Are America’s Favorite Floors Going Away?

Luxury vinyl tile has become the top non-carpet flooring material in America.

On July 26, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to designate five chemicals as High-Priority Substances for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act. This means that these five – notably including vinyl chloride, a contributor to the February 2023 East Palestine train derailment’s toxic cloud – will be studied for their impact on human health and environmental hazards. Vinyl chloride is a key ingredient in one of the most widely-used (and fastest-growing) segments of the flooring industry: luxury vinyl tile, frequently dubbed LVT.

According to Floor Covering Weekly’s latest statistical report, (published in its July 2024 issue and shared with permission), LVT is the top selling non-carpet surface with a 27.6% market share and $9.42 billion in sales. Many building industry professionals are happy to make LVT available to homeowners seeking an affordable, attractive alternative to premium wood and ceramic offerings. Others avoid specifying and selling it – or caution clients about its potential downsides. I reached out to both groups for their insights. Will LVT continue its remarkable growth trend, or will health concerns clip its wings sooner or later? Here’s what the pros say.

David Kallie, president of Dimension Design-Build-Remodel and a NARI Certified Remodeler, in the Brookfield suburb of Milwaukee, says LVT has many advantages over its alternatives. It’s a better alternative to carpet, (the top selling flooring category in the country), he advises, citing challenges with carpet’s upkeep and (for some offerings) creating indoor air pollution hazards. “For those with asthma and allergies, it is much easier to keep clean being a hard surface flooring. It also has a moderate price point and is very durable,” he adds. Kallie also points out that LVT can be used in moisture-prone locations like basements and bathrooms, where you wouldn’t necessarily specify wood or carpet. The remodeler shares that homeowners often begin their projects asking for wood, laminate or tile as more premium surfaces, but rising costs make LVT an acceptable alternative. “It gives that wood or tile look without the expense.”

Panel Town & Floors in Columbus, Ohio sells a variety of hard flooring materials, along with installation tools and supplies, and writes comprehensive blog posts about client choices, including “The Vinyl Floor Controversy: Should You Install Vinyl Flooring.” Marc St. John, the firm’s writer, says 70% of their clients are homeowners. In their market, he notes, homeowners are requesting LVT more than specifiers. “Their main reason for choosing LVT is its durability and low price.”

This material is also a top choice for aging in place, according to a blog post by Rosarium Health, a referral service for home safety and accessibility improvements. In addition to being easier to keep clean, LVT is softer and warmer underfoot than wood or tile, the post reports. This can be a major plus for older adults, as can its slip resistance, shared in the Panel Town post.

Jennifer Sides is a wellness-focused Los Angeles area interior designer and an administrator of the Wellness Designed Facebook group for industry professionals. Her clients are primarily young families, she says, and durability and cost-effectiveness are their top home project concerns.

She’s not convinced of LVT’s frequently touted durability, she says. “Some of my earliest experiences with the product were anecdotal stories about humidity and moisture causing peeling and lifting, which you still see today. Another story relayed to me was when a knife was dropped and sliced the product. The cut will forever be there. Both of these situations make for a less than ideal product in a family home.” (Panel Town’s post cites the same concern.)

MSI, one of the largest distributors of flooring and other building materials, wrote in its Pros and Cons of Luxury Vinyl Tile, that sun fading can be an issue as well. “While you could keep your blinds closed to prevent fading, that might make your rooms less inviting. A better solution is to put a UV-blocking film on your windows to tint them slightly and block these powerful rays without darkening your rooms.” (Such an addition to a remodeling budget can make LVT a less affordable alternative.)

