Does Vinyl Plank Flooring Need to Acclimate?

In short, yes. All flooring is recommended to acclimate to the surrounding environment. Why? Each house has different environmental factors such as moisture that can cause flooring material to shrink or swell. With that being said, the necessary acclimation period is shorter for some flooring materials. 

For example, hardwood flooring needs to acclimate longer than LVP flooring. If the vinyl plank flooring materials arrive later than expected, it's not the end of the world. The first day or two of the flooring installation process is spent on tear up and floor prep. Typically, this ends up being enough time for vinyl plank to acclimate. 

In an ideal world, vinyl plank flooring should acclimate for 48 hours. This allows enough time for the planks to adjust to the temperature and moisture levels. 

The next question is how to acclimate vinyl plank flooring. We've been asked quite a few times if our clients can store the product in the basement. Unless that's where the LVP will be installed, no. LVP should acclimate in the room that it will be installed in. That way, it can properly adjust to the conditions. Simply stack the boxes and let it be.  

Think about going on vacation. Whether it's from cold to warm, humidity to dry heat, it takes your body time to adjust. As humans, we can obviously pack accordingly. Whereas flooring will contract and expand in reaction to the environment. When moving from a hot place to a cooler location, contraction takes place and vice versa.

If you don't acclimate vinyl plank flooring, the natural contraction and expansion of the flooring results in gaps between the planks and can essentially cause the locking system of the flooring to fail. This is why it's necessary to acclimate flooring.