Cheap Vinyl Plank Flooring Options & How to Cut Cost on Installation
Not in the market or the mood for $5 per square foot vinyl plank flooring?
That’s OK, because you have plenty of good options for LVT/LVP for about $2 or less per square foot. This guide discusses four good brand options plus retailers that sell cheap vinyl plank flooring that will still give you years of durable service.
Your best options for affordable luxury vinyl flooring are found in the navigation box below.
The brand makes the two basic types of LVP available.
Floating: Mohawk calls its interlocking, floating (no glue) floor UniClic. It has a wood polymer core (WPC)
Glue Down: Mohawk calls its LVP that requires gluing Glue Down. Not very creative, but it is descriptive. Glue Down is a stone polymer core floor (SPC).
The UniClic collections are LVP with a wood polymer core. UniClic is an interlocking, floating floor.
The affordable vinyl plank flooring is the 3.4mm and 4.4mm UniClic LVP.
Cost: $1.65-$3.00 per square foot.
Selection: About 30 styles in all color ranges from light to dark including grays. All are wood looks. No stone or tile styles.
Collections: Subject to change, but current collections are Glenmont (8 colors), Defined Style (14) and Daventry (8).
Thickness: 3.4mm and 4.4mm
Wear Layer: 6 mils
Warranty: 15-year residential warranty. There is no commercial warranty.
Mohawk Glue Down Features:
The core is rigid and tough, not very comfortable to stand on, but quite resistant to dents. Price starts at less than $1 per square foot.
A glue-down floor is considered more stable. It’s less likely to buckle in warm areas and direct sunlight.
Cost: $0.95-$2.10 per square foot.
Selection: About 30 wood styles. You have a pretty good range of colors including neutrals, warm tones and cool colors.
Collections: The current lines are Bowman (14 colors), Batavia (9) and Fernwood (8).
Thickness: 2mm and 2.5mm
Wear Layer: 6 mils on the 2mm planks and 12 mils on the 2.5mm planks.
Warranty: The flooring with a 6 mils wear layer is covered by a 15-year residential warranty and no commercial warranty. The planks with a 12-mil wear layer have a 25-year residential warranty and a 6-year commercial warranty.
Where to Buy
Cheap Mohawk vinyl plank flooring is sold at a few big box stores like Menards and Lowes. You can also find it at many independent flooring stores and online sellers.
The Mohawk site has a Store Locator. It’s the little red icon near the top of the page that either says Find a Retailer or has the name of a retailer near you next to it. Select it to search your zip code.
2. Armstrong Vivero Good
Good is cheap? Yes. Armstrong makes Vivero in three lines – Good, Better and Best. So Good isn’t great.
Armstrong Vivero Good Features:
Every style of Vivero Good is available as a glue-down floor and as a locking/floating floor.
Like most LVT, it can be installed on any level including the basement and in wet areas like a laundry room or bathroom.
Armstrong uses about 30% recycled content to make this vinyl plank flooring, and it is FloorScore certified for low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). All the Vivero lines are made in the US.
Cost: $1.49-$1.99 per square foot for the glue-down flooring and $2.49-$2.99 for the floating flooring.
Pro tip: While the glue-down floor costs less, you’ll also need to purchase adhesive. And glue-down flooring takes a little longer to install for most DIYers. If time is money to you, then you won’t save as much as you think with glue-down flooring.
Selection: About 15 wood styles. As noted, each style is available in the cheaper glue-down type or the more expensive floating style. You have a pretty good range of colors including neutrals, warm tones and cool colors.
Collections: N/A. The 15 styles are not grouped into collections like the Mohawk LVT above. It’s all just Vivero Good.
Thickness: The glue-down planks are 2mm thick. The floating are 4mm.
Wear Layer: 6 mils
Warranty: Both floating and glue-down styles are backed by a 15-year residential warranty and a 5-year commercial warranty.
Most stores carrying Vivero Best vinyl plank flooring are independent retailers and small chains rather than the major chains like Menards. This brand is available online at efloors.com and other sellers.
Peel and Stick planks are very inexpensive and quite cheap too. It’s nothing you’d want in an upscale home, but for quick fixes and areas that don’t get heavy traffic – or big dogs with sharp nails – it isn’t terrible.
