Have you ever wandered through a home, admiring their beautiful wood flooring before realizing that in fact, it wasn't really wood? And wondered how they pulled it off? How could something look so good come at a fraction of the price of wood flooring? Can cheap wood look flooring like vinyl plank or LVP really malke you stop and stare?
Cheapest Flooring Options
Thanks to the advances in the manufacture of vinyl products, we now have several options for wood-look flooring. Today we will discuss the pros and cons of some of these floors.
Let’s start with waterproof LVP, or luxury vinyl plank. A fairly new product to the flooring market, LVP has been through a few changes over the last 10 years.
Table Of Contents:
- Affordable and Stylish Wood Look Flooring Options
- Pros and Cons of Cheap Look-Alike Hardwood Floors
- Cost Comparison of Looky-loo Wood Floors
- Installation and Maintenance of Cheap Wood Look Flooring
- Choosing the Right Cheap Wood Look Flooring for Your Home
- Durable Yet Affordable Wood Look Flooring Options
- FAQs in Relation to Wood Look Floors and Your Cheapest Flooring Options
- Conclusion
WPC or SPC Luxury Vinyl
Until a few years ago the WPC, or wood polymer core, version was the most popular type of rigid vinyl tile and plank flooring construction. While it has great insulating qualities as well as being a wonderful sound-deadener, the porous core that allowed those attributes also made it easy to dent. And no one wants a dented vinylfloor!
Enter SPC vinyl flooring, or stone polymer core. Made from ground stone these vinyl tile or plank floors are much thinner and more dense. While you may think they are an inferior product when you hold it in your hands, nothing could be further from the truth. These types of vinyl tile floors are as close to indestructible as anything available in today’s flooring market.
Another reason that LVP flooring offer such a great value is the DIY aspect. Almost all of the luxury vinyl plank options have some form of a click lock system to install them. That means no glues or mastics are necessary. And anyone can do it. You just need a jigsaw, tablesaw, and some patience.
When we are talking about saving money on flooring, installation costs can be a killer. Even LVP labor costs can be more than the cost of the material, so if you really want to save your budget, consider a flooring product that you (and maybe a few buddies) can install yourself.
Wood-Look Tile
Wood-look porcelain or ceramic tile is another option where the cost to install can easily exceed the cost of the materials. Usually made with a porcelain glaze, this wood grain tile wood flooring offers a very different look compared to LVP. And while it won’t be confused with a real hardwood floor, wood tile flooring has a high-end look that will always capture your attention.
A few of the downsides to these floors are the breakability, limited colors, and of course installation costs. Adhesives, grout, and if needed, backer board, will also jack your installation costs up further.
Peel And Stick Vinyl Tile vs Click Lock
Another inexpensive option is the peel and stick vinyl tile and plank flooring.
These inexpensive tile options have been around for a number of years. The original poor man’s DIY project, this vinyl flooring tile option could be bought back in the 80’s for about 50 cents a square foot, and were made by the big companies of vinyl manufacturing like Armstrong, Tarkett, and Congoleum. While we might….MIGHT….consider them ugly today, I can remember them being quite popular when I was in high school. I would like to have a dollar for every box of that stuff I carried out to load into the trunk of someone’s car!
Peel and Stick tiles are still available. And now you can get them in planks, which look much better. Some are made of high quality vinyl and perform admirably.
The biggest problem that we experienced with that line of products was that the glue wasn’t strong enough to keep it stuck to the floor. In areas with high humidity or excessive traffic it is recommended that you use a glue to hold them down. Which of course adds to the cost. Today you can buy self stick vinyl tiles from our Dalton warehouse for 39 cents sq ft.
Wood Look Sheet Vinyl Floors
Wood-look vinyl grain is another option that has historically been a good value for your budget. You can get a good quality piece of affordable vinyl for under $2 a sq ft. And some are made to be durable, able to resist punctures, gouges and stains. One of the downsides to using sheet goods is the fact that you have to buy it in the width it is offered in, usually 12 feet. That means you buy waste if your room is smaller than the width of the vinyl, or you have difficult seams if your room is wider. Roll goods also require professional installation in most applications, as well as costly floor prep. It is hard to save money under these circumstances.
Our final option to save money on a floor that looks like wood is to buy a closeout, discontinued, overstock, or low graded hardwood floor from ReallyCheapFloors.com.
How About Really Cheap Hardwood Floors?
We almost always have Oak and Hickory engineered hardwood floors that cost less than even the LVP flooring. As a true liquidator we move inventory for a few of the largest hardwood and wood-look vinyl plank flooring manufacturers in the US. That gives us the ability to offer price points that other retailers simply cannot touch. And while you can see the vast majority of these hardwood floors on our website, we always have odd lots or small lots that are desperately seeking a new home. These hardwood flooring bargains can be seen in one of our warehouses, or you can call and one of our salespeople can help you sort through what is available.
