The cold harsh winter weather can wreak havoc on almost any area of a home but can be particularly damaging to flooring.
Flooring that can withstand the cold.
Using a thermal underlay is a good choice.
This will also keep your feet warm during those cold winter months.
These flooring coverings can be used with confidence in kitchens full family bathrooms and basements.
I would expect 7 10 years out of a floating vinyl floor.
Below you will discover more information about these types of flooring.
You will mostly likely have to go through the trouble of removing and replacing it in a few years time.
Porcelain tile is a form of ceramic tile often used in showers bathtubs pools and other pure water areas.
This will help keep the floor warm and that may prevent it from expanding or contracting too much.
Even supremely durable types of flooring like laminate can suffer an increased risk of damage because of winter stresses meaning you need to prepare your flooring for the cold weather.
Rubber doesn t grow or shrink noticeably with the temperature changes and for the most part is weather proof.
Can vinyl floating floors be used where temperatures go below freezing with no heating in the winter.
Choose a vinyl floor with a textile backing and a compacted inner layer.
These types include high pressure laminate hpl and laminate that has an abrasion class ac rating of ac3 ac4 or ac5.
To learn more about ac ratings and high pressure laminate check out our laminate flooring section.
The best flooring for extreme temperature changes includes laminate sheet linoleum stone or ceramic tiles and click lock real wood.
This material is highly resistant to intense water thanks to the very fine clays and high firing temperatures used.
Some laminate floor types can withstand hot and cold climates as well as changes in humidity.
The cold winters will probably be too much for an adhesive to deal with.
With that said it is crucial that the home is equipped with flooring that can withstand these temperature changes.
Rubber flooring like that found in gyms is an outside the box approach to colder climate flooring.
We would like to install some type of hardwood or engineered hardwood on the floors but we re concerned about having no heat in the cabin through the winter months and what that might do to the flooring.
Adhesives become brittle and then crumble below 40f some can get to 28f but then you are done.
The glue can separate from a poorly prepared subfloor and can react poorly to extreme cold.
Nevertheless vinyl plank flooring might not be the best flooring for cold temperatures.
While there s a quick answer right here we decided to dive a little deeper what with the polar vortex hitting this year and other symptoms of climate change becoming more frequent in our weather patterns.
The big temperature swings will shorten the life of the vinyl of any non stone tile floor.
Rubber is most likely used in a cold garage as a barrier against the concrete slab but can also provide the same benefits in a basement.