Heartridge Vinyl Planks

Prior to commencement of our build we were 100% sure we would install Heartridge. Closer to handover we switched to Karndean LooseLay Longboard. Both are reputed brands and the product is good. Goodluck

I used to visit different shops/dealers to (re)convince myself that Heartridge was best for us. Call it (lack of) marketing or whatever but most dealers did not go out of their way to push the product or bother to arrange a display of our choice (other than the one plank hanging from the shelf). I was still convinced that it was best for us. One such weekend I went to Fowlers (in Smeaton Grange NSW 2567) and they had a large part of their own floor done in Karndean (in a pattern - color that we always wanted). This floor was in their display warehouse and took a good beating (footfall) everyday for over 2 years....and we liked the way it stood out. The sales guy (Clint) was very helpful as well. Fowlers are large stockists and installers, so they could arrange for laying out different floor patterns for us. They have contracted installers and the guy who did ours took pride in his work. So all in all it worked out good for us.
Again I think both brands and products are great (like BMW & Mercedes), it just came down to personal experience and comfort factor while dealing with the dealer.

Hello Bebbsy, I have been enjoying your updates. Im loving Heartridge Greystone and have done for some time now but got very confused this afternoon when I saw another chain of discussion, which I saw you were part of, regarding scratching and loads of negative feedback on Heartridge products. OH I So confused now!
Please do keep us updated with you finished project.... Id love to hear some feedback from you in a few months time.

I put Heartridge down (professional installation, $8,000) on a concrete slab about four years ago. A year ago I pulled it up and relaid because of plank shrinkage, up to 3mm gap on the short edge. The runs were all under the minimum specified. A year on, the gaps are opening up again, around 1mm. The planks seem to shrink in length about 1mm per year. I certainly wouldn't recommend this product to anyone.

I'd be getting in touch with the local consumer affairs. There are many, many floors being rectified by Dunlop under warranty. I reckon they are trying to wriggle out. The Dunlop rep also told me that this product is now being manufactured somewhere else in China as a result of poor quality and shrinkage.

As it turns out, I'm having my entire floor relaid under warranty next week. They will use the majority of the existing planks and add new planks as required. The official line from Dunlop is that the wrong glue was used, which allows the planks to move. The new glue is not the "tack" type which is removable, but rather a more permanent glue. Despite this, the planks have shrunk, which is easily seen in large gaps along the short edges (1-3mm) and smaller gaps along the long edges(0.5mm). These were all tight when the floor was laid.

I asked what happens if the planks continue to shrink. He assured me that the new glue will work, but if it doesn't, they will replace the floor with a different product. Good luck.

Hi Cammyo and Steve. I also have the same issue. Here is my story.

Our Heartridge vinyl was installed in April 2018. In 2020 we raised the issue of spacing at the ends of some of the boards. Our provider contacted Dunlop who inspected and determined that the gaps were above tolerance and arranged for the entire floor to be re-laid with the existing vinyl planks with an installer arranged by Dunlop. Dunlop’s conclusion was that the gaps were caused by the original installation. During 2020 the vinyl was relaid and looked great.

Fast forward to October 2022, more gaps of up to 5mm have appeared at the ends of the boards - it can't be caused by the laying this time??? So we went back to our provider who arranged for Dunlop to inspect.

It was agreed to fully replace the job using our provider’s preferred installer.
Dunlop are saying that the issue was partly due to the installer (their installer) at the time and some shrinkage with the glue (pressure sensitive).

Our provider was advised that Dunlop have a new and improved manufacturing process which eliminates any past issues. A new innovation which was explained that the old product was the iPhone 6 and the new product is the iPhone 13.

The new product has a fibreglass chip in it as opposed to the fiberglass mesh and this creates a lot more stability.
They also advise to now use a true hard-set adhesive as opposed to the pressure sensitive adhesive which never truly sets hard.
We have been advised we will not have any further problems 🤞.

It has taken a year to arrange the re-installation. Partly us not being available and partly the installer not being available. No reflection on Dunlop.

The floor looks fantastic again so we are happy for now. We hope the manufacturing process improvements are successful.
Dunlop have been good to deal with. However, if the floor fails in the future we will be requesting a refund for the product and installation at today’s cost.

I hope you have successfully resolved your issues.

This is the second replacement for us. If Dunlop had said they were going to re lay the existing planks we would have refused as they now say the old product is inferior (that was in Oct 2022).

Quick question for you, did your installer roll the planks shortly after laying (while the glue was setting)?

The Dunlop installation guide specifies that the planks should be rolled with a 45kg roller. It may not have been necessary with yours depending on the “old” planks requirements. Or it may be to do with the hard set glue regardless of the plank type.

We are concerned because we don’t think our installer rolled (says he did with a hand roller but we were not home at the time) and we don’t want a further warranty issue if installation was not carried out correctly.