Can anyone advise me on LVT flooring please?

[InTheCludgie]

Hi we are having a new kitchen fitted soon and are looking at LVT. A kitchen fitter friend has advised to get no less than 6mm thickness as it gets damaged easily and looks worn quickly however it's not been easy to find LVT of this thickness.

I've heard people rave about Amtico, Karndean etc but looking into Amtico most of their thickness is about the 3mm mark. Am feeling a bit confused and overwhelmed with it all. Can anyone offer advice or opinions please?

Bump

I think with LVT it’s very important to have the floor totally level before laying it. It will need screeding even if there are very small bumps/unevenness in the floor. It’s also important to choose the right underlay.

Honestly, I would advise visiting a couple of reputable flooring shops and asking their opinion. In our experience kitchen fitters/joiners will try to suggest the easiest floor to lay (normally click vinyl), rather than the best quality or the floor that’s right for your space.

For context, we have 4mm thick click LVT which hasn’t aged well. Our floors weren’t completely level when it was laid (by our kitchen fitter) and it’s also very reactive to heat - we have it next to our patio doors and we can’t keep the doors open on a hot day as the heat causes the floor to raise.

I’m not saying I wouldn’t recommend LVT by the way! But I think you’d be best getting a good quality one like Amtico/Karndean as you’ve mentioned, and having it fitted by a professional floor fitter

I think your friend is confusing laminate (which is easily damaged and better quality brands are thicker planks) and LVT which is definitely not easily damaged and you will not find in the kind of thickness you have been told to look for!

Top quality LVT brands are Amtico and Karndean. I have both in my home. It's very hard wearing and looks amazing when laid well.

It's all in the fitting though - you need someone who really knows what they are doing. Your fitter will assess your floor and determine what needs to be done to ensure a good quality finish.

Also look at Polyflor LVT as there are different qualities and some are commercial standard for restaurants.

I have just bought some from Costco

They have one that's waterproof (for kitchens) and it's really good value

What I seem to remember about LVTs is that the manufacturers' warranties (10 or 25 years depending on make and range) are only valid if installed by an approved installer. There are very few of them around, up here in the North West at any rate, and even fewer who will install ones that you have bought from somewhere else.

So if you want to take advantage of the warranty it is much more expensive than it seems on paper for the cost of the LVTs themselves, not least because no approved installer will lay them without laying their own screed first.

Our kitchen is tiled, but we went for Polyflor for our conservatory. It worked out a bit cheaper than Amtico or Karndean, they are local to us in Manchester, and the tiles we went for are made from 40% recycled materials. They've been down three years now and get a hammering - as well as dirt etc trailed in from the garden, wooden furniture and kids' toys being dragged, not to mention temperatures ranging from freezing to 45 deg C plus, we also use it as a wet entrance - but it's all looking good as new.

Karndean have ranges which cover all price points from Poly for to Amtico. Whereas Amtico just do high end.

High end us mostly about having a grain in the resin for a more natural texture and a better looking image rather than thickness. Although it is slightly thicker.

I can recommend a visit to the Karndean showroom if you are near Evesham

We had amtico in our kitchen when we moved in. It never seemed clean and our 3 big dogs scratched it getting in and out of the back door. We replaced it with tiles as soon as we could.