Resilient flooring is one of the most practical of all flooring materials. With resilient flooring, a dropped milk glass has a chance of survival...and the resulting spill is easy to clean up with a damp cloth. Underfoot, resilient flooring is comfortable, skid-resistant, quiet and warm. In addition, it's relatively inexpensive and available in an unbelievable array of patterns and colors. Resilient flooring is made from vinyl, rubber, cork, linoleum and composites, but vinyl is by far the most common material. In fact, the industry uses the term resilient to refer to vinyl.
Vinyl flooring is laid as either sheets or tiles. Sheet flooring is applied from 6, or 12-foot-wide rolls; tiles are normally 12 inches square. Sheet flooring is generally used where a seamless look is wanted; tiles are more likely to be installed by do-it-yourselfers. In fact, some tiles are adhesive backed for easier installation.
Two manufacturing techniques are used to produce sheet vinyl floorings: inlay and rotogravure printing. With inlaid flooring, the pattern goes all the way through to the backing. In manufacturing, vinyl granules are generally applied to a backing through a series of templates, giving the design substantial visual depth. Multiple layers are fused together. Then the surface is given a wear layer for protection.
Vinyl companies like Mannington, Armstrong, Tarkett, Congoleum, Domco offer many styles of residential and commercial tile and linoleum.