How does anyone choose LVT flooring?

[thenewaveragebear1983]

When there are a million different, almost identical types and when the samples arrive they look Nothing like the pictures??

every sample I have had just looks plasticky and cheap, no colour variations at all and very unlike wood, which is categorically not how the website describes them!

Amtico quote is £3500, which is way above our price range. There must be a decent mid price option?

please help me, I’m going stir crazy!!

We have quickstep in our kitchen. I think they all look like plastic tbh, I wouldn’t have in a living or bedroom but they are great for kitchens and bathrooms.

You need to go to a big flooring showroom. Karndean is as good as Amtico, cheaper, and there are a lot that look more realistic. It's great stuff actually - easy care and warm and no need to have the awful beading which was my main reason.

I used to work for a flooring contractor, we would've recommended Karndean as a cheaper alternative to Amtico. You need yo go look at them in a flooring contractor/shop. They'll possibly be able to recommend commercial installations they've fitted as well.

Go to a local showroom….to be honest they are much a muchness for price I found…karndean, amtico, moduleo….. it’s the labour that probs costs more than the product…..but go cheap on labour at your peril….there’s so much labour involved in the different stages but you can’t cut corners….we’ve had ours down 6 years….hall, back room, kitchen , utility and bathroom…..I can honestly say it looks no different to the day it was laid

My parents are choosing this right now and have looked at loads … Floorify coming out top so far (MUCH better than amtico or karndean)

We have LVT in all our bedrooms and throughout a flat that we own. We went for moduleo as a more affordable option and I am very happy with it as it is so easy to keep clean.

I have Quikstep in both bathrooms. I chose the most expensive range, as my plumber, who has it at home and install it regularly in bathrooms, told me that that range was the hardest wearing. It looks very like real wood.

I think you have to see them all in a display to get a good idea and narrow it down, and see bigger pieces too. Tones can be difficult to judge online. The samples are good to take away once you’ve narrowed it down. Polyflor was a good LVT when I looked & a bit cheaper. I didn’t end up going for LVT in the end but I’ve seen it recommended on here.

IMO a lot of the ‘textured’ LVTs look more fake, especially if light is going to be hitting them. Essentially they are an incredibly well done photographic print of stone/wood etc. so important to understand that.

I thought Karndean was more expensive than Amtico?

Thanks all.
I can’t afford Amtico, the quote was £3500. Although that was for their parquet replica, maybe a different type would be cheaper I guess. Room is 25m2 (7.5 x 3.5 m) so it’s a big room.

I need to find a showroom for non-karndean/Amtico/moduleo brands I think. If they are all similar prices/quality then they are all out of my reach unfortunately. Our builder has a fitter that he works closely with on lots of jobs so I could use him for fitting.

this is the first big decision in my renovation that’s left me stumped.

We have Polyflor Camaro Loc throughout the downstairs of our house and although you wouldn't be fooled that it's wood on a close inspection it does look really good from normal standing height! DH persuaded me to go for a darker colour than I initially wanted and I have to admit that he was right - we have 'dark oak' and it looks much better than the lighter options would have.

That being said, laminate has come on a lot since we laid that floor five years ago. I've just had Quick Step Loc Laminate laid in DS's bedroom and it looks excellent so the budget options need not be a disaster!

I went for Polyflor parquet-style all through my downstairs - cost around £3000 all in for large hallway, dining room and kitchen. Fitting company came to the house to measure up, quote, and brought large boards as samples so that I could see what it looked like. It helped that a friend had already had the lighter version fitted. I'm really pleased with it as I'm on a single-track so bring a lot of mud in the house - it's been down 2.5 years and it still looks like it was laid only yesterday.

I used these guys - they were brilliant, and the screed and floor were done in two days - www.luxuryflooringmanchester.co.uk/

flooringking.co.uk/shop/luxury-vinyl-tile-lvt/polyflor-lvt/poly-camwood/2252-georgian-parquet/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA6LyfBhC3ARIsAG4gkF811TafmQUoi0T-dI7VJoRY-UbWg8woiFvoDrZ_9FBTXQQh17Ipf6waAmOGEALw_wcB

We got samples from ‘direct wood flooring’ - we went for this one:

www.directwoodflooring.co.uk/herringbone-light-grey-oak-lvt-flooring.html

looks amazing and the floor guy who normally puts down Amtico etc said he was impressed with it etc.

Parents have had Pergo down for over 25 years. Looks like it was layed yesterday.

every sample I have had just looks plasticky and cheap, no colour variations at all and very unlike wood, which is categorically not how the website describes them!

LVT is made of plastic. The V stands for vinyl which is a type of plastic. It is also not recyclable in most places.

Personally, I think all LVT is a scam.

🙄

Luxury Vinyl Tile= Plastic squares you glue to your floor. 🤷‍♀️
The “luxury” adjective is just marketing. Shouldn’t cost thousands of £££

I don’t know, when you hold a decent quality one they feel like a very highly engineered material. They aren’t just squares of plastic. The cost per square metre isn’t ££££ it’s just the size of the room I’m doing that’s making it soooooo expensive. My friend did her downstairs hall and kitchen for £1500 🤷‍♀️

my issue wasn’t the cost or the material anyway, my issue was how to choose one! There’s literally thousands and thousands available and I’ve ordered hundreds of samples and none of them look right 😢

They are highly engineered and hard-wearing. They won’t dent or warp like wood, for example. Prices of any building material have gone through the roof along with everything else. You probably do need to add at least £1000 on top of what it would have been 18 months ago. Do you want light? Dark? Wood? Stone? Warm? Cool?

🙄 bet you jealous cos you got manky carpet or shit laminate .....saddo

It’s vinyl. It’s always going to look a bit shit, no matter what you pay. It’s lino, cleverly branded as something different. A decent laminate (Egger Halifax Oak is good) will always look better, cost less and be more hard wearing. I do this for a job, LVT will never be in my house!

@Buildingthefuture that’s really interesting you say that because of all the samples, it’s a laminate that I keep being drawn back to. Builder has said that lvt is a better product (he makes nothing out of either choice so it’s totally impartial) which is why I feel like we should go LVT. Plus it’s waterproof, which laminate isn’t, and as the room opens into the garden, we think that’s a good idea.

@smooththecat now I’ve accepted that we cannot afford to match my parquet floor, I have more choices. I’d like a plank style (eg not chevrons or herringbone) and what I really want is a rich, warm, ‘golden’ almost chestnutty colour. I like the imperfect nature of wood, and I think that’s what’s causing me the issue- they are too uniform. I am going to have to make my peace with this aren’t I?

Same here. It’s shit and it’s shit for the environment. We’re supposed to be aware & reducing plastic use and yet millions of little plastic squares are being glued into homes every year. All destined for a landfill one day.

I agree good quality laminate is a better product for lower materials cost, but LVT is the easiest to install so contractors push it as less work for same money

@thenewaveragebear1983 LVT is not actually waterproof - it’s glued down? If you put enough water on LVT, it will lift. Unless you are planning on having an actual water feature spraying all over your internal flooring, a good quality laminate will serve you better.

What about natural wood? Can last decades and is recyclable at end of life. I just had recycled wood floorboards in my kitchen and they look great.