Waterproof Flooring

Q: I’ve been Googling in a search for waterproof flooring that’s not tile. I found one company, Foresta Waterproof Flooring, which makes fake wood out of PVC but they have no distributor in Florida. I need only about 700 square feet, so a wholesaler isn’t going to be too interested.
I was wondering if you know of any other company that makes a similar product and has a Florida seller. I’d have to see it and walk on it before deciding.
Why waterproof? Our house has been unlucky when it comes to water damage and it’s been from multiple sources—roof leaks, plumbing leaks, water heater blowouts, you name it. I read your blog response to the man with the leaky basement, but bare concrete won’t work for us and there’s no one source of water anyway.
I need new flooring upstairs and don’t want any more wet carpet nightmares and wood or laminate seems equally vulnerable. Already have tile downstairs but nobody wants tile in the bedrooms.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Marilyn S.
A: My first bit of advice is do NOT install wood flooring or carpet, as both are susceptible to water especially wood floors. Wood and water do not mix! I will mention I do not prefer installing any flooring when there are continual moisture issues, but at the same time I understand your plight and since the area in question is not a basement, you have some room to work here.
The floor I would suggest looking at for this particular project is Mannington’s iCORE. Before we get into talking about this product I will warn you that all of my vendors for this product get this as a special order only, which means they don’t allow returns on it. What does this mean for you? It could be very difficult to find a decent display of this product locally.
iCORE itself is similar to laminate, but with a composite core rather than wood. iCORE has a rather tedious install process, but once done it is a great product. For iCORE, you will need to use splines and an adhesive to connect each plank to the next plank, but in doing this you get a great stable core. The only issue you could run into with iCORE is it is meant to be floated over an underlayment; however, you could glue this product down to ensure nothing in your floor will get moisture damage. Since the flooding issues you are encountering are not considered “normal use” any warranty you have would be voided by a flood.
The good news is, this floor was designed for higher moisture environments, like a bathroom. So if your looking for a floor that can handle some water, iCORE is a good one to take a look at.