad.