Years ago, when I first dreamed about gutting the kitchen, I found this stuff called Trafficmaster Allure resilient flooring. I just may do the entire downstairs of the house with it, I love it that much. When I was at Home Dept a few years ago, a worked snapped off a piece of it for me to bring home. I have cherished it as a coffee coaster since then. I am GETTING this stuff!!!
You see, this is my current kitchen flooring. Pretty bad, huh? Those tiles are over 40 years old now. They are busted up and UGLY as all get out. Underneath the tiles is some kind of nailed-on cement board. Mostly. Yeah, *just* mostly. Because underneath in the hidden areas of the kitchen (pantry, under the cabinets and stove) there’s the old linoleum from the 1930s. And that, dear reader, is DISGUSTING stuff.
Ah, but this is the Allure resilient flooring. *sigh* I love it.
It’s probably the easiest flooring to install, too. We installed laminate flooring planks in our living room two years ago, and that was a little tough (lots of corners in there). I think this Allure is better. I’m going to install it in my kitchen and then in my dining room when I renovate that. The Allure is waterproof. The company says you can install the flooring even before your new roof is on:
Go ahead and install Allure before the roof is on in a monsoon. You will miserable but your patented GripStrip will be happy!
Whoa, that’s some promise.Well, I don’t live in monsoon- or hurricane-prone areas of Outer Banks or anything… and I’ve *still* got my roof on… so no worries for me. The stuff does have a 25-year guarantee, which is very nice.
The flooring comes in planks. They have sticky strips on the bottom. You cut the planks to measure, remove the tape backing, and secure the sticky sides. Easy.
I did wonder if the adhesive would REALLY stick… this is from the installation guide:
Once the adhesive sets, it will never come apart. We have a “controlled environment” for the adhesive– it simply cannot fail.
So I love this stuff even more. I am really looking forward to it. It is waterproof; it’s a “floating” floor which means you can install it over bump, uneven surfaces; it’s a little pricey, though. It will probably cost me about $750 to cover the entire 12 x 24 foot kitchen floor. :S Unless I can find a sponsor who will give me a discount for some blog coverage about the product! 
Anyway, my floor is chosen. Now it’s on to planning the electric, plumbing, and walls. Oh and a new window opening or two.
7. January 2010 at 3:37 pm
This flooring looks really easy to install. Thanks for the pictures. It really helps to get a visual of what the flooring looks like. Very helpful!
7. January 2010 at 5:45 pm
We sell flooring similar to this called Konecto. It is a nice product.
7. January 2010 at 6:04 pm
Great!!! Does it have that annoying “click” track on the side or do they just lay beside each other? The “click” this was actually rather tricky for us over here, some colorful language ensued during installation! But we got it done. Anyway I love your choice and I think it will be super easy to live with. Cheers! Bonnie
7. January 2010 at 7:17 pm
Steve, I sent you an email… perhaps your company would sponsor the flooring for my project?
Karen– wow! Never knew there were other brands. I’ll have to look into it.
Bonnie– no clicking. We had to do that with the laminate floor and what a chore!
20. February 2010 at 7:19 am
25 year warranty? That would sell me (unless I could find a 50 year warranty!) When (and if) we build our house in the woods, I want everything to have a 50 year warranty. That way, I’ll be dead before anything needs replacing!