Armstrong VCT are available in residential and commercial patterns and the commercial are thicker.

Mop-n-glow will be your friend.

Find an installer that heat welds and you can get sheet goods with colored insets, no problem. Ask abuot recommendations at your local flooring store that caters to the trades. Someone who installs for hospitals and schools will have all of the tools and skill set.

We recently installed marmoleum click tiles in the kitchen in a striped pattern. Two months in, I'm very happy with the floor. It is very easy to clean- I usually use a swiffer wet mop and it's fine. We just moved our stove to install a tile backsplash this week and realized that the stove had left an indentation, but I think this is to be expected considering how soft the floor is. During the backsplash install my husband dropped a tool on the floor and it made a tiny dent, but since there is some color variation in the tiles it is not that noticeable. My two complaints would be that the company stopped making transition pieces (we didn't find out until after we ordered) so we had to figure out another option at the last minute. Also, we chose the lightest color of marmoleum and it does show dirt very easily, but that's to be expected with any light floor.

Based on your priorities I think VCT is your best bet.

I've had Marmoleum sheet in my kitchen, kids' bathroom, guest bedroom, and den for 15 years. I've loved it. We have 3-4 dogs at any one time and have raised three children with it on a ranch. It does dent and gouge, but over time, the dents and gouges become less noticeable. I think that's because it's a matrix rather than a layer material. After 14 years, the area where our dog bowls are as well as the place where the shower mat is in the bathroom have started to disintegrate. We have had no other water issues even though my washer has flooded three times. I only recently found out that you are supposed to treat the Marmoleum periodically with something (linseed oil maybe?). Perhaps if we had done that, the water damage would not have occurred, but I'm tired of it now, so am going to replace it anyway.

We have Marmoleum in kitchen and downstairs bath, VCT in laundry and studio space. I love the Marmoleum as it is softer and just warmer feeling under foot. If the price was the same (it's not!) I would have used it in the other spaces as well. They both seem equally easy to take care of and have lasted us 10+ years looking pretty pristine, but we are not terribly hard on stuff.

Thanks all for your responses!

Lori, does the VCT maintain it's gloss (if any) better than the Marmoleum?

Both Marmoleum and VCT look great in samples, but I don't know which maintains it's shine better. I'm not too wild about a dull looking floor.

Hi, Andy-- funny you should ask that because I'm planning to do a little experiment later this weekend. We have no finish yet on the studio floor and I didn't want it glossy (as in high gloss-- think Target store or school cafeteria), but wanted something more matte. Not flat, but satiny. I would put the Marmoleum in that category. I just didn't want to spring for 5.00 SF in a studio and worry about it getting trashed, so went with the VCT.

I've been having a hard time finding anything other than a gloss finish material intended for the VCT. (I've found a couple, but not locally and shipping is more than the product cost, which is just annoying.) Went down to the basement and found that what we have to use on the VCT there is Armstrong Shinekeeper. Well, that floor is not really very shiny. But then it gets a fair amount of foot traffic and not much maintenance. A casual mopping of spills, and that's about it. It has probably only had the finish applied a couple of times in 10 years. Still, it cleans up good! I'm thinking that it isn't shiny either because I just apply the stuff and don't buff it, or simply because it's been so long since it's been applied. Anyway, I'm going to clean it and put the stuff on it tomorrow and see if it's a finish I can live with.

The Marmoleum is never glossy, but has a nice finish that is pretty much like what you see in the samples. I use the Forbo cleaner and finish on it every once in a while and it looks like new when I'm done. But I've seen Marmoleum in a friend's house that really looked bad after several years. Dog plus lack of maintenance? I don't know.

The look is quite different, with the VCT having those smaller "splotches" for lack of a better term, and the Marmoleum having "swirls." I could not find a Marmoleum color that worked for the studio as they tend to have a yellower cast due to the linseed oil and I needed something whiter/grayer. Have you found color combos in both that you love? The colors in VCT are almost limitless.

Lori, after doing exhaustive research this weekend and looking at both Marmoleum and vinyl, I have come to the conclusion that I should be looking for not VCT, but LVT (luxury vinyl tile), which is supposed to have a urethane top layer that helps lower maintenance.

In LVT there are plenty of color choices in the commercial range from Mannington, based on what I've seen. I also liked the color choices in Marmoleum, but my understanding is that it may show more scuff marks than LVT.

Glad you found something you like. Nice to cross another decision off the list!