Breaking Down the Pros and Cons of VCT, LVT, Broadloom, and Carpet Tile
Here’s a helpful breakdown of the pros and cons of different flooring types, including VCT, LVT, Broadloom, and Carpet Tiles.
Vinyl Composite Tile (VCT)
Pros:
Very affordable purchase price
Durable with proper care and maintenance
Cons:
Limited aesthetics; can be associated with sterile environments
Extensive and labor-intensive maintenance requirements with waxing and polishing
Often not the most affordable option over the lifetime of the flooring due to the maintenance required
Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT)
Pros:
Wide range of design options that can mimic the look of natural stone, wood, or other designs at a substantially lower price
Easy and inexpensive to maintain over product lifetime — no waxing necessary
Excellent thermal and acoustic properties, reducing temperature fluctuation and noise levels over other types of hard flooring
Cons:
Doesn’t match the noise absorption of carpet
Isn’t “bulletproof” — it can get scratched if hard furniture doesn’t have proper protection and digs into the floor
Broadloom/Rolled Carpet
Pros:
Better acoustic profiles compared to hard surface flooring
Conducive to large patterns and elegant designs
Often less expensive than carpet tile
Cons:
Less durable than carpet tiles due to lack of multi-layered structure and built-in backing that protects the carpet fibers
Difficult to maintain appearance because you can’t easily replace sections of the carpet for stains
A lot of waste of material during installation due to fitting broadloom to interior spaces
Carpet Tile
Pros:
Acoustical benefits similar to broadloom
Better structural integrity due to the composition of the carpet tiles
Carpet tiles with built-in cushion can reduce wear and tear of the fibers and improve underfoot comfort
Cons:
Monochromatic carpet tiles can look like tiles, with visible seams. New designs disguise and/or embrace a modular look
Often more expensive than broadloom/rolled carpet
Please let us know if you have any additional questions about the pros and cons of different flooring types by contacting us or reaching out to abby@gpflooringsolutions.com today.
Note: Abby referenced information from the Milliken Flooring Blog for this post.