The other option is floating planks. They’re cheap too, frankly.
Cost: $0.97-$1.29 per square foot for the Peel and Stick flooring. $1.50-$1.99 per square foot for the floating LVT/LVP.
Selection: You have less than 10 options for Peel and Stick TrafficMaster. The floating TrafficMaster vinyl plank flooring is available in 25 colors/styles from light to dark wood.
Collections: They’re not grouped into collections.
Thickness: Peel and Stick is 2mm. The floating flooring is 3.8mm
Wear Layer: Just 4 mils. That’s the thinnest wear layer of any major brand.
Warranty: Oddly, the Peel and Stick has a lifetime residential warranty and a 6-year light commercial warranty. We expect it to last 5 years with heavy traffic, maybe 10 with light use. The floating floor has a 25-year residential warranty.
Where to Buy
Home Depot is the exclusive seller of these TrafficMaster vinyl plank flooring lines.
4. Home Decorators Collection
This is another Home Depot exclusive, and it is also made by Halstead New England.
It’s a step up from TrafficMaster, somewhere between cheap and midgrade vinyl plank flooring. But the warranty coverage isn’t as good. These are the kinds of issues consumers have to compare as they shop. One reason for giving a shorter warranty to better flooring is that it allows Home Depot to sell Home Decorators Collection LVT at a lower cost, since there is less warranty risk.
The better line has a commercial-grade wear layer reinforced with ceramic.
However, there’s no commercial warranty (details below).
Cost: $1.99-$2.39 per square foot based on the type and thickness of the wear layer, as explained below.
Selection: You have about 70 choices. Most are plank style, but a few are 12x24 tiles with a slate look rather than wood. There are various plank widths and the full color spectrum.
Collections: N/A
Thickness: 4mm and 4.2mm
Wear Layer: The cheapest options have an 8-mil residential wear layer. The other two are a 12-mil residential wear layer and an 8-mil commercial wear layer.
Warranty: All Home Decorators Collection LVT and LVP is backed with a 15-year residential warranty, but no commercial warranty.
We mentioned Home Depot because they have the largest lines of vinyl plank flooring.
However, Lowes and Menards also have cheap LVT lines, just not as good a selection.
Some lesser known building materials and hardware stores carry flooring too. If there’s one in your neighborhood, it’s worth a call or stopping in to see if they have cheap LVT and LVP.
Online Retailers
Everything is selling online now, and affordable vinyl plank flooring is no exception.
All the stores mentioned so far sell online.
Other large online sellers include Wayfair, Floor & Decor, Lumber Liquidators and many lesser known retailers.
Most pro installers charge $1.50-$2.75 per square foot.
If you’re putting in 1,000 square foot of LVP, that’s an easy equation – potential savings of $1,500 to $2,750.
We always recommend these steps in preparing for DIY installation:
Measure carefully, and add 10% for trimming and to have a box or two left for future repairs.
Watch video tutorials of the installation of the brand you buy.
Read the Installation Guide and follow it carefully.
Ask a friend with vinyl plank flooring installation experience to help get you started.
Start in a low-visibility room, like a spare bedroom or laundry area, to get experience before doing a high-visibility area like the living room or kitchen.
Videos and the Installation Guide are usually available on the manufacturer site. The install guide includes a tool list and list of accessories or supplies too.
Get the Best Pro Installation Price
The goal is to get quality installation at a reasonable price. Cheap installation workmanship can ruin a flooring job.
The best approach is to discuss the project with at least 3 installers and get written estimates.
Getting vinyl plank flooring estimates from multiple companies can take a lot of time, and you might not be dealing with the top installers in your area.
A quick, convenient approach to getting LVP flooring estimates from experienced installers is to use our Free Flooring Estimates tool.
You provide a little information about your flooring project, and you’ll receive estimates from pre-screened, experienced floor companies that are local to you. And they know they’re competing for the job, so costs are as low as possible.
This is a free, no-obligation service. Of course, you are encouraged to look at online reviews once you have estimates in hand. This ensures getting competitive luxury vinyl flooring estimates from high-quality installers that know what they are doing.
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