The McKnight Group strives to keep up with advances in building materials. What else would you expect? And we pass along some of the latest concepts in our i3 webinars. Recently, we presented some interior design ideas on café flooring as part of one of those webinars. If your new church design or building project is getting caught up in a tug-of-war between what’s best for the church and what fits into the budget, we want to pass along a good flooring solution presented in our last webinar: Luxury Vinyl Tile, or LVT.
LVT and Your Café
We think that LVT is a great new flooring option, especially for church cafés. When it comes to your café, you want something that cleans easily, is low maintenance, but doesn’t break the bank. Porcelain or ceramic tile is a great choice, but it’s expensive and the grout can be hard to keep clean.
Another option is stained concrete, and there certainly can be cases where stained concrete fits into your church’s vision—who you’re trying to attract, as well as your budget. But there are other times when, frankly, it’s just not going to give the right feel to your lobby or café area.
Crossview Church
The good news is that LVT has come a long way from early vinyl flooring products. We especially like the realistic, wood-grained look of the LVT we installed here at Crossview Church in Grabill, IN. In fact, if you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was actually planks of wood—in part because LVT is manufactured in 36-inch planks and installed with the same layout wood planks are installed.
LVT and Your Church Building Renovation
Brooke Hills Free Methodist Church
LVT is also a great option when renovating an existing church building or creating a café area out of a smaller space. As you can see here with Brooke Hills Free Methodist Church in Wellsburg, WV, the wood-look flooring helps define the small coffee bar area and lets it stand out in the midst of the lobby. Because LVT is also low maintenance, with no wax coating to worry about, it’s also easy to clean and care for a small flooring space without damaging the nearby carpet.
LVT and Other Church Design Options
Crossroads Christian Church
Another advantage with LVT is that you have many design options to choose from since the manufacturing process allows for a great variety of patterns and appearances. For Crossroads Christian Church in Newburgh, IN, we installed LVT that has a stone look. And while porcelain or ceramic tile might be a great-looking flooring option, they’re more expensive and a lot less resilient than the LVT, which is softer—and more foot-friendly—than a porcelain or ceramic tile.
If you’re interested in incorporating LVT into your new church design or renovation project, give us a call at 800-625-6448 and we’ll be happy to tell you more about it. And to learn more about the latest in church design and church building, sign up for the next installment in our free i3 webinar series!