Why You Don’t Want Cheap Floors
Luxury vinyl tile (LVT) is the hottest product on the market today, and it’s also the product that’s generating the greatest number of complaints and claims in the flooring industry. So, it’s worth it to take a closer look at LVT’s popularity and problems. While there can be a big variety in quality, LVT’s construction is less quantifiable. With this product, a consumer doesn’t know what they don’t know. But we do know cheap is cheap for a reason.
Myth #1 Cheap Floors Save You Money
Saving money is a good thing and while everyone agrees, they tend to try to save money in the short-term, like with cheap flooring. Think about it, if you try and save money by buying a low-quality item to cut on costs now, you’re more likely to have to replace it soon. You end up paying double because you tried to save money in the immediate. It’s better to invest upfront and save money over a longer period of time than to pay out for cheap flooring you’ll have to replace a lot sooner.
On beyond-low budget cheap flooring you are leaving yourself open to many potential issues. The most important being you can’t expect the floor to last as long. To be less expensive, you have to take something out, and that something usually plays a role in the quality and integrity of the product. Cheap flooring is cheap for a reason. If you have to replace your floor in 3-5 years (and it will look bad during that time) you will have to pay $9,000.00 again and again and it still won’t last. Soon you will have invested $18,000.00- $24,000.00 and more, versus just spending the right amount $12,000,00 once. Floors aren’t supposed to be disposable.
Myth #2 Cheap Floors Will Look Fine
The visuals may look like more expensive floors but there is usually something missing. Many “cheap” floors skimp on plank variation, Embossed and Registered floors and use recycled visuals. Less expensive floors often exhibit issues where the planks have irregularities such as: Being cut out of square, when installed they show abnormal wide gaps, slippage where planks are higher than their neighbors, mis-cutting through improper annealing or curing times. They can show cupping or crowning due to humidity and moisture more easily than a more stable plank. Metro Flooring’s products are made with HD technology and on state-of-the-art machines that eliminate these kinds of issues.
Myth #3 Cheap Vinyl Tile Is As Durable As High Quality
Vinyl floors have a protective finish that helps them withstand abuse from pets, furniture, kids, and more. Over time, though, this finish will begin to wear off. As it does, you can expect your floors to show signs of everyday wear and tear, such as scratches, dings, and dents. You may also notice worn spots that could be caused by high traffic. The cheaper the floor – the cheaper the finish. Common issues with cheaper floors are that they indent and scratch easier than they should. They often have unforeseen hazy surface appearance, shows scuff marks from shinier finishes, and white marks from too coarse of a finish. Many consumers report wearing through the finish surface. Metro Flooring offers products with better finishes that will have better ingredients in the finish to prevent these types of issues and offer you guaranteed longer length ownership and happiness.
Myth #4 Cheap Floors Have Great Locking Systems
Vinyl floors often offer glueless installation with click and lock type installation. Cheap floor locking systems are often unstable and brittle. They often have issues with joint cracks from vertical movement (steps) and can break. Metro Flooring’s products are made with nicer locking systems and are made with higher quality materials that will prevent these issues from happening and are guaranteed.
Myth #5 Cheap Cores Are The Same As Quality Cores
Do you know why some floors are more rigid, or resistant to more moisture and damage? This is due to the quality of the core material. Cheap floors’ overall dimensions are often thinner because of a thinner core. Cheaper floors often have de-lamination issues where the top layer releases from core. Poor dimensional stability where the floor can shrink if it is not cured properly. Poor Planar Stability and Doming. Metro Flooring offers higher quality WPC and SPC floors made with stronger better cores.
Myth #6 A Discounter Isn’t Just Selling Cheap Products
In order to get bare bone pricing, a reseller must search out products that are made to lower standards, where every thought is making the product as cheap as possible. Big discounters often sell defective and discontinued in stock merchandise. They offer products that often have higher variations in shade than expected. They often mix different product runs together, put dye lots in the same box, or pallet.
They often have issues where the samples don’t match boxes, internet pics, etc. Metro Flooring at every price level offers first run, guaranteed product that you can have high expectations with. We don’t carry products that are discontinued or defective. We don’t hide the flaws, we offer products that are designed for long term use.
Myth #7 Big Discounters Can Offer Great Service With Their Cheap Prices
One of the ways big discounters get their prices down in the sacrifice having the right amount of staffing in their location. Who hasn’t had difficulty finding someone to help them, or someone to load something up. These companies save money by setting up call centers to corral complaints and hire less people to keep their costs down. Metro Flooring has a department with a live person devoted to consumer issues, and an unsurpassed commitment to its consumer base to ensure that every customer is happy with every purchase. It is very important to work with a company whose number one priority is customer satisfaction. Check out the myriad of places on-line where people have had a great experience with Metro Flooring. Look up our BBB grade (A+). Read our reviews on Yelp and Customer Lobby. Search Google and see what people say about us. Remember the times you have been let down at a discounter. Had to wait for help. How do you think it will go with a claim?
Myth #8 Cheap Floors Are Warrantied The Same
Many discounters have over inflated warranties that are impossible to enforce or prove. Some warranties have finish warranties that exclude normal use. Some warranties promise the product will be waterproof as long as the liquid stays atop the material and does not seep down through the edges. These are often empty warranties. Metro Flooring deals with better companies that offer realistic and strong warranties on quality products. Better products are fairly priced to be able to offer durable finishes, strong locking systems, that are made right, with high quality cores and is devoted to serving its customer base.
Quality floors from Metro Flooring have better features and warranties:
- Including better locking systems that aren’t brittle or unstable
- Utilize stronger cores that have more pliability and are made with more care
- Come in wider widths and longer lengths for better visuals
- Nicer bevels that will make the floor look more realistic
- Are an investment that will last as you intended
- Offer durable finishes and construction you can count on
- And most importantly come with our personal service and attention to your needs.
