What is included
A scope built around the room.
- 01SPC and WPC rigid core
- 02Basement and below-grade floors
- 03Kitchens, baths and laundry
- 04Rental and investment turnovers
- 05Subfloor levelling and prep
- 06Stair nosing and transitions
SPC, WPC and the glue-down alternative
Rigid core vinyl comes in two common forms. SPC has a dense stone composite core, so it is harder, more dent resistant, more dimensionally stable in temperature swings and thinner underfoot. WPC has a lighter core with more give, which feels warmer and quieter but dents more easily under point loads like appliance feet. Glue-down luxury vinyl is a third option, common in commercial work and in rooms with wide temperature swings such as sunrooms. Each has a place, and the room you are flooring should pick it.
Waterproof is not the same as flood proof
The plank itself will not swell if water sits on it, which is the real advantage over laminate. Water that gets past the seams and sits under the floor is a different story, because the subfloor, the underlay and anything organic under there can still be damaged and can still grow mould. In a basement, the correct answer to water is fixing the source and managing vapour from the slab, not relying on the flooring. We say this plainly because a lot of vinyl gets sold as a solution to a moisture problem it cannot fix.
Preparation still decides the result
A rigid core plank floating over an uneven slab will bridge the low spots and flex at the seams until locking edges wear and gap. Rigid core hides more than wood does, but it does not level anything. We grind high spots, fill low spots with cementitious levelling compound and check the result across the room. In older Toronto basements with a sloped slab or a floor drain, we work out the plan for the slope before the material arrives, not after the first row goes down crooked.
Expansion, sunlight and long runs
Floating vinyl expands and contracts with temperature more than with humidity, so the perimeter gap and the manufacturer limit on an unbroken run matter. Long open-concept floors and rooms with a lot of direct sun through large windows are exactly where an ignored expansion gap shows up as peaking or gapping. Where a run exceeds the limit, the honest answer is a transition, and where a customer will not accept one, glue-down is the better method.
Rentals, turnovers and repairability
For rental units and investment properties, vinyl plank usually wins on total cost: it survives tenants, it goes down fast between occupancies, and a damaged plank in a click floor can be replaced without redoing the room if you kept material from the same lot. We leave the leftovers labelled with the product and lot number. For multi-unit owners we keep the specification consistent across units so one attic stock of planks covers the whole portfolio.
Where we cover
Vinyl plank (LVP) across the GTA.
Questions