Overview
Luxury vinyl plank has come a long way. The premium rigid plank we install today, sold as SPC (stone-polymer core) or WPC (wood-polymer core), is 100% waterproof by the makers' own ratings, textured to follow the printed wood grain, and warrantied for decades. We use it in basements, mudrooms, kitchens, and rentals.
Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) & Vinyl Flooring by Kovich & Savard starts at $6/sq ft* for labor, with material quoted separately and the final number set after a free in-home estimate. We service every Massachusetts town listed below, Greater Boston, the South Shore, MetroWest, and Cape Cod, with three generations of family experience. Every job is owner-led.
Where these numbers come from: every price, timeline and job detail on this vinyl & lvp page is set by the owners, Tim Savard and Steve Kovich, and reflects how they price and schedule this work in 2026, except figures credited to another source where they appear.
Luxury vinyl plank installation means a rigid-core SPC or WPC plank, click-lock floating or glued down over a leveled subfloor (the plywood or boards the finished floor is fastened to), and it is the floor we recommend for basements, mudrooms, kitchens and rentals where water would ruin hardwood. It runs in steps: (1) spec mil thickness (1 mil is a thousandth of an inch) and wear layer (the clear protective top film): 12 mil minimum for residential, 20 mil or more for kids and dogs; (2) level the subfloor, because vinyl plank shows every dip underneath it; (3) choose click-lock or glue-down for the room and its use; (4) fit color-matched transition strips wherever the floor meets another surface. The real choice is between luxury vinyl plank from $6/sq ft labor, 100% waterproof and scratch-resistant but not refinishable, engineered hardwood at $10/sq ft labor, real wood that handles slab and radiant heat, and solid hardwood at $10/sq ft labor, which refinishes 4-5 times but does not belong in a room that floods. This is not the right service if you want a floor you can sand and refinish in twenty years (vinyl cannot be refinished; hardwood can), or if you are shopping for bargain product (we won't install vinyl that reads as plastic up close), or if the room is a dry, above-grade living space where you'd rather have real wood (hardwood is the better long-term buy there). Book the free in-home estimate; we check the subfloor, bring samples, and tell you whether LVP or hardwood suits each room.
We won't put hardwood in a basement that floods. We won't put it in a rental where a tenant might run a humidifier all winter. Vinyl plank is the right material for those rooms, and the modern stuff doesn't look like the vinyl your grandparents had.
We install rigid-core SPC where the floor must hold its shape best, and WPC where comfort underfoot matters more than carrying heavy weight. Boards that click together and float over the subfloor are the standard; we glue them down for commercial and high-traffic rooms.
About this service
Vinyl & LVP, the honest one-paragraph version.
Luxury vinyl plank has come a long way. The premium rigid plank we install today, sold as SPC (stone-polymer core) or WPC (wood-polymer core), is 100% waterproof by the makers' own ratings, textured to follow the printed wood grain, and warrantied for decades. We use it in basements, mudrooms, kitchens, and rentals. We do this work across Massachusetts for homeowners, builders, property managers, and small-business owners. Labor starts at $6/sq ft*. Starting labor rate. Final number depends on the product you pick: the thickness of its clear top layer and its core type both change material cost. Every job starts with a free in-home estimate, a written itemized proposal inside 48 hours of that visit, and a fixed completion date. Owner-led, fully insured, three generations of family craftsmanship since 1928.
Vinyl & LVP is one of eight service lines we offer. Most homeowners who book vinyl & lvp also end up using one or two related services from the same crew on the same project, common combinations include refinishing plus custom staining, install plus board-repair on adjacent rooms, and engineered hardwood plus luxury vinyl plank for a basement transition. We coordinate all of them under one proposal so you do not have to manage multiple contractors against each other on schedule.
Three generations of doing this work across Eastern Massachusetts has taught us that the same standards produce floors that hold up for forty years regardless of which service is on the proposal. Subfloor preparation before wood, proper acclimation before installation, three-coat premium finish where the system calls for it, transitions cut to fit every doorway, daily cleanup, and an owner on every site every day. Tim and Steve are the people you talk to, and the people on your floor.
Why choose this
What you get when we do this work.
