It can be difficult to buy new vinyl tiles, especially if you don’t have access to the right information. And for first-time buyers, choosing to go to a vinyl tile store can be compared to marching through a minefield. Making the wrong move and choosing the wrong tiles can cost you money, time, and effort. So before you go shopping for vinyl tiles, please take time to read these vinyl tiles tips for buying.
Choose a thick wear layer
If you want to have vinyl tiles that will last, you need to choose tiles that have a thick layer. If you don’t know what a wear layer is, it’s the clear layer that you can find on vinyl tiles, particularly luxury ones. The wear layer is important because it provides protection for the printed film design. It also helps in making the tiles durable and long-lasting. As a general rule, the thicker the wear layer the more protection it offers to the tiles, and that tiles with a thick wear layer last longer than those with thin ones. However, choosing a tile with a wear layer that is over 28 mil is not a very wise choice. These tiles are often over-engineered and only add unnecessary costs to consumers.
Choose tiles that are easy to replace
You may be tempted to buy end-of-line vinyl tiles because of their heavily discounted price. But you need to keep in mind that you’ll have a hard time replacing these tiles if they do get broken in the future. If that happens, then you will have to replace your entire floor or you would have to live with having mismatched tiles. A wiser move would be to buy extra tiles and then just keep them in your basement, garage, or attic until the time that you would need them. Your future self will definitely thank you for doing so.
Choose tiles with a good warranty
You need to choose vinyl tiles that come with a good warranty. You need to determine what kind of warranty options are available to you. Warranty is important because it serves as your protection in case there are problems with some of the tiles that you’ll buy. You need to understand what is covered and what is not by the warranty. And it has to be clear to you. This will save you from future headaches. You also need to check the credibility of the manufacturer when it comes to honoring warranties. What you can do is to ask around or read reviews online.
Choose tiles with a smooth texture
Textured tiles may look more interesting than smooth ones. But one of the things that you need to know about textured tiles is that they can be hard to maintain. If you want tiles that will not cause you headaches as far as maintenance is concerned then you need to choose ones that have a smooth texture. This aspect is often neglected by many so they end up regretting the choice they made after.