Overheard a builder say LVP doesn't need expansion gaps... yikes

I was at a supply house last week and heard some contractor telling his apprentice that luxury vinyl plank doesn't expand so you can butt it tight to the walls. I almost choked on my coffee. Every single manufacturer I deal with says you need at least a quarter inch gap around the perimeter. I've pulled up maybe 10 LVP jobs this year alone that failed because of no expansion room. The planks buckled right at the seams after one hot summer. Has anyone else had to fix these nightmares from people skipping the gaps?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse9884d ago

Must have been the same guy who told my neighbor you could lay LVP right over carpet pad. We pulled up his entire first floor last spring after three months. The planks had shifted about half an inch in some spots and looked like a jigsaw puzzle someone dropped. The worst part was he had already moved his fridge and stove back in place so we had to work around them like some kind of kitchen obstacle course. Took four days to fix what should have been a one day job.

aaron_gonzalez4d ago

You ever walk into a job and just know it's gonna be a mess before you even start? That kitchen obstacle course thing hit me hard. We had one where the guy didn't leave any gap at the doorways either, so the planks pushed up against the threshold and buckled like a wave. Ended up having to unscrew the whole door frame just to get the new stuff to lay flat. It's brutal having to unfix someone else's shortcuts when you know they could have saved everyone the headache with five minutes of prep work.