What sets our vinyl & lvp work apart comes down to 100% waterproof, kid- and dog-friendly and quiet underfoot with the right pad. Each point below is something you can check on your written vinyl & lvp proposal or see on the finished floor, not a slogan.
100% waterproof
Rigid-core vinyl plank shrugs off floods, dishwasher leaks, and pet accidents.
Kid- and dog-friendly
Clear top layers from 12 to 30 mil thick (a mil is a thousandth of an inch) resist scratches that would mark hardwood.
Quiet underfoot with the right pad
A sound-dampening pad eliminates the hollow click that plagues bargain vinyl plank.
How it goes
The 4-step process for this work.
Every vinyl & lvp job we take runs in the same 4 steps, from spec mil thickness & wear layer to trim & transitions. The owner who writes your vinyl & lvp proposal stays on the job through each step, and the proposal lists every step with its date.
- 01
Spec mil thickness & wear layer
Residential should be 12 mil minimum. We push 20 mil+ for kids and dogs.
- 02
Subfloor flatness
Vinyl plank shows every dip in the subfloor underneath it. We level before install.
- 03
Click-lock or glue-down
Method is chosen for the room and use case.
- 04
Trim & transitions
Color-matched transition strips wherever the floor meets tile, carpet, or another room.
Recent vinyl & lvp projects
Real photos. Real Massachusetts homes.
These are photos from our own vinyl & lvp jobs in Massachusetts homes, not stock images. More of our work, including other vinyl & lvp jobs, is on our work page, and at the estimate we can point you to finished vinyl & lvp floors near you.
Considerations for Massachusetts homes
What we look at before quoting vinyl & lvp.
Subfloor and structure: Massachusetts housing stock spans pre-1900 board subfloors laid on beams, mid-century plywood over 2x10 beams, and modern engineered I-joists (factory-made floor beams shaped like a capital I), and we adjust technique for each. Pre-1960 homes routinely have original pine plank subfloor with hardwood nailed directly to it; post-war ranches and capes show 1/2" plywood; newer builds use 3/4" tongue-and-groove OSB (oriented strand board, panels of pressed wood strands) or plywood. Each calls for different fastener length, different acclimation tolerance, and a different read on whether the subfloor needs screwing-down before any new flooring goes over it. We test moisture content with a handheld moisture meter at every job because cupping and buckling (boards curling at the edges or lifting off the subfloor) are almost always a subfloor-moisture story, not a wood-selection story.
Material specification: species (red oak versus white oak versus walnut versus hickory), board width (2 1/4" strip versus 5" plank versus 7"+ wide-plank), grade (select clear versus character versus rustic), and finish chemistry (clear, low-odor water-based polyurethane versus warmer amber oil-based versus matte hardwax oil that soaks into the wood) each move both the price and the lived experience of the floor for the next 30 years. We bring physical samples to the estimate so you see and feel the difference rather than choosing from a catalog page. Pricing scales with those choices: the same room costs several times more in wide-plank European white oak than in narrow select red oak boards.
Adjacencies and transitions: almost every vinyl & lvp project touches a kitchen tile threshold, an exterior door, a stair nose, and at least one HVAC register. We cut every transition to fit rather than hiding the edge under a trim strip, mill the rounded stair edges from matching wood, and blend refinish work into adjacent rooms so the new work doesn't read as a stripe of fresh wood against tired surroundings. That detail work is included in the labor rate, not added as a separate line item.
Dust, schedule, and living in the house: we run HEPA-filtered dust-containment sanders that pull dust into a sealed vacuum at the sander before it reaches the air, and we seal off adjacent rooms with zip walls. Most families stay in the house through a refinish. For an install, plan on the floors being walkable in stocking feet at day 4 and fully ready for furniture at day 7. We coordinate around your life and can work in phases when whole-house occupancy matters.
FAQ
Common questions about vinyl & lvp.
These are the vinyl & lvp questions we hear most at in-home estimates, answered in plain words by the owners who do the work. Got a question that's not here? Call (508) 962-1962 or email us. Tim and Steve answer themselves.
Can LVP go over my existing tile?
Yes if the tile is sound and the grout lines aren't too deep. We'll smooth it with a thin leveling coat or a pad as needed.
