Vinyl comes as planks, tiles and sheets. This guide covers three types you can buy at FloorBox: rigid-core planks and tiles that click together, thin planks and tiles that are glued down, and sheet vinyl that comes off a roll in one wide piece. You will find them in Vinyl Planks, Vinyl Tiles and Vinyl Sheets. Below, five real products show what each type changes for a basement, in plain words.
The FloorBox Vinyl page says vinyl is a synthetic floor that comes in sheets, tiles and planks, and that it is made from PVC, sometimes mixed with stone (SPC). Planks are long boards; tiles are squares or rectangles. The Planchers 1867 Vinyl Plank Evolution Magma XL Series Helka Click Lock 7" x 48" is a wood-look plank. The Planchers 1867 Vinyl Tile Evolution Azura Slate Coal Click Lock 12" x 24" is a slate-look tile. The big difference between types is how they are built and how they go down:
Rigid core means the plank is built on a stiff core. On Helka the core is SPC (stone-plastic composite). The plank is 4 mm thick, clicks together (i4F Click Float), and has EVA foam already attached underneath. So underfoot you walk on a stiff plank with a thin foam pad below it, and the floor floats instead of being glued. Azura is the same idea as a tile: its page describes SPC tiles with an integrated EVA membrane. It is 5.5 mm thick and lists a Välinge 5G Fold Down lock. The lock maker says that when the panel is folded down, an insert snaps into place with a click and locks it.
Want to know how click planks actually hold together? Read How Does Click Vinyl Flooring Lock Together, and Is It a Good Fit for My Basement?
A glue-down plank has no click joint. Adhesive holds each piece to the floor, and there is no pad under it. The Egg Shell page calls it a 100% solid vinyl plank on a high-density PVC core. It is 2 mm thick and lists Glue Down and Underpad Attached: No. Sonata Stone is a 2.5 mm luxury vinyl tile for medium to heavy commercial use and for homes. Its page names PS-30 adhesive for regular traffic and AD-535 adhesive for heavy traffic and rolling loads. In plain words: if chairs on wheels or carts will roll over the floor, check which adhesive the page asks for.
Sheet vinyl is one wide piece cut from a roll. Santorini Coast is 12 ft wide and sold by the square yard, so a narrow room can be covered in one piece. Its page lists Where to use: kitchen, bathroom, living areas and basement, and Waterproof: Yes. It is 3 mm thick. Its page lists three ways to put it down: releasable, permanent, or floating with no glue. Tarkett's product sheet on the page describes it as fiberglass-reinforced sheet vinyl.
Start with what the product page says about basements. Grade Level tells you where the floor can go. Below grade means below ground level, where most basement floors are. Helka and Azura list on, above and below grade, and both list Waterproof: Yes. Santorini Coast names the basement and lists Waterproof: Yes. Then pick by what you want. For a click floor with the pad built in, look at Helka (planks) or Azura (tiles). For one wide piece with few seams, look at Santorini Coast. Whatever you choose, check the slab first. FloorBox notes that moisture limits and floor preparation vary by collection, so check the subfloor, the adhesive the maker recommends, and the maker's instructions before you install. Heated basement floor? Helka, Azura (electric) and Sonata Stone list Radiant Heat Compatible: Yes.
The wear layer is the clear top layer that takes the scratches. The FloorBox Vinyl page says its thickness matters most for how long the floor lasts, and recommends at least 0.3 mm. A mil is a thousandth of an inch.
Total thickness runs from 2 mm (Egg Shell) and 2.5 mm (Sonata Stone) to 3 mm (Santorini Coast), 4 mm (Helka) and 5.5 mm (Azura). The Vinyl page says a thinner floor does not always mean a shorter life; the wear layer counts more. The core is what the piece is built on: SPC on Helka and Azura, high-density PVC on Egg Shell.
Measure the room as in How to Calculate Square Footage for Flooring: length times width, in feet. Planks and tiles are sold by the box, so read Coverage (sqft): 28.36 for Helka, 24 for Azura, 53.17 for Egg Shell and 36 for Sonata Stone. Santorini Coast is sold by the square yard; its page lists 1 sq yd as 9 sq ft, so divide your square feet by 9.
