TrafficMaster Allure Vinyl Plank Flooring - Product Review

TrafficMaster Allure Vinyl Plank Flooring can be the perfect answer for home flooring. You know those areas of your home that would not work well for hardwood plank flooring - but would look great with plank flooring, if only you could use it there? If you have any of those, then you must consider Traffic Master Allure flooring.

For instance, Traffic Master Allure Vinyl Plank Flooring would be perfect for bathroom, sun room, laundry room, rec room, and garage flooring. Want wood plank flooring in the kitchen but don't want to take a chance on stains or difficult cleaning problems? Well then, Allure Vinyl Plank Flooring by TrafficMaster could be perfect for you.

We decided to use the vinyl plank flooring in one of our casual rooms and are so happy with it we may use it in other parts of our home.

TrafficMaster Wood-look Vinyl for Garage Flooring

While converting our garage into a media room, we looked at several different flooring options. Since a majority of the floors in our house are done in tile, we were hoping for a slightly different look for the media room. We definitely didn't want hardwood floors (even though they are our favorite) because we didn't want to have to add anything else to prep the existing concrete floor. We didn't want carpet because we wanted easy cleanup for drink or food spills when entertaining. We wanted something a little more "finished" than just painting the floor. We also wanted to avoid cold floors, grout lines, and the time and expertise involved in laying the tile floor in a very large room (we were adamant on doing this job ourselves!).

One day while looking at our options at Home Depot, we came upon the TrafficMaster Allure vinyl flooring display. We knew nothing about it but were surprised by how comparable in look it was to Pergo and hardwood flooring. Now don't get me wrong, a close inspection will let you know that this isn't Pergo and that it definitely isn't hardwood. However, there is a grain to the vinyl that is very wood-like. While some "faux" products look ridiculously fake and cheap, we kept looking and looking at the Traffic Master Allure flooring and decided that it looked...well, pretty darn acceptable for being vinyl "faux" wood.

While we were standing there, a Home Depot employee came along and asked us if we had any questions. When we told him about our project and why we were considering the TrafficMaster Allure wood plank flooring, he opened a box and quickly put down several feet to show us how the planks went together. We were impressed with the look and the ease of the installation.

Seeing our strong interest but still sensing some hesitancy, the Home Depot employee told us that WalMart had been installing this flooring in upgrades to many of its stores. In fact, he suggested that we go visit our own local WalMart to see TrafficMaster Allure flooring in use - they had installed it a year ago. We went, we looked closely, and we were impressed. Regardless of what you think of WalMart as a flooring reference, you know that they get lots of people through their stores and the flooring they use has to hold up. The TrafficMaster Allure flooring looked great in WalMart.

After considering our options for a few more weeks, we decided to purchase the product.

Installing Traffic Master Allure Flooring

Just like we were told at Home Depot, installing the TrafficMaster Allure vinyl plank flooring was a breeze. While the sample pieces that the Home Depot employee put together were not nearly as sticky as new ones straight out of the box, the ease of fitting the planks together was true to our experience. Besides, you want the pieces to stick together tightly and there are easy tips to keep them from sticking together until you have the vinyl planks together exactly like you want them.

There are no expensive tools to purchase. You probably own everything you need to begin and finish this project.

Durability of Traffic Master Allure for Garage Flooring

While preparing for our latest home improvement project, we temporarily stored our new vinyl plank flooring in its original boxes and covered it with tarp on our carport. We live on the coast so we very carefully planned this project to begin after hurricane season when we wouldn't have to contend with the possibility of heavy rain -- or even worse weather. Late November and December days here tend to be beautifully sunny, warm, and dry!

As luck would have it, that wasn't the case for us! While on the carport, several hundred dollars worth of Traffic Master Allure was subjected to two bouts of heavy rain that flooded our carport and soaked our boxes of wood vinyl flooring. We were very concerned that we had lost our flooring but we opened the ruined boxes and let the TrafficMaster vinyl planks air dry. Surprisingly, everything seemed to be fine. The vinyl wood planks dried perfectly, the adhesive was still plenty sticky, and there was no warping at all.

We were shocked and thrilled at the strength of this flooring to come through this "disaster" so splendidly. So we proceeded to install our new garage flooring.

TrafficMaster Allure Wood Vinyl Flooring - Our Results

In just 3-4 days, working a few hours a day on a 400 sq. ft. room, we had a leisurely and blissfully stress-free new installation of wood vinyl plank flooring in place of our old garage flooring. We think it is beautiful. The floor has a resilient feel that is very pleasant when you step on it. It is surprisingly soft considering that we installed it directly over our old concrete garage flooring. The new vinyl flooring sold today is often referred to as resilient vinyl flooring. It definitely is - in more ways than one!

Are we happy with our color selection after seeing it fully installed in our old garage/new media room? We chose a light oak color that we felt looked the least "faux" and we are very pleased with our color choice.

We are so pleased that we are strongly considering the use of TrafficMaster Allure flooring in our laundry room which was on tap to receive a new tile floor before we discovered the TrafficMaster flooring.

TrafficMaster Allure Flooring - Pros and Cons

It is economical, perfect for areas in your home that receive heavy use and are prone to spills. Cost-wise, at $2.39 a square foot, TrafficMaster Allure is about the same price as the average floor tile, comparable in price to Pergo laminate flooring and half the price of hardwood flooring. Additional cost savings can be found because it is entirely possible that you can install this flooring by yourself - even if you aren't an experienced do-it-yourselfer. It is also much quicker to install time-wise than a tile floor.

My only complaint would be in selection choices at the store. There were several color choices in stock at Home Depot and no one mentioned that even more choices were readily available online. We never thought to ask or look. Now I've found out that a bamboo plank is available. If it looks as good as what we purchased, I would have probably chosen it over the faux oak plank we selected. Oh well, make sure that you ask about all color and style options when you are looking!

One caveat: This flooring is not for concrete flooring with moisture problems. If you have a damp basement, look elsewhere. If you find any complaint about vinyl plank flooring on DIY forums, this will be it. Also, the flooring is meant to be used in rooms you normally use and keep at a temperature between 65 to 85 degrees. If you only use your rec room or sun room on rare occasions and don't heat or cool it the rest of the year, then vinyl plank flooring is not for you.

Final Thoughts on TrafficMaster and Vinyl Plank Flooring

Would we use TrafficMaster throughout our house? Probably not, because we are admittedly tile and hardwood floor "snobs." However, these hardwood floor "snobs" think Traffic Master Allure vinyl flooring is perfect for the casual areas of our home. And if it wears as good as it looks, in a year we might recommend it for all rooms.

If you can leave your prejudices about old-style vinyl sheet flooring at the door, you would be well-served to give strong consideration to TrafficMaster Allure Wood Vinyl Plank Flooring.

Sources:
For more on our experiences, see this slide show, How to Install Vinyl Plank Flooring and search for our upcoming Associated Content article on Tips for Installing Vinyl Plank Flooring.
TrafficeMaster Allure Flooring, HomeDepot.com