In a September 15, 2023 article for Wood Floor Business, titled “What I’ve Learned as an Inspector for ‘Luxury Vinyl Tile’ Flooring,” Bob Goldstein wrote this about LVT’s durability: “When it comes to luxury vinyl, this depends on many factors, including the amount of wear layer and the thickness of the product (i.e., 5 mm, 13 mm, etc.), how flat the floor is and the type of traffic it has. If the subfloor is not flat to spec, a lot of bad things happen, including heavier wear on the high spots.” He also poured figurative water on the material’s waterproof claims: “Read the installation instructions and you will find they mean waterproof from the top down, not the bottom up,” Goldstein pointed out. He also pointed to humidity issues, which should be monitored, and potential health issues from its composition.

There’s no question that a publication for the wood flooring industry would raise concerns (and have biases against a strong competitor), but Goldstein is not unique in the concerns he raised, as a quick Google search will reveal.

Joel Hirshberg, president of Green Building Supply in Fairfield, Iowa, also avoids selling LVT to his nationwide clientele – 90% of whom are homeowners. Citing what he sees as limitations of widely accepted health and sustainability product certification programs, he says he has concerns about their testing protocols. “While certifications are a good starting point, they by no means present the whole picture and should not be relied on exclusively.”

Hirshberg says his team field tests every product the company sells for a full year, (rather than the much shorter times of certifying bodies) and eschews luxury vinyl tile: “We have never tested LVT, laminate or other synthetic types of flooring because after review, we knew from the beginning that their products would not meet our standards.”

I asked him whether homeowners are coming to his firm with health complaints related to LVT in their homes. “Yes, all the time,” he declares. “They complain of sore throats, headaches, shortness of breath, and other respiratory issues.”

Teresa McGrath, chief research officer with nonprofit Habitable, (formerly the Healthy Building Network), also has concerns. While the flooring industry has worked hard to eliminate some of the most hazardous substances in LVT, “the vinyl itself is the problematic material,” she comments, specifically pointing to the plasticizers that make the floor tiles softer, flexible and more comfortable underfoot. “Once in the dust they can be ingested through food, hand to mouth contact, or inhaled.” The EPA designation will take three to five years to resolve. We’re in year one, she observes.

Sides is also concerned about exposure to these plasticizers, which she sees as “some of the most harmful to our health,” especially among the youngest members of the household. “Young families need to take into consideration babies and young children that are learning to crawl and walk and then putting those hands in feet on their faces and in their mouth and the potential transfer of harmful chemicals as well.”

The designer avoids specifying even certified LVT products, she says, preferring to recommend other materials, like tile without lead content, a recommended flooring material on Habitable’s online resource guide.

The WELL for residential certification that launched at the beginning of 2024 for health-conscious professionals and home projects, awards points for installing healthier building products and avoiding those that include restricted substances. “This table of chemical restrictions includes a clause that plastic-based flooring does not contain ortho-phthalates, vinyl or post-consumer recycled content, meaning if a project uses flooring with these restricted chemicals, it will not be able to achieve this feature,” explains Rodolfo Perez, a senior director with the International WELL Building Institute certifying organization for WELL.

As Panel Town’s St. John wrote in his post, government and certifying bodies maintain that LVT is a safe flooring option, but further observes that asbestos and lead paint were once considered safe too. “Your main option is to investigate the products you buy and determine any risks,” he advises.

There is no one perfect product or material for every space, client or concern, which is why you find advocates for LVT and staunch opponents. Will it be forced out of the market because of toxicity concerns? That’s a known unknown right now, and a longer-term concern for the industry.

Habitable’s McGrath notes that manufacturers are doing what they can to provide the healthiest products available that meet codes and regulations. Gil Connolly, press secretary for the Vinyl Institute trade organization, says about the high priority substances designation, “We remain committed to collaborating with EPA throughout the multi-year process.” If that leads to further improvements to luxury vinyl tiles, it will be a win for consumers of all ages and budgets.

In the meantime, building professionals continue to see LVT’s value to homeowners and specify it for more projects than any other non-carpet flooring material. “Overall, it is a great product that has many wonderful attributes,” Kallie comments. He sees it as a great mid-level material that does many things nicely. “It is a great fit for many customers who don’t have limitless budgets,” he concludes.

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