ᐅ Buying Guide: Vinyl Flooring for New Construction

Hello,

we will soon receive the handover of our new build and want to install vinyl flooring on the upper floors.

We plan to install the vinyl flooring ourselves and want to lay it as a floating floor (on the new screed).
We do not want to glue it down.

Unfortunately, it is not easy to find the right vinyl flooring.

What types of vinyl flooring are there and how do they differ? (I’m a bit lost here)

Rigid vinyl
Solid vinyl
Click vinyl
Rigid core vinyl
Are there any others?

(I will exclude the types that require gluing.)

Impact sound insulation:

All types of vinyl flooring are available with or without integrated impact sound insulation.
Vinyl with integrated impact sound insulation is easier to install, but what is really better?

Manufacturers:

Which manufacturers would you recommend?

In my search, I came across the following manufacturers:

HORI
Parador
Wineo

Are there other top vinyl manufacturers? What do you think of the brands mentioned? Is vinyl from these manufacturers reliable?
Please feel free to share more recommendations.

What else should be considered when buying vinyl flooring?

What should you look for in the locking system?

Thank you very much for your help.

I would estimate everything is basically the same with different names.

Choose a high wear rating and otherwise buy whatever suits you.

Also, think about transition strips right from the start; we somehow didn’t have that properly in mind at the beginning.

Is that really all the same thing?

I believe there are some differences.

I think I read that rigid vinyl can be installed continuously over an area of up to 400 m² (4,305 sq ft), meaning from room to room without transition strips.

Gooosee159 schrieb:

Rigid vinyl can be installed continuously over areas up to 400 sqm (4,300 sq ft)

Yes.

Gooosee159 schrieb:

So, from room to room without transition strips

Rather no, because there are joints in the screed at the latest at those points, and it makes sense to follow them.

Osnabruecker schrieb:

Yes.

Rather no, because there are joints in the screed at the latest, and these should sensibly be followed.

Correct. Our screed installer also told me about the screed joints and dispelled my illusions.

The 400 sqm (4300 sq ft) is advertised as a marketing highlight but is very difficult to implement in practice.
No one (or almost no one) has a room that is 20x20 meters (65x65 feet). This means you lay the floor through multiple doors and rooms. Maintaining alignment throughout is quite a challenge.
I see the advantage of rigid core flooring (also called SPC – Stone Powder Composite) mainly in its property of being less prone to warping compared to regular vinyl. It can also be installed in conservatories (direct sunlight).

Thank you for your messages.

It’s a pity that you can’t install it without joints (of course, cutting it precisely would have been tricky, but it would have looked great without transition strips).

So, do we also need to leave joints in the vinyl where there are screed joints?

What happens if we simply lay the vinyl over them?

In your opinion, is rigid vinyl the best type of vinyl for floating installation? Or are there similar or better types of vinyl available?

What about solid vinyl?

Direct sunlight is less of an issue for us (no south-facing side and no large window fronts).