Old House Journal Difference Between Linoleum And Vinly Flooring

If your primary concern is the environmental impact of the flooring that you choose then linoleum is clearly the way to go.

Old house journal difference between linoleum and vinly flooring.

Whereas vinyl is a synthetic material that didn t come on the market until the 1950s. The differences between vinyl and linoleum flooring should be enough to help sway the indecisive homeowner one way or the other. But vinyl flooring tends to maintain its glossy appearance right up until the top layers suddenly wear through exposing the core. It s also a little bit softer to walk on than ceramic tile but about the same as vinyl tiling.

Vinyl and linoleum floors are both considered resilient floors because they are made to withstand the test of time. Linoleum has been around for more than a century and used to be common in homes but as increasingly durable and realistic looking modern flooring options have emerged linoleum has become less popular for residential use. Despite these differences in construction both types of flooring can be very long lasting. Vinyl flooring s design is applied to the top of vinyl as a printed layer protected by a wear layer on lvt or wax coating on vct.

These two flooring options stand up against moisture every day wear and tear and can be installed in areas with high traffic or areas popular with your furry friends. And because with vinyl you can get flooring looks like real hardwood and natural stone people are decorating with vinyl in every room of the house even living areas and bedrooms. Linoleum flooring was the first on the scene and has been a workhorse in homes and industrial settings for over 150. While vinyl costs less than linoleum it will last an average of only 10 or 15 years.

Such defects will hardly be noticeable since the patterns are embedded unlike vinyl s surface patterns. If you re like most people you might think they are the same thing. And linoleum s color or pattern runs all the way through the linoleum making it very long lasting if it doesn t become damaged. They are two very different products from two very different times.

It isn t uncommon to see a house 50 60 or more years old with original linoleum floors. Linoleum wears incredibly well. But in reality they could not be more different. Vinyl floors hardly last a third of this time even with proper care.

Of the two flooring surfaces linoleum is the least affected by scratches and nicks. Linoleum and vinyl are both types of resilient flooring but apart from that they don t have much in common. A primary difference between vinyl and linoleum flooring is that linoleum is a natural product invented in the 1800s.