The Pros and Cons of Vinyl Flooring: Entryway Edition

If there’s one thing you need for a busy entryway, it would have to be decent flooring. There are several factors you may have in mind when choosing the right flooring option for your home’s entrance area, including affordability, durability, and variety. One flooring material that is known to possess all three of these qualities is vinyl. It is fairly inexpensive, long-lasting, and you can find it in a wide range of styles. Vinyl flooring can also serve as a great alternative to its hardwood counterpart, mainly because it can be designed to look exactly like it. Of course, a few other factors also come into play. Minding the advantages as well as disadvantages of vinyl flooring will allow you to determine whether it’s the right choice for your entryway.

The Pros of Vinyl Flooring in Entryways

Vinyl flooring is a common choice among many homeowners, and it’s popular for a reason — well, several reasons. 

Vinyl flooring can be ideal for foyers due to its many advantages.

Resistant to Water, Stains, and Scratches

The water resistance of vinyl flooring makes it an ideal option for humid environments such as kitchens and bathrooms. However, we often forget how wet an entryway can actually get. Anything from dripping umbrellas to muddy sneakers can leave a foyer soaking. This is why vinyl is also a great choice for entrance areas, with an advantage over laminate and hardwood floors which aren’t as waterproof. Vinyl additionally has stain and scratch-resistant properties which allow it to protect the entrance from heavy foot traffic. 

Insanely Durable

In addition to being resistant to scratches, vinyl flooring — specifically planks — is known to be extremely durable and can almost last a lifetime. As a matter of fact, a lot of vinyl plank manufacturers will even provide a lifetime warranty for their products. In terms of longevity, this material can actually compete with hardwood flooring; and unlike most wooden floors, it is impervious to termites. 

Easy to Clean and Maintain

Vinyl is among the easiest flooring materials to clean and maintain. A damp piece of cloth is mostly what you’d need to clean up mud and dirt brought in from outside. Also, regularly vacuuming and sweeping the vinyl floor in your entryway is usually enough to keep it spick and span.

Affordable

Costing between $2 and $5 per square foot, with installation and all, vinyl flooring is a steal — as opposed to hardwood which has a bigger flooring price tag of $10 per square foot on average. Bear in mind that vinyl is also cheaper to clean and maintain than other flooring materials. And if your budget is really tight, you may find an economical option in sheet vinyl.

Easy to Install

The vinyl flooring industry has seen a great deal of development over the years, resulting in a product that’s easy to install. Compared to the unwieldy sheets that vinyl was once available in, the tiles and planks you see today are DIY-friendly and don’t require any hammering, sawing, or adhesives. Whether you’re going for luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) or sheet vinyl (also known as vinyl rolls), the DIY installation method is fairly quick and simple. Many of today’s brands offer a self-adhesive vinyl that you can simply press onto a clean and dry subfloor.

Vinyl flooring installation is often a quick and simple project.

Available in Various Colors and Designs

Vinyl comes in an almost unlimited variety of colors, patterns, and designs, allowing you to pick an entryway floor that perfectly complements your home decor. If hardwood is your aesthetic, you can find wood-like vinyl alternatives in distressed or hand-scraped finishes — and they look exactly the same as actual wood. Vinyl flooring is also available in stone-like effects such as slate, marble, and travertine. And if you prefer a tiled floor, there are “groutable” vinyl tiles that you can install just like ceramic ones.

Comfortable

The layered composition of vinyl flooring allows it to feel softer and more padded underfoot than materials such as stone or hardwood. This makes the floor somewhat more shock-absorbent and less tiring to walk on. These layers also provide an insulating effect, helping the entryway floor maintain a moderate temperature throughout the seasons. Vinyl is also known for its soundproofing properties which allow it to minimize noise and echo in a busy foyer. 

The Cons of Vinyl Flooring in Entryways

As with any other flooring material, vinyl comes with its own set of disadvantages. Taking these setbacks into account will help you determine whether the advantages are worth it. 

Difficult to Repair or Remove

The number of people constantly entering and leaving the house means that vinyl flooring is at a higher risk of damage. Even though it's relatively durable, vinyl flooring isn’t invincible and can take only so much wear and tear. And when it gets damaged, repairing individual planks can be rather tricky. You can’t even refinish the flooring since it contains a single wear layer on top of the design layer — especially with vinyl rolls or low-quality options. In most cases, you may need to rip out and replace the entire floor. Bear in mind that removing vinyl flooring isn’t a breeze, either. However, the process doesn’t warrant any professional tools and techniques, which means you can still handle it yourself if you don’t mind the elbow grease.

Vinyl flooring can be inconvenient to remove, but wouldn’t require a professional to do it either.

Prone to Gouges and Deep Cuts

The padded feel of vinyl flooring means that the material can be susceptible to damage from sharp items. However, this isn’t much of an issue in an entryway than it is in a kitchen — with all the heavy knives and whatnot. Also, make sure any heavy furniture you place on your vinyl floor has rubber padding as a protective measure.

Not Eco-Friendly

A lot of toxic chemicals go into the production of vinyl flooring. But it doesn’t end there; once installed, vinyl floors tend to emit volatile organic compounds. Off-gassed VOCs can have adverse effects on health. Indoor spaces can have higher concentrations of VOCs, especially if there are no windows or adequate ventilation. Should this be an issue for you, consider steering clear of high-VOC vinyl flooring and go for a low-VOC option instead. Moreover, vinyl flooring — planks in particular — isn’t exactly biodegradable and can be almost impossible to recycle. 

Not UV-Resistant

The topcoat of vinyl plank flooring is different from that of its laminate counterpart. This layer is not UV-resistant and is known to fade or discolor over time. Make sure any windows in the entryway have curtains or blinds that can block UV rays during the day.

Limiting sunlight in your foyer will protect the vinyl flooring from UV rays.

Inconsistent Quality

Regardless of the wide category of luxury vinyl, you may notice inconsistencies in quality. This can even be the case with some of the most top-rated brands in the market. To determine if the material is of good quality, make sure to look at the thickness and the construction. 

Little to No Resale Value

In most cases, vinyl flooring doesn’t really impact the resale value of a home. Low-quality varieties — especially several years after installation — may even decrease the bidding value.

Older Varieties Contain Asbestos

Vinyl flooring that is manufactured in the 1980s or before most likely contains asbestos, a notorious material that has been linked to several serious diseases such as cancer. This shouldn’t be an issue if the vinyl flooring in your entryway is in good condition; the asbestos hasn’t been released and doesn’t pose a health risk. Should you be planning on removing or replacing your vinyl floor, however, consider buying an asbestos testing kit or hiring a professional to determine if asbestos is present. If the dangerous material is detected, removing the toxic flooring will strictly warrant a professional. You should never attempt ripping out the vinyl floor yourself under any circumstances.