According to Home Innovation’s 2018 Consumer Practices Survey, Luxury Vinyl Tile (or LVT) now represents more than 6% of the 14-billion-square-foot-per-year re-flooring market. The kitchen is by far the most popular area for LTV flooring installation, and LTV flooring represented 10% of all kitchen re-flooring installations in 2017.
Home Innovation attributes LVT’s success in the re-flooring sphere to the attributes described by its manufacturers: easy installation, easy maintenance, beauty, and comfort underfoot. The researcher also notes that wood-appearance products have been gaining popularity in the kitchen over the past decade, and that LVT, which is often made to look like wood plank flooring, has been drawing some market share away from solid hardwood and laminate in the kitchen.
LVT has become nearly as popular in basements as in kitchens – likely due to its moisture-resistance and warmth underfoot – and is stealing share from carpeting and ceramic tile for that area of the home. In the living room, dining room, and family room, LVT is taking share primarily from laminate, but also from carpeting and a bit from solid hardwood. In bedrooms, where LVT is least popular, its growth is primarily at the expense of carpeting.
Home Innovation’s Annual Builder Practices Survey, which will be completed in April, is expected to shed light on whether LVT has made the same inroads in new home construction.