Will it look like a 'plastic' floor?
Premium SPC with texture that follows the printed grain and beveled edges reads as wood from 6 feet away. Bargain product reads as plastic up close, we won't install bargain product.
How long does vinyl & lvp take from start to finish?
For a typical 800 to 1,200 sq ft project, an install takes the floors walkable in stocking feet at day 4 and fully ready for furniture at day 7. A refinish runs 4 to 5 days end-to-end. We coordinate around your life and can work in phases when whole-house occupancy matters.
Will Tim or Steve be on-site for my vinyl & lvp job?
Yes. An owner is on every site, every day. Not a project manager, not a salesperson, not a subbed-out crew. The person who measured your floor is the person who runs the work and is the person you call if you have a question two years later.
What insurance do you carry for vinyl & lvp work?
$2,000,000 in liability insurance (it pays for damage to your home) and full workers' compensation (it covers our crew if someone is hurt). Certificates of insurance furnished on request, including additional-insured endorsements for condo associations or property managers that require them.
Do you offer a warranty on vinyl & lvp?
Yes. Written workmanship warranty on every job, plus the finish manufacturer's product warranty on the coating system. If something we did fails, we come back. We answer the phone for years afterward.
How quickly can you start a project?
Most projects start two to four weeks after sign-off. The on-site estimate happens within a few business days of your call, the written proposal lands inside 48 hours of that visit, and the wood acclimates on-site for 5 to 7 days before any nail goes in.
What's included
What you actually get with vinyl & lvp.
Included in the labor rate: in-home assessment of the subfloor and existing material, written itemized proposal within 48 hours, moisture-content testing at delivery and at install, on-site acclimation of raw boards (5 to 7 days for solid, 3 to 5 for pre-finished), three-pass sanding with HEPA dust containment (where applicable), three coats of premium polyurethane with a light sanding between coats (where applicable), transitions cut to fit at doorways and room changes, owner-led job supervision, furniture moving and protection within the work zone, daily site cleanup, and a final walk-through with written care kit. The labor rate is not stripped down to a teaser number that grows once we are on-site.
Quoted separately on top of labor: the wood or product itself (priced by species, board width, grade, and quantity); any subfloor repair we find during prep (rotted plywood, reinforcing floor beams, leveling beyond minor patching); stair treads and their front edges, and risers; custom stain blends beyond a single tone; specialty moldings and transitions we need to fabricate rather than buy stock; and after-hours scheduling for commercial work. Each line item appears on the proposal so you see the math before signing.
Not included, and we will tell you up front: any work outside the scope on the proposal. If we find something during prep that changes the scope, we stop, photograph it, email you a change-order with a real number, and wait for your sign-off before proceeding. We do not silently expand scope and present a larger invoice at the end.
Warranty: written workmanship warranty on every project, plus the finish manufacturer's product warranty on the coating system. If something we did fails (a cup, a lifted board, a finish failure that we caused), we come back. We have been doing this work since 1928 and we plan to be answering the phone for the same floor in twenty years.
Where we provide this service
Vinyl & LVP across Eastern Massachusetts.
Honest expectations
What we will and will not promise on vinyl & lvp.
What we will promise: owner-led work from start to finish, a fixed completion date in writing, full HEPA dust containment where the service calls for it, three coats of premium polyurethane where the finish type calls for it, transitions cut to fit every doorway and room change, daily cleanup, written workmanship warranty, and a phone number staffed by an owner for the years after the job. Free in-home estimate, written itemized proposal within 48 hours.
What we will not promise: a price quoted sight-unseen, a refinish on a floor whose wear layer is gone, a finish type that we know will yellow over the stain you chose, an install schedule that cannot accommodate proper wood acclimation, or work outside the scope on the proposal. We will tell you honestly at the in-home visit if what you are asking for is not a good fit for your floor for your situation and what we recommend instead, even when the recommendation is a smaller project than the one you called about.
Other services
You might also need…
These related services are often done alongside vinyl & lvp, each with its own page, starting price and process. All of them can go on the same written proposal as your vinyl & lvp work, so one visit and one estimate cover the whole floor.
