Many homeowners who have heavy furniture such as sectional sofas, dressers, and other heavy items such as pianos and gun safes have a common concern about whether or not their vinyl plank flooring can easily support the weight of these items without causing any damage.
This is a common concern because many vinyl plank floors are not designed to support the weight of heavy furniture.
Given that vinyl plank flooring is a floating floor, this is an issue that should be taken seriously. The planks that make up a floating vinyl plank flooring are often assembled utilizing a modified tongue-and-groove system at the edges and ends of each board. The tongue and grooves that were machined into the boards give them the ability to interlock with one another.
This installation method has several drawbacks, the most notable of which is its inability to support significant weight on the floor.
You see, when an extremely heavy piece of furniture or equipment like a piano is placed on the floor, the excessive direct pressure that is exerted on the joints and planks causes buckling if expansion and contraction are restricted. One example of this scenario is when a piano is placed on a hardwood floor.
How much weight is the vinyl plank flooring that you may put down?
Grand pianos can weigh as little as 500 pounds or as much as 1400 pounds, making them one of the heaviest types of pianos. Different models have different weight capacities.
Some upright variants, in particular those that are at least 48 inches in length, can weigh as little as 300 pounds, while others that are longer than 48 inches can weigh as much as 800 pounds.
Pianos weighing up to 1400 pounds are fully capable of being supported by the vinyl plank flooring that you have. However, you must position floor protections underneath the feet of your piano to prevent any damage to the floor.
You might want to try putting felt furniture pads on your piano if it doesn’t have any wheels. The weight of your piano may be distributed equally across the subfloor of your vinyl plank flooring by using felt furniture pads, which do an excellent of preventing damage to the subfloor. These pads offer an additional layer of defence against dings and scratches for your delicate flooring.
The X-Protector Felt Furniture Pads come highly recommended by me because they form a sturdy barrier between your flooring and your piano, thereby protecting the piano from scuffs and scratches and distributing its weight evenly, which prevents the planks from bowing under the piano’s heavyweight and preventing the planks from buckling.
Protective caster cups, such as the ones sold at the WOGOD Store Upright Piano Caster Cups, should be used if your piano features wheels. I would suggest the Sound Harbor Store Piano Caster Cups Grand Piano if you have a grand piano.
These caster cups will not only prevent the piano from damaging your vinyl plank floors by preventing scratches and dents caused by the piano, but they will also support and uniformly distribute the weight of the piano, which means you won’t have to worry about the floor being damaged.
Additionally, gun safes are very heavy, and as a result, most people are concerned that they would damage the flooring in their homes.
A gun safe’s weight can range anywhere from 200 to 600 pounds up to 1600 pounds. There are also gun safes designed for commercial use that may weigh up to an astounding 5000 pounds. Of course, you probably won’t require the placement of a gun safe that is designed for commercial use.
Assuming that you have a gun safe that weighs 1600 pounds, the vinyl flooring in your home is robust enough to support the weight of the safe. However, just like with any other piece of heavy furniture, it is essential to install something underneath to prevent the flooring from bowing under the weight.
You can go one of two ways:
- Installing a piece of plywood in this location can help to equally distribute the load while also protecting your floor from scuffs and gouges. It is highly recommended that you purchase Amazon’s The Woodpeckers Store Premium Baltic Birch Plywood. It has an extremely low weight despite its extreme durability and a great degree of steadiness. Put it directly below your large and massive gun safe. It would be even more ideal if the floor was covered with a carpet, as this would provide an additional layer of protection.
- The second choice is to install a heavy-duty mat such as the Rubber-Cal Shark Tooth Large Duty Mat. This type of mat serves to protect the subfloor from damage that could be caused by heavy furniture, machinery, or other types of heavy items. Rubber is notorious for reacting with the chemicals contained within vinyl plank flooring, which can cause discoloration. However, since this particular mat is made of rubber, it might be a good idea to place a felt pad right underneath it. This is because rubber is notorious for reacting with these chemicals. The RUGPADUSA 1/2-Inch-Thick-100-Percent-Felt-Protective-Cushioning-Rug-Pad is a fantastic rug pad that will protect your vinyl flooring from becoming stained by the rubber mat.
How Can I Move Heavier Furniture on Vinyl Plank Flooring Without Causing Damage?
If you are moving or moving a piece of heavy furniture from one room to another, you should avoid dragging or pulling it across the vinyl plank flooring. You run the risk of damaging the flooring by scratching it, ripping it, or even causing the planks to buckle under the heavyweight of the furniture.
You most definitely don’t want this to happen.
If the piece of furniture is too heavy to move by hand, use a dolly and move it across the floor in increments. It is important to have several persons assist you in unloading the furniture from the dolly because dropping it on the floor might cause major dents in the piece or cause the planks to “lift” at the edges.
If you are relocating, you should make sure that experts handle the heavier furniture, and you should also make sure that they are using the appropriate equipment to prevent the floor from becoming damaged.
Use the FLERISE Furniture Felt Pads for Carpeted and Hard Floor Surfaces if you are moving big sofas or other manageable things. These pads are suitable for use on both carpeted and hard floor surfaces. These felt pads offer a smooth felt surface that enables you to move furniture over a variety of hard surfaces and carpets effortlessly and fast while protecting your flooring from scratches and dents. They are not noisy, and their durability is excellent.
Questions That Are Typically Asked (FAQs)
1. Is it Possible to Place Heavier Furniture Upon Vinyl Plank Flooring?
Your vinyl plank flooring is likely to become damaged if you have heavy furniture on it. Because of this, you must place furniture pads or caster cups on the feet of the furniture to protect the floor from scuffs and scratches and also to assist in uniformly distributing the load, which will help prevent damage.
Therefore, you should do all in your power to prevent placing heavy furniture immediately on top of vinyl plank flooring.
2. How Can I Prevent Heavy Furniture from Marking Up My Vinyl Plank Flooring?
As I mentioned earlier, one of the most effective ways to protect your vinyl plank flooring from damage caused by heavy furniture is to use felt furniture pads or caster cups on pieces of furniture that have wheels, such as pianos.
Because vinyl floors are so pliable, they are easily damaged, particularly when subjected to the weight of large pieces of furniture.
When moving large pieces of furniture across the floor, you must make use of furniture sliders, as was previously mentioned.
How much weight is the vinyl plank flooring that you may put down? – Bottom Line
One of the most effective and often used flooring options is vinyl plank flooring. It is dependable, steady, and simple to keep up with.
Vinyl plank flooring, on the other hand, is susceptible to harm when subjected to excessive weight in the same way that any other subfloor is. The good news is that you won’t have to worry about this happening if you use furniture pads or caster cups on heavy furniture and the piano. These two products do an excellent job of distributing the weight of the full load uniformly across their surfaces.
You are free to position heavy furniture or other items anywhere you like on your vinyl plank flooring. As long as you take the required precautions as they have been described, it will not buckle.
