Luxury vinyl plank (LVP) in Tualatin, OR

Sometimes, but usually we would rather not. Old sheet vinyl over particleboard is the most common problem we find covered up rather than fixed. Taking it up lets us see the underlayment, and if it has ever had a dishwasher leak you want to know now, not through a new floor. On pre-1980 material we handle removal carefully, since some resilient flooring of that era can contain asbestos and should be tested rather than ripped up.

Yes, and in the lower-lying parts of Tualatin it matters. Moisture in a slab or coming up through a crawlspace will ruin a good floor regardless of what you paid for it. We test rather than guess, and if a vapour barrier or a different product is the right answer, we will say so before you buy.

The plank is. The floor as a whole depends on the installation and on what is underneath it. Water can still travel through seams and around the perimeter and sit on the subfloor, so a spill wiped up is a non-event while a leak left for a fortnight is not. It handles everyday water far better than laminate or carpet, which is why we put it in kitchens and baths, but it is not a swimming pool.

Sometimes, but we look first. Over a sound, flat, well-bonded surface it can be a good option and it saves the cost of removal. Over old sheet vinyl on swollen particleboard, or anything that is loose or uneven, it just buries a problem that will show through within a year. We tell you which one you have before you decide.

It depends entirely on the house. A quiet couple can be well served by something modest; a family with two dogs and a hallway off the front door should be paying for a thicker one. Rather than quoting a number in the abstract, tell us who lives in the house and how the room is used, and we will point at the right shelf.

Good LVP over a properly flattened subfloor feels solid and is warmer underfoot than tile. The hollow, clicky sound people associate with it almost always comes from a floor floating over dips that were never levelled, or from a missing or unsuitable underlayment. That is an installation problem, not a property of the material.