Vinyl Flooring For Cold Weather

Vinyl flooring naturally expands and contracts in the heat and cold.

Vinyl flooring for cold weather.

If your home is drafty the cool air will make your hardwood floor cold as well. Well vinyl flooring does get stiff and brittle in the cold. Here are eddie s do s and don ts when selecting a vinyl floor for an unheated cottage. We are redoing the living room floor in our cottage in new york s finger lakes area.

Nevertheless vinyl plank flooring might not be the best flooring for cold temperatures. Though vinyl floors are near perfect for all kinds of weather conditions they may not be a good option for those cold winter months. Hardwood will stay warmest in newer well insulated homes. We are now finishing an 18x18 foot addition that has a crawl space underneath.

We are considering the vinyl tile hardwood look planks in the invincible titanium series from the local carpet one dealer. While solid hardwood is as warm as engineered hardwood it s prone to shrinking in the cold and expanding during warm weather. Rubber is most likely used in a cold garage as a barrier against the concrete slab but can also provide the same benefits in a basement. Rubber flooring like that found in gyms is an outside the box approach to colder climate flooring.

As solid hardwood changes it can become warped or develop cupping. Don t install an inexpensive vinyl floor. Don t install your vinyl floor with glue. The cold winters will probably be too much for an adhesive to deal with.

If the floor is installed flush with the wall there is no room for growth in the hot months and the loose lay floor can easily buckle. I would expect 7 10 years out of a floating vinyl floor. This will help keep the floor warm and that may prevent it from expanding or contracting too much. Stop the floor between a quarter inch and a half inch shy of the wall to allow for this natural expansion.

This will also keep your feet warm during those cold winter months. Using a thermal underlay is a good choice. That is one of the reasons why you should use insulation for this particular type of floor. The glue can separate from a poorly prepared subfloor and can react poorly to extreme cold.

Rubber doesn t grow or shrink noticeably with the temperature changes and for the most part is weather proof. I know this cuz i ve cracked some pieces trying to install them in probably 20f weather so if you had a saggy baggy floor that moved when you walked on it i suppose there could be some risk of cracking. Our three season cabin is on the north shore of lake michigan in the upper peninsula of michigan.