25 May What is SPC Flooring (Stone Plastic Composite Flooring)? A Comprehensive Look at its Pros and Cons
Today’s flooring market is divided into three main categories: solid wood flooring, engineered wood flooring, and laminate flooring. Among them, laminate flooring has the shortest history but incorporates the most advanced technology and styles. Today, we’re introducing the newest SPC flooring – it’s waterproof, easy to install, and has quickly become a popular choice of flooring. Read on to discover more.
What is SPC Flooring (Stone Plastic Composite Flooring)?
SPC Flooring, also known as Stone Plastic Composite Flooring, is a new type of flooring material primarily composed of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and natural stone powder. It falls under the category of PVC flooring, with a thickness of approximately 6-8mm, known for its strength and durability. SPC flooring boasts good sound insulation, moisture resistance, and environmental advantages. The appearance and structure of SPC flooring resemble that of laminate flooring. Its installation process doesn’t require any adhesive, reducing formaldehyde content, and offers a longer lifespan, making it popular in Europe, America, and Japan-Korea, and widely used in residential and commercial spaces.
In fact, SPC flooring is the leader among current flooring materials for water resistance. It is made by extruding a SPC substrate with an extruder and the PVC wear layer, PVC color film, and SPC substrate are heat bonded at once. The process is completely glue-free, assuring easy installation of a formaldehyde-free, waterproof flooring that is effectively resistant against mold, moisture, fire, and insects.
Structure of SPC Flooring
The structure of SPC flooring primarily consists of five layers: the UV layer, the wear-resistant layer, the vinyl layer, the primary material layer, and the backing layer.
- The UV layer serves as a protective coating on top, increasing the SPC flooring’s resistance to wear and staining while maintaining its color.
- The wear-resistant layer, typically made from transparent PVC material, enhances the flooring’s wear resistance, providing effective protection against scratches.
- The vinyl layer, often referred to as the printing layer, is responsible for giving SPC flooring its distinctive appearance through printing technology.
- The core layer is composed of mixed inorganic limestone minerals, PVC composite materials, calcium carbonate, and stabilizers. This composition greatly improves the floor’s durability, compression resistance, and resistance to deformation.
- The backing layer is crucial for stabilizing the flooring and protecting it from expansion or shrinkage due to fluctuations in moisture or temperature. Often, IXPE is used as the base material, achieving moisture-proof and sound-absorbing effects, thus sometimes being referred to as the mute layer.
SPC Flooring vs Solid Wood Flooring
SPC flooring primarily incorporates inorganic limestone minerals and PVC composite material, providing wear-resistance, durability, perfect waterproof and moisture-resistant properties, high stability, and resistance to deformation. In addition, it offers an easy installation process – using a click-lock installation method that allows for easy DIY fitting.
Solid wood flooring, on the other hand, offers a genuine feel underfoot with the most natural wood grain patterns that are unique to each piece. However, it requires more extensive maintenance and a more complex installation process, including regular waxing, and it is prone to deformation.
Pros and Cons of SPC Flooring
Advantages of SPC Flooring
- Easy to Maintain and Clean
The main material of SPC flooring is limestone mineral and PVC composite, offering excellent waterproof and moisture-resistant properties, which makes maintenance and cleaning effortless. Users can simply use a damp mop to clean, which is perfect for the humid climate of Hong Kong. - Scratch- and Wear-Resistant
SPC flooring has a hard touch, and the wear layer in its structure protects the floor from being easily worn. You don’t need to worry about pets or furniture movement scratching the floor, making it an ideal choice for homes with children or pets. - High Stability
SPC flooring mixes inorganic limestone minerals, giving it exceptional stability. - Environmentally Friendly
The primary ingredient in SPC flooring is a non-toxic, renewable resource that is environmentally friendly, free of formaldehyde, lead, and benzene. It doesn’t contain heavy metals and carcinogens, soluble volatiles, or radiation. It’s a reusable flooring material, truly achieving natural environmental protection.
Disadvantages of SPC Flooring
- High Requirement for Ground Levelness
The installation site for SPC flooring requires a high level of flatness. There cannot be more than 3mm unevenness of levelling in a 2-meter diameter area. If the floor is not flat enough, the floor lock may break or deform. It is recommended to be used only on flat surfaces. - Hard Texture
SPC flooring feels closer to stone material with a harder and colder touch.
Applications of SPC Flooring
SPC flooring is suitable for many places, such as indoor homes, hotels, shopping malls, libraries, etc. Furthermore, if you want to renovate your old home on a budget or wish to have a wooden floor without the need for real wood maintenance, SPC flooring is an excellent choice.
How to Maintain SPC Flooring
● For daily maintenance, begin by vacuuming dust from the floor, followed by a gentle wipe using a wrung-out dry cloth.
● Clean the flooring with a damp mop. Use a mild detergent diluted in an adequate amount of water for cleaning.
● There is no waxing required for SPC flooring.
● When moving furniture, it is advised to lift any pieces to avoid causing scratches on the floor due to dragging.
● It is also recommended to stick protective pads or covers onto the bottoms of tables, chairs, and cabinets to avoid scratching the floor.
Get in Touch
GPM offers one-stop professional flooring installation services in Hong Kong, Macau, and China. As a proud distributor of various prestigious European flooring brands, we import cork floors, LVT floors, laminate floors, engineered vinyl floors, engineered wood floors and flooring technologies to provide high-quality services to architects, interior designers, premium hotels and office towers, residential homeowners, etc.
If you wish to install SPC flooring or simply want to learn more about our solutions, do not hesitate to speak with our sales team today.