Luxury vinyl and some other products are marketed as waterproof because the plank does not absorb water like traditional wood-based flooring. Water can still travel through perimeter gaps, transitions, seams, floor vents, and openings. Moisture trapped beneath a floor may damage the subfloor, baseboards, cabinets, walls, or adhesive. Flooding, sewage, prolonged saturation, and water entering from below may require the flooring to be removed even when the planks themselves remain usable. A waterproof product should not be treated as a substitute for plumbing repairs, waterproof membranes, drainage, or moisture testing.
Key considerations
- what waterproof flooring means
- is waterproof flooring really waterproof
- waterproof floor limitations
- waterproof flooring
- luxury vinyl
- water-resistant flooring