COREtec Plus: Why We Chose It, Why We Love It, and Why We'd Do It Again

Note: This blog was published independently of COREtec. It is not sponsored. These items were not gifted. This is our honest opinion of COREtec Plus!

When we purchased our first home, one of the biggest drawbacks was wall-to-wall carpet. Knowing that this could be replaced when budget allowed, we didn’t let that affect our decision to move forward with the purchase.

However, it took longer than we’d originally expected to replace it. Call it analysis paralysis, or budget constraints, or a little of everything— but the carpet stayed much longer than originally planned.

Trip #1000 to Lowe’s looking for a good replacement

The biggest driving factor to move forward with new floors was that we had not one but TWO babies crawling around on the Lord-only-knows-how-old carpet, and the germaphobe in me just couldn’t take it. So many stains. So much dust. So many years of grime— YUCK.
My research began.

We spent months looking for the perfect option. Our home also features brick floors, but these wouldn’t be easily extended throughout the home— plus, it’s a very hard surface for little knees.

We loved the idea of hardwoods, but they were very cost-prohibitive, and I worried that we’d ruin them quickly with abandoned sippy cups and bulldog paws. It would have been a big investment with a high probability of needing to spend money to either replace or fix them before we listed our home (which we knew was coming down the pike eventually.)

We spent ages in Home Depot and Lowe’s, online, and on social media looking for the perfect option.

It was ultimately a friend who had just re-floored her basement that alerted me to our winner: COREtec Plus— printed PVC with a cork backing.

HERE’S WHY WE CHOSE IT:

It’s Completely Waterproof

Unlike hardwood floors and most LVP and engineered floors, COREtec Plus is completely waterproof. That means that when the aforementioned sippy cup is left out, your floors won’t warp. This was a huge selling point to us as a young family living in an older home. What if the bathtub overflowed? With this flooring, we knew we’d be okay— you just take it up, let it dry, and lay it back down.

4-Year Update: I cannot tell you how thankful I am that it’s waterproof! We’ve had a washing machine overflow and flood the hallway, a hot water heater die (while we were on vacation!) and flood the hallway and two bedrooms— and we could STILL keep our floors! We took them up, let them dry in the sun, and had our installer come back and re-lay the floor. We kept an extra box around in case they needed to make any additional cuts in the future for this purpose and I’m so glad we did.

It’s Practically Indestructible

The first thing I thought when I held a sample was that it seemed more substantial than the other flooring samples we’d looked at. It has a thick, durable top and a cork backing. My immediate thought was that the cork would make it a quieter floor to walk on (spoiler alert: I was right!)

4-Year Update: After living with it for so long, I can attest that it is actually indestructible. 4 kids, 2 dogs, countless scooters and spills and you name it— it’s still in GREAT shape. The one place that we’ve noticed a change is under one of the corners of our bed. The weight of the bed and pressure from the post created a small indentation in the floor.

It Can Be Floated

We live on a slab, and I didn’t love the idea of having to glue something down in case we ran into issues down the road and had to/wanted to take it up. This floor can be floated on a slab (i.e., it requires no additional backing between it and the floor), which was a big selling point.

It’s Relatively Easy to Install

Because we have small children, we decided it would be best to hire this project out to save time and sanity. I’m very glad that we made this decision, but I do think that if we really wanted to, we could have installed it ourselves. Our installers did comment on how easy it was, though, and our installation was done in 2 days!

It Looks Really, Really Good

I really loved the selection available and had a hard time deciding on what style to go with. In the end, I chose the XL Style (7 inch width) in Olympic Pine. I wanted something that made our rooms feel bigger and I loved the rich stain of the wood. It also had a good pattern variation (meaning that it was unlikely that two identical boards would end up next to each other), as well as a nice texture on top.

4 -Year Update: These floors still look great! Visitors are usually shocked to learn that it’s not real wood and we are complimented frequently on the look.

5-Year Update: It Was a Major Selling Point for Our Home

As many of you know, we have since sold this home and are now restoring a historic home. I was a little concerned about how our flooring would affect resale value (so many buyers are dead-set on hardwood), but let me tell you: it was a HUGE selling point! Once we told potential buyers why we loved it so much, they quickly saw the draw and the value. Young families, especially, were eager to learn about it. We marketed it in our listing as “hardwood style flooring” and even those people who chose not to buy our home still wrote down the name for future reference.

So, there you have it! Our honest, unbiased review of COREtec Plus.

We would absolutely use this material in future homes and recommend it for other homeowners as well.

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