Not your grandmother's vinyl floor

<h2 style="margin: 10pt 0in 0pt"><font size="3" color="#990000">Not your grandmother’s vinyl floor</font></h2><p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt">(ARA) – One of the best kept secrets in hard-surface flooring is now out of the bag – it’s almost identical to high-end hardwood, stone or those ceramic floors that look great in any home – but provides quiet, warm-performance benefits, is easy to maintain and won’t break your budget. It’s luxury vinyl tile (LVT).</span></p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt"><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Unlike the "real thing" luxury vinyl tile features great design, deftly mimicking the classic, sophisticated looks of tile, plank, stone, slate, and other natural textures and tones, and can be installed in any room of your house, including hallways, kitchens and even bathrooms.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">LVT designs also come in less-conventional, contemporary patterns, giving you a wide range of style options and allowing you to create a custom design by intermixing textures and borders or even installing fun checkerboard themes. LVT also comes with grout-less and grout-filled options for authentic, realistic designs. Grouted options are cut with a grout edge that allows you to leave a gap between tiles and fill it with a special acrylic grout designed for LVT installation. It looks and feels like natural grout products.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> </p><div style="text-align: center"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="425" height="282"><param name="movie" value="../images/banners/12b.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="wmode" value="" /><embed src="../images/banners/12b.swf" wmode="" quality="high" menu="false" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="282"></embed></object></div>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Luxury vinyl tile isn’t the high sheet vinyl your grandmother installed in her kitchen back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s; it’s a truly design-forward product that gives natural flooring more than the proverbial run for its money in aesthetics, durability and maintenance.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">"We’ve been making stylish, resilient vinyl tile products in the United States since 1957, and the designs and capabilities continue to evolve year after year," says Erica Hubbard, marketing director for NAFCO by Tarkett. "Our products not only look like the real thing, but also feel like it and have the added benefits of water resistance, comfort, ease of maintenance and durability."</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Luxury vinyl tile holds up to the rigors of daily household traffic much better than stone, ceramic or hardwood. LVT’s durable construction includes a protective wear layer that resists scuffs, scratches, wear, tears and gouges. For example, NAFCO by Tarkett LVT products feature an exclusive Tritonite wear layer, which gets its impressive strength from millions of ceramic micro spheres embedded right in the urethane finish. This surface treatment provides superior resilience that is up to five times tougher than a traditional surface.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">"Natural flooring, such as tile, stone and wood, are hard, cold and not nearly as durable as LVT," Hubbard says. "They easily scratch, crack and scuff. And, they are not easy to repair."</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Stylish and economical, LVT flooring delivers all of the luxury elements without the hassle and fuss. All require minimal care, and if a few tiles get damaged, they can easily be removed and replaced within minutes. There is no need to tear up the entire floor or have a flooring specialist come out to your home.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">If you’re still not sold on the benefits of LVT, consider visiting some of the manufacturers’ Web sites to see product installation photos and also interactively explore design options. The Design Center at www.nafco.com, for example, offers design and installation tips; and www.tarkettna.com has an actual roomvue interactive flooring visualizer that allows you to upload photos of your own rooms and "test drive" your choice or choices of flooring. Once you’ve made your decision, don’t forget to visit a quality retailer who will further help you select the right luxury vinyl tile for your home.<span>  </span></p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">"LVT delivers greater style, more color options, a variety of textures and unsurpassed comfort and durability than its natural counterparts," Hubbard says. "Combine that with its extreme affordability, and you really do get the best of both worlds."</p>  <p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt">Courtesy of ARAcontent</span></p></span>