Luxury vinyl floor

[RidingMyBike]

Any recommendations for a supplier for luxury vinyl (LVT) floor? We've seen some in Howdens (which is where we're getting our kitchen from) but, of course, no idea how much anything is in Howdens because of their pricing model! So don't know whether it's worth looking elsewhere or not.

It's for several rooms so will be a big area. We'll be having under floor heating installed too.

LVT is not a good flooring type to use with underfloor heating because it is very poor at conducting heat. The LVT will literally trap the heat in the floor and keep it from coming into your home. Which will mean high energy bills and a cold home, the worst combination.

Best flooring for underfloor heat is stone or ceramic tile. Second best is engineered wood.

Weird, our plumber said LVT was the best to use with under-floor heating?

From his point of view it would be because if you ever get a leaky pipe, it’s the easiest flooring to pull up to get to the underfloor heating pipes to repair it, and again the easiest flooring to put back down afterwards. It also is impervious to water damage too.

But for energy efficiency and heat conductivity, it’s very poor.

Hmm, but that's not what he actually said or what it says online - the ranking shows ceramic or stone tiles have 'very good' heat conductivity, engineered wood and vinyl tiles both had 'good' ranking and then different thicknesses of carpet were poorer ratings below that? We don't want ceramic tiles everywhere, engineered wood not practical and more expensive, so that leaves LVT?

Anyone able to answer my question about suppliers of LVT and how they compare price and quality-wise?

We have LVT with underfloor heating. It's fine. We also have tiles with underfloor heating. Hard to compare as one is a small bathroom and the other a huge room ...

Anyway we got our LVT from tapi. Mostly because when we got them during lockdown their showroom was still open for appointment to see it in real life.

It's good. It's held up to family life quite well.

Usually Karndean gets a mention here.
We chose quikstep as it was cheaper and can be fitted by anyone.
Karndean has an approved fitters scheme ( something to do with warranty? )

We don’t have underfloor heating.

Thank you. Think Tapi was one of the websites I looked at earlier. I've seen some Amtico in a flooring shop too but not Karndean for 'real' in a display. So I've just seen Amtico, Howdens and something unspecified in a flooring shop.

Harvey Maria have good designs-we’ve had it in 2 houses and very happy with it.

www.colourflooring.co.uk Our builder didn’t know how to fit this I think we paid 1800 for a fitter to fit through 2 bed and bathroom loft. Fitter was v busy too so had to wait a few months. That was a year ago.

We also got ours from Harvey Maria and are really pleased with it.

I’ve got some Amtico in my bathroom but not with underfloor heating. It was put in shortly before we bought the 1930s house. That was 21 years ago and hasn’t faded or lifted and still looks good.

In my kitchen I love my tile floor. It keeps it cool in the hot weather. It is far better if you have a south facing room than Lino.

We have Karndean in a herringbone design. Had it 3 yrs, its really been put through its paces with kids, animals, spillages etc but still looks as good as new. It's really very durable. It cleans easily and we always get complimented on it.

Ps. My friend has underfloor heating under both