There were lots of reader comments on my recent story about Armstrong Royelle Rock Hill Stone vinyl sheet flooring — including from Sarah. She and her husband actually used this very inexpensive vinyl flooring throughout their midcentury modern house — as a placeholder until they can get to installing a wood floor some time in the future. I think it looks great! 
This floor is very inexpensive — just 49 cents right off the roll at Lowes. Several readers questioned the long-term durability and indeed, I checked the warranty — the Royelle line has just a 1-year limited residential warranty — it’s at the bottom of Armstrong’s list. Even so, it may suit your needs. Sarah’s experience so far, she wrote:
How funny… we just installed this exact sheet flooring in our living and dining rooms earlier this year (1961 mid century ranch). We had disgusting carpet and senior dogs that were only making it more disgusting. My husband is on the frugal side, and he’s also a Geologist so it wasn’t hard to talk him into this option. It’s only temporary (we’re adding red oak hardwoods to match the bedrooms once we no longer have dogs), and we really don’t “live in” these rooms right now, so they don’t take too much traffic but… it’s held up spectacularly. It makes cleaning up dog messes a breeze, and it doesn’t soak up smells the way carpet does…. I’m double pleased with my choice to see it featured here!
Beautiful house, Sarah! Thanks for sharing photos of this flooring, installed!
Link love:
Kristie P says
This looks perfect! I really want to get Royelle for my kitchen/entry in my 1968 ranch. It’s a sad story. I’ve got approx. three-year old, really poorly installed large-format tiles with crumbling grout and several broken tiles. Even if I didn’t mind it aesthetically (I do) the condition is non-sustainable. I’ve seen nothing else on the market that comes close to the authenticity of this- I know my house had this kind of floor when it was built, and crazy as it sounds, I really prefer vinyl to tile anyway. The only thing that makes me nervous is that it gets so many poor reviews. I wish Armstrong would make this in even a mid-grade product… Even at the bargain-basement price, I’m not sure if it is worth the risk.
Pam Kueber says
Hi Kristie,
Check out our flooring options here: https://retrorenovation.com/category/kitchen/flooring/
Take a look at this Karndean design, it’s pretty awesome: https://retrorenovation.com/2012/06/27/mosaic-tile-flooring-in-12-vinyl-tiles-in-5-colors/
Re the breaking tiles: Is your floor level and smooth? In my experience with my 12″ VCT tiles, that’s the issue causing cracks and breaks. If you floor is not level or has any bumps or is not perfectly smoothly prepared underneath, vinyl is going to break too…
Kristie P says
I am sure we will have to do some work on the subfloor, whatever we put down. From underneath, you can tell they replaced some of the plywood, and as the worst lippage occurs right over one of those spots, I’m sure they didn’t get it totally flat or level. Thanks for the other suggestions- I really like the faux-terrazzo look too. My biggest issue is trying to find something that will look good in both the kitchen and entry, as they are connected, and I think it would look choppy if I did something different in each space.
Pam Kueber says
“Lippage” — is that real word? Works for me! We had to do a few thousand dollars of work UNDER our subfloor to fix the lippage problem in our kitchen. Still it’s like Princess and the Pea under my Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze floors. (1) I think they had to be reinstalled initially because the subfloor was not adequately/smoothly prepared and (2) on one tile, there’s a wee wee wee ‘pea’ under on of the tiles and it has cracked.
Jenny says
Did you ever find a solution? I have the *exact* same dilemma — 1961 rambling ranch with very tired vinyl flooring that needs to be replaced. I would love to do slate in the entryway, but don’t want slate in the kitchen, so… what to do, what to do!
Would love some suggestions from the RetroRenovation crowd!
Evelyn Scott says
If you hadn’t of told me, I’d have thought it was terrazzo! Great idea! Go you! How bold! I’m sure you have inspired others.
I think it works well here because your walls are white and decor is minimal.
Thanks for inspiring us.
GlenEllyn says
This look reminds me of the house we had in Florida many years ago. It had terrazzo floors and I really liked them. It was such a clean, simple look. No worries over spills and traffic.
With that said, I’m very happy to see more pattern choices when it comes to vinyl flooring. I’m not a tile person since it strikes me as a bit cold (hey, I live in MN). I need new flooring in both my kitchen and bathroom and since it’s an older home (1926) I’m excited to see choices that skew more vintage.
Thanks for sharing!
Mary Elizabeth says
Great house. Love your minimalist decorating. I can picture the dogs running through there without hindrance.
The original flooring in my 1959 ranch was all linoleum, a different color in every room. Some of it had sparkles! The original owners eventually covered it with carpet, but we pulled up the carpet and installed hardwood right over it. I might have kept it in some of the rooms, but it was too worn.
Leslie says
I am inspired! I live in my parent’s ranch home built in 1963 and underneath the “needs to be replaced” carpet is a very similar vinyl flooring. I always liked it as a child but as the 70’s approached – so did wall to wall carpet. I’m going to look into this. Thanks Sarah!
Allison says
Considering that this sheet vinyl is on the thin side, I am thinking about installing it over floating floor-type underlayment to give it some additional padding.
Cut the underlayment an inch or two smaller than the room, stick down the underlayment, and stick the vinyl to the room edges and in the middle in a few places. I think it might work quite well if cutting the upper surface can be avoided.
Sharon says
My 1980 vinyl I was told would need replacing in about 2 years is still here. High traffic kitchen area definitely needs replaced but not other areas except for bad underlayment areas. Sarah’s new floor may be there for decades.
Karin Jeffrey says
What a gorgeous minimalist home. I know they’re saving for some permanent oak flooring, and this looks great for now. Have you looked into the option of buying recycled gym flooring or used oak flooring? I sometimes see this type of flooring for sale on eBay and local resellers. Great post, made my day.
Eliza says
You know what – I’m an idiot!!! The living room carpet in our 1965 ranch is a mess (and that doesn’t even include where our puppy ate a huge section of it). We bought a cheap area rug to cover a lot of it, but its still hideous. We could do this same thing and have a decent floor in there and actually be able to use our living room!!!!
Carolyn says
Haha! Watch, this’ll hold up much better than expected and the cost of new flooring will keep putting that project on the back burner “for now”. Now, because of the busy pattern, dust, dirt, what-have-you will be less noticeable compared to wood floors which also may factor in when pondering the switch. They’ll find out watching that entry doorway how well this will stand up to normal wear&tear.
Another couple of Haha’s! Nice coat/hat rack – wonder where you got THAT idea?! Planter by the fireplace? Hanging next to the entertainment center?
Nice mix of “old” and new/old!