Help me choose between Allure Gripstrip and Allure Ultra?

I've got the Gripstrip kind, which is all they had when I bought it back in 2007. It has held up quite well in most ways, better than I expected. The glue has held up very well. It's one of the stickiest things you will ever come across. I thought it might start letting go around heat vents where it gets warm, but it hasn't. Press it down sufficiently when you install it and it should be good. I just pressed really well with my fingers. If you used a floor roller, that would probably be a good idea. Just do it carefully so it's positioned right, because it's hard to unstick and do again. Possible, but hard. You lay one plank down, then lay the next one on it, lining up the edges so there's no gap. Both edges have glue, and they overlap by 3/4" or so. Really quite simple. You use double-sided tape around the edges or any place where you have to cut the planks to fit around something like a heat vent. Cut with a sharp utility knife--you will want a metal straight edge--or heavy shears for inside corner cuts. Make sure the floor you are installing on is dead smooth, and I kept a vacuum cleaner handy to vacuum right before each row of the planks went down so there were no bits of anything stuck underneath. They'll show. I missed a couple. If you've ever done laminate, this stuff installs faster and easier. And quieter. No sawing, no tapping things into place.No dust.

I'm not careful with my floor. My kitchen door is my entry door. I come in with sand on my shoes, and dogs come in with dirty feet. I don't sweep or wash it daily so the sand stays on it longer than recommended on a vinyl floor. The only place this was a problem is under my rolling chair, where the combo of sand and wheels started to make rough spots. I stuck some of the planks together to make a chair pad and over the years the wheels have worn right through the pattern.

I have maple pattern in the kitchen. I have cherry in living room and bedroom. The maple has shown more wear, though it looks good overall and you don't see the damage unless you look or the light hits it the right way. It has some scrapes where a dog dragged a metal food bin, and it got some scratches when I had to use a walker after surgery. It has some gouges where I dropped sharp-edged kitchen implements.

The cherry still looks like new, but it does take less of a beating than the maple in the kitchen.

I'd say to choose a pattern darker than the maple I have, or with more variation in the colour. It will show damage less. I would also recommend that if you are going to beat on something on the floor, put some plywood down first. Put sliders or wheels on anything you know you will move, but even sliders will scratch if there is dirt under them.

I couldn't say if the Ultra would hold up any better. It probably has a thicker patterned layer but isn't any tougher. I mean, lino is lino. It can only take so much abuse. I favour the glued edge, because I have pets and board dogs and they inevitably pee or throw up or spill the water bowl and the glued edges are completely waterproof so allow nothing to seep through to where it can't be cleaned up.

Replacing damaged planks is quite easy, though I haven't done any yet. Probably a bit harder with a click style.

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Allure Gripstrip

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