Just published in Floor Covering Weekly (August 8 issue) is an excellent article by Brittany Walsh entitled “Loose lay LVT finds niche.” Novalis Innovative Flooring president and CEO, John Wu, provided answers to Ms. Walsh’s questions regarding the business of loose lay LVT. Also featured in her article was the installation of Novalis loose lay LVT in a Magnum Ice Cream pop-up location in Shanghai. (For a look at this beautiful case study, go to our Pinterest pin board.)
Novalis loose lay LVT installation
When asked what are the best environments for loose lay LVT installation, John explains: “Loose lay LVT is really one of the most versatile LVT solutions available. As long as there is a smooth subfloor, you can simply drop the product down, tile by tile or plank by plank, and it’s done. If you want extra security, you can perimeter glue or tape the installation.
How is loose lay constructed? “Loose lay is uniquely constructed with a thick glass fiber layer that makes each individual tile or plank dimensionally extra-stable and temperature resistant to minimize expansion and contraction.”
Not every environment is suitable for loose lay, as John explains: “The only environment that is not suitable for Loose Lay LVT is when you have uneven subfloor, and you don’t want to deal with patching and fixing it. In those cases, we would recommend using a rigid core product such as our NovaCore HPC.”
How important is loose lay to Novalis? According to John: “We make a large variety of LVT, including Glue Down, Click, Rigid Core and Loose Lay LVT and from residential to light commercial to full commercial. Loose Lay LVT still represents a small portion of our total LVT business. However, it is on the very high end of the spectrum and is growing very rapidly. We foresee Loose Lay LVT representing 20% of our total LVT portfolio within 3 years.”
How popular is loose lay LVT becoming? “Loose Lay LVT is not new. However, it is a very difficult product to make and few manufacturers can truly make a good one. There is a growing acceptance of this product by end users, contractors and installers, because they are all seeing the benefits of fast installation and easy repair and replacement. Just lift one up and put one down.”
Is loose lay an attractive option for do-it-yourselfers? “There is definitely a DIY aspect of Loose Lay that consumers will soon recognize. So now is really the time for specialty retailers to get into it before big box stores start getting into it.”
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