Well, our Trafficmaster Allure floor installation is complete. If you aren’t familiar with this plank vinyl flooring product you can find it at Home Depot. The product is a fantastic alternative to a peel and stick vinyl tile. At the end of the installation, the product acts as a sheet vinyl would rather than free floating pieces that will gap and slide over time. Any movement should be covered by your final molding piece.
We wrote our initial review of the product here: http://www.wnyhandyman.com/trafficmaster-allure-plank-vinyl-floor-review/
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- Allure Plank Vinyl Installation
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- Plank Vinyl Flooring
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- Allure TrafficMaster
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- Allure Plank Vinyl review
There are a number of videos regarding the installation of the TrafficMaster Allure product. Here are a couple that we found useful prior to installation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILuez7u7Mvw (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khXeJ0E8-Do (part 2)
Installation of Allure Trafficmaster Plank Vinyl from HomeDepot.com (PDF file)
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/72/72845250-3948-4c77-824f-50f17da70f63.pdf
Summary of Allure Trafficmaster Plank Vinyl review:
Pros:
- Price
At less than $2 per square foot, this is a good value for the money. In fact, you can run over to Ebay and pick up a Home Depot or Lowe’s couponto save an extra 10%!
- Ease of install
No special tools are needed. Similar install to a peel and stick tile without the slippage and separation. Cuts with a razor knife and detailed cuts can be made with shears. Since this is a floating installation, you don’t adhere to the sub floor making it a much cleaner DIY floor. - Durability
The product has a thickness to it that won’t allow it to show many imperfections through. With many vinyl flooring products every crack and void in your subfloor will show through. The vinyl planks are about 2x the thickness of an inexpensive sheet vinyl product. This will help with durability and smoothness of surface
Cons:
- Errors aren’t simple to correct
If you make a mistake when applying this product, you are not going to be able to pull a single piece out with ease. The adhesion achieved when placing the pieces is nearly impossible to undue. If you make a mistake, you might have to backtrack quite a bit. - Instructions don’t fully cover the detailed steps
As with other laminate installations undercuts should be made at door jambs and molding should cover your outer gap for the best result. This isn’t covered in the basic instructions that come with the product. To achieve a professional looking result, this should be done. If you don’t have one, consider a Factory-Reconditioned Dremel Multi-Max.
I would absolutely use this product again or recommend it to any DIY’er. Easy and a solid looking end result.
I read several reviews where there is a strong chemical smell associated with the Allure Traffic Master vinyl flooring – Is this true? Apparently, the people felt it presents a viable health hazard? Your opinion?
JD,
We have not noticed the strong chemical smell other than when laying down the flooring. The glue on the tongues might have been the strong smell, but it is no different than working with any other vinyl product with an adhesive. Hope this helps.
http://www.WNYHandyman.com
Great post.
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My father had Traffic Master Allure tile installed in 09/2016 and it had a horrible chemical smell. One month later his house still had a chemical odor and this was after he had opened windows to let the home air out. In 01/2017 he developed a Petechiae type rash. His local, country PCP said it was caused by allergies and gave him a steroid shot and the rash went away. The first of March the rash came back as well as extreme fatigue. By 03/20/16 he could hardly walk, he was so weak and tired. He was hospitalized on 03/27/16, diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of lymphoma (angioblastic t-cell lymphoma) and died on 04/22/16. I was told this form of lymphoma is environmentally caused. Could the noxious odor emitted by the tile have caused his lymphoma? Hmmm….think twice about what you install in your homesAAA