In the flooring world, there has always been a vinyl tile in one form or another. Today, the vinyl tile category continues to remain popular today, and continues to be the fastest growing market segment with double digit growth last year. LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile), which offers 3D printing technology which adds depth and realism, durability, with a high performance wearlayer to a vinyl tile product.
LVT offers the option of a less permanent floor than wood or ceramic tile, especially with the growing popularity of floating LVT floors. When a consumer selects a wood or ceramic floor, they should really be in love with it, as it will probably be in the home for a very long time. Whereas, LVT offers the option of changing the room design much easier.
The term Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT), is not recognized as a separate flooring category by ASTM, but it is a term that is known all over the flooring industry. ASTM International, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services.
ASTM F 1700, Standard Specification for Solid Vinyl Floor Tile classifies Solid Vinyl Tile in three categories:
ASTM has industry standards for resilient flooring and there are only two products in the category of Vinyl Tile:
Physical Property Requirements Tests
Solid Vinyl Tile Installation is usually different from VCT installations. Clear Thin Spread Adhesives are mostly used for VCT and have long working (up to 24 hours). Trowel the adhesive over large areas, and allow it to dry to the touch, and there are several hours of working time to get the VCT installed. LVT (Solid Vinyl Floor) products may also able to be installed with pressure sensitive adhesive, although they are not the same adhesives as VCT, they have more binders and latex to bond to the added vinyl content and hold it into place and have shorter working times (generally up to 2 hours). Solid Vinyl Floor Tile may also be wet set or adhered using a Vinyl Spray Adhesive, depending on the application.
LVT (Solid Vinyl Floor) also offers plank and tiles with high end realistic 3D visuals that can be grouted which resembles Ceramic and Stone installations without the use of backer board and thinset. These products can be found with glue down and floating installation options.
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