Vinyl Plank Flooring Questions Answered

Legend. One last thing, should we be going for "Looselay" even though they have to be glued?

Yes, "looselay" is the name of the 4.5mm to 5mm thick planks, which are the ones you want. "Direct Stick" planks are the older 2mm to 4mm thick planks without the fibreglass reinforcing layer, which makes all the difference with prevention of shrinkage/expansion.

Hi Gilly,
I have checked out the acoustic range from Karndean. I have never installed this product myself, but I have some experience with the growing demand for quieter flooring, especially in multi-story buildings. I would agree with Karndean that this new product may be a better choice for you, considering the format of your new home. In my experience, Karndean have always been a market leader, and their product backup reflects their position in the industry. I would say you're onto the right thing, myself.

Acoustic type being just a heavier set? I can't imagine itll be hugely different other than cost of course.

It's designed to reduce the noise of people walking on it, so there would be different materials used in the under layers I would think. It is designed to meet certain standards, as required by body corporate in high rise residential buildings, for instance.

http://www.karndean.com/en-au/floors/ea ... ges/korlok

Hi Gary,

I’m renovating a 30 year old Queenslander that has been raised up on stumps. The flooring is yellow tongue and it has some serious sagging between the joists from 5mm - 9mm in parts. We want to lay vinyl planks but obviously need to level the floor before we do. Is there a self levelling product we can use to level the floor, if so is this something we can do ourselves?
Thanks in advance.

I am concerned with the health safety of vinyl (PVC) as material on its own.

Emissions such as dioxins, furans and phthlates are also possible when it is exposed to heat and sun.
Also, there is no way to safely produce and dispose of PVC.

If you decide to go with vinyl, make sure you request and check Material Safety Data Sheets from the manufacturer and check out that it is 100% phthlates-free and also install to the areas which are not exposed to heat and you have a good (ideally two-way) ventilation in the rooms where you perform vinyl installation.

I found this article quite helpful:

https://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/Lea ... vinyl-tile

Great. Another Propoganda story. I can't stand anything that labels anything Made in China as inherently bad just because its made in China.

They talk about LVT as a recycled PVC but then say as the number 1 problem is that there's no way to dispose of PVC? Are they joking or just have no common sense.

Cant be repaired like a wood floor? Now they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

You will also find that PVC is used pretty much everywhere in your life. According to your sources, you get cancer from Alcohol and furans from your Coffee. I assume you don't partake in either substance?

99% of PVC in non-Chinese vinyl brands will be produced in China. I am not promoting anything. People to jump to their own conclusions.

Toxicity of PVC is well-known, it is not only "my sources" or "your sources" issue unless you can provide right arguments.

With regards to repairing - there is a difference between repairing and replacing.

Lucky LV has far less chance of damage than wood and you only need to replace the single damaged plank versus a whole floor.

Yeah. If you grind up PVC and inject it into yourself, I am sure its cancerous. I bet doing the same with wood probably has the same effect.

Well, whatever, everyone makes their own choices for themselves and their children.

If phlphates get banned in children toys and hospitals go PVC-free in US and Europe, this should be for reason.

I am quite surprised that "health conscious" Australia is so relaxed when it gets to health safety of some building products.

Another example, EU and US have banned HBCD-based EPS and XPS insulation products many years ago, while those are still sold Australia wide and used in new houses.

I guess youll never take your kids camping because of all the wood smoke, or fishing or swimming in the ocean because of all the free floating salts in the air? Or to your local Coles/Woolies because all their floors are LV now.

Toxicity of PVC
Because of PVC’s heavy chlorine content, dioxins are released during the manufacturing, burning, or landfilling of PVC. Exposure to dioxins can cause reproductive, developmental, and other health problems, and at least one dioxin is classified as a carcinogen. Exposure to PVC dust may cause asthma and affect the lungs.

I see a lot of mays and can on top of which, if I am not burning or manufacturing or cutting my Vinyl Planks, I am okay? I somehow think everyone is going to be fine.

If your vinyl planks carry phthalates (as most of them do), you are not okay, because they off-gas.


And yes, there is a difference between outdoor/indoor exposure as well as between short-term and long-term. A lot also depends on the levels of ventilation.

Good vinyl planks do not contain phthalates (instead they use alternatives such as bio-plasticisers), nor any of the other controversial PVC additives.

Look for vinyls which have independent environmental certification, e.g. EcoSpecifier GreenTag, etc. (which covers not just health and indoor air quality, but also overall environment impact) A good vinyl plank will have less VOC off-gassing than timber flooring (bearing in mind that wood naturally contains formaldehyde), and will use zero-VOC adhesives in its installation.

Such products are readily available in Australia from several major suppliers (e.g. Karndean, Polyflor, Pegulan).

Agree to that, do your own research.

Formaldehyde is possible only in engineered wood (and laminates), not in hardwood, BTW (wood does not contain formaldehyde naturally but it is rather used in a plywood glue).

Most? The two products I am selecting between dont.

Sorry, but that statement is incorrect. Natural timber itself does contain measurable levels of formaldehyde.

Engineered wood and laminates do indeed contain much more formaldehyde than pure natural timbers due to the bonding agents used. Within natural timbers, hardwoods typically contain less than softwoods, but they still contain (and off-gas) measurable levels of formaldehyde. Low levels, but not no levels.

See, for example, the research paper "Wood-borne formaldehyde varying with species, wood grade, and cambial age", which goes into results for various different natural species and ages.

Natural hardwood is low-VOC, but not zero-VOC. For those of us dealing with extreme chemical sensitivities, the difference can be very important.

https://www.ecocenter.org/healthy-stuff ... ss_release

https://healthybuilding.net/news/2014/0 ... free-vinyl

Also, keep in mind, only few green certifications are testing for phthalates when measuring off-gases, most of them don't.

Interesting article. They have measured 0.15-0.7 mg/100g which is beyond the most stringent standards (E0 is <3 mg/100g, Japanese standard is <1.2mg/100 g).
Most people can't smell formaldehyde at concentrations of 0.5 mg/100g or lower.

Most of the kitchens and furniture are done to E1 standard (8 mg/100 g) those days, so hardwood wooden floor won't be the worst contributor.