Pros and Cons – Vinyl Flooring vs Tiles
The team at Malford has decided to whip up a list consisting of the pros and cons of vinyl flooring and tiles. This is a pretty fun article to come up with. Being proud suppliers of both materials, you can definitely expect unbiased facts and opinions between the both materials.
Put on your reading glasses, and let us have some fun!
Price
The cost of vinyl flooring supply and installation at Malford is around S$5.50 to S$6.50 per square foot. That is only slightly more expensive than the pure supply of premium Italian homogeneous tiles. With tiles, you have to engage a contractor to perform hacking services on your existing material. All in all, tiles may cost you at least S$10 per square feet. Vinyl flooring does not even require hacking. That being said, there is always a reason for higher cost and that is the reason why tiles are still preferred with regards to many applications.
Winner: Vinyl Flooring
Speed of Installation
Using tiles would require your contractor to work on the substrate and decent adhesives. Adhesives have to be applied fully on the back of the tile and there should be no compromise. Spacers have to be used to ensure that all joints and grouts are consistent in thickness. As for vinyl flooring, they have grooves attached on the perimeter of each strip and they are installed simply by laying the pieces on the ground, attaching one strip to another. No glue is needed. Should you need your renovation to be completed in double quick time, vinyl flooring would be a better bet.
Winner: Vinyl Flooring
Durability
Tiles have evolved from ceramic tiles to heavy duty porcelain tiles. Malford has supplied ordinary 10 mm thick porcelain tiles for use in fire engine access areas which has a loading requirement of at least 30 tonnes! That is indeed really heavy. Apart from heavy loads, tiles are also known to withstand scratches and even acidic chemicals. While vinyl flooring is also extremely durable, they are not durable enough for certain applications. You could use them in a bed room or a retail space. But you most certainly cannot use them for a carpark, public toilet, or perhaps even a wet kitchen. Today, we even have ultra-thin tiles of 3 mm thickness and 20 mm thick tiles that may be an overkill for most applications.
Winner: Tiles
Maintenance
With tiles, we have amazing anti-bacterial and self-cleaning technologies. We also have tiles that usually exist in at least 4 surfaces – polished, smooth matte, structured rough, ribbed. When it comes to tiles, it really depends on what is chosen. At the end of the day, if the tile is from a mid to top tier factory, you can definitely expect the material to have an impressive resistance to stains. Even if the tile is from an entry level factory, smooth matte tiles are definitely easy to clean. When it comes to vinyl, they are generally easy to clean too and they do not really have the options of so many surfaces.
Winner: Draw
Realistic Factor
Both tiles and vinyl flooring may look super realistic if the print is of a very high quality. Tiles have the edge if the material is originating from a top tier factory. Such tiles may have more than 30 design permutations. Meaning to say you would only see the same piece again after 30 tiles. For entry level factories, there may be only 4 prints, resulting in a very undesirable photocopy effect. Tiles that are rectified may also be laid with a thinner joint width. However, to prevent lippages, a joint width of at least 1.5 mm should be allocated for long strip sizes. When vinyl flooring is concern, no joint allocation is needed, allowing it to look like natural timbre. Furthermore, in an air-conditioned room, tiles would feel cold when in contact with bare feet. Vinyl flooring would however provide a softer and more natural feel.
Whatever that has been said may seem to be leaning towards the favour of vinyl flooring. However, if you have been to a showroom before to look at both options side by side, one has to admit that vinyl does indeed look cheaper than tiles.
Winner: Tiles
Hardness
Tiles would be the obvious winner here. It is common sense to know that you would probably need a hammer to smash a tile. Vinyl flooring may be scratched with an object that is very sharp. The only advantage about being soft is that your fragile items may not shatter when dropped.
Winner: Tiles
Variety of Surfaces
Tiles are fired products and may be processed to have almost any type of desired surface. Vinyl are thin strips that go through a different series of production that is pretty limited.
Winner: Tiles
Premium Factor
As the saying goes, ‘you pay peanuts, you get monkeys’. Although vinyl flooring is significantly cheaper than tiles, we are not trying to say that vinyl should be regarded as peanuts or monkeys. It is a societal norm that tiles are generally more premium in terms of technical ability and aesthetic appearance. Besides, most vinyl flooring does give of a cheap vibe. Oh wait, could it be psychological? Why not you tell us!
Winner: Tiles
