LVT: Like Vinyl Today? It’s Making a Comeback

In the 1990s, carpet was king in commercial construction. But it wasn’t a benevolent dictator: back then, it came with outrageous indoor emissions, had no recycled content, and typically became trash after a couple years of wear. The carpet industry has spent the decades since then reinventing itself. But it looks like regime change is coming.

While Interface was preparing to declare its Mission Zero accomplished, a new player began elbowing its way into the flooring industry. Luxury vinyl tile (LVT) has been cannibalizing vinyl composition tile (VCT) and sheet vinyl for market share over the last few years. More recently, it’s been making swift inroads into carpet’s longtime dominance. In response, all the major carpet manufacturers (even the last holdout, Interface) are now rolling out their own LVT lines.