Which Floor Offers the Best Look for My Home?
While I have never been in your home, I do have an idea of what our customers like. Each month at ReallyCheapFloors.com our sales are approximately a third each of luxury vinyl plank, engineered hardwood, and solid hardwood flooring. I will take a moment to discuss the best low-end options of each category, and how they might fit into your budget.
Vinyl Plank Flooring under $2
Most stocking dealers should always have an LVP option that is under two dollars. At ReallyCheapFloors we are never satisfied with merely being the cheapest. What we want to offer is the best value. With that in mind we work closely with one of the largest manufacturers of rigid vinyl flooring in the US to sell their overstocks. The way that works is that the box stores like Lowe's and Home Depot estimate what they will buy each month from a supplier. The manufacturer orders the paper (the part you see when its installed) to have on hand to fill the orders. When the box store misses their target (which seems to happen daily) we get the call. What we do is change the names of these products to protect the supplier, then offer these products for about half of what the box store offered it. We can do that because the manufacturer has to send it somewhere. Those machines have to run constantly or the factory loses efficiency, which drives costs up. We are blessed to have a wonderful, equitable partnership with this company, and it has proven to be great for both of us, as well as our customers!
What is This Month's Vinyl Plank Flooring Deal?
We just completed a large purchase of a 20 mil rigid vinyl plank flooring that we will be selling for $1.79. At 5 mm overall thickness, with painted bevels and great visuals, these 4 colors of vinyl planks are going to bounce through our inventory quickly. That's why we ordered 500,000 sq ft! Look for these affordable plank vinyl products under the style name of PineLog Classic Pro.
What About the Best Deal on Cheap Hardwood Flooring
As far as solid hardwood flooring is concerned the best deals that we have right now are on the Oak plank flooring. Our 4 inch and 5 inch wide plank flooring inventory got a little high so our only recourse was to lower the price. Big mistake on our part but a great opportunity for our customers. In many cases the wider planks are now cheaper than the narrow stock. These Cabin grade Oak floors from Somerset offer great values every day, but at these markdowns they are unbeatable. Look at the Antique and Oak Plank styles, with colors like Red Oak Natural, White Oak Natural, Gunstock and Butterscotch having the biggest discounts.
We have lowered the price on our Utility grade solid hardwood floors to $1.39 on the 2 1/4 inch strip, and $1.79 on the 3 1/4 wide plank. This is a great deal on a prefinished solid Oak hardwood floor for your home.
What About A Deal on Engineered Wood Flooring?
I would not be exaggerating (much) if I told you that our Blue Label engineered hardwood floors were the best value on our website. Almost always under #2 a square foot, the hardwood floors are made by Somerset Hardwood Flooring, and feature all of the same high-end components in flooring that some dealers sell for over $10 a sq ft! Because these low-graded floors are graded out after the manufacturing process is completed they will offer the same 8 ply construction, hardwood cores, beautiful veneers, and supertough aluminum oxide-enhanced polyurethane finish as the more expensive first quality options. These Rustic floors will typically exhibit more color variation, natural and manufacturing defects, and a much shorter average board length but for 20 cents on the dollar, who cares? You can search for these products on our website under the grade of Blue Label.
Do You Have Any Wood Cheaper Than That?
Please understand that it is difficult to mention specific closeouts in a blog, as those products tend to have a short lifetime, but we do have a pair of Click lock engineered products available right now for 89 cents a square foot. Graded as Cabin they will have alot of short boards. Shorts may seem like a big deal when you open the box and see all of those boards but the reality is when they are installed they make a great floor. And who has to know that you paid less than a dollar per square foot?
The click installation system assures you of an easy install that you can do yourself and save even more money.
So What Is The Cheapest Of The Cheap Flooring?
At ReallyCheapFloors.com, the label of cheapest flooring gets changed frequently. There is always another fine example of cheap flooring material in our Warehouse Sale inventory. Right now we have a huge lot (8,000 sq ft) of a click lock engineered wood plank floor that has a slight bow in it. While that defect will not affect it from being nailed or stapled, it cannot utilize a click installation. It is a great example of inexpensive flooring at 49 cents sq ft. We also have a glue down vinyl floor in a wood tile for 39 cents per square foot
Our monthly Warehouse Sales are a great opportunity for a homeowner to save big on our closeout lots of wood floor, vinyl plank flooring, vinyl tiles, and other faux wood options for your home. Call or email for a list of this month's items, or just to get flooring ideas on vinyl plank and tile, as well as wood floors that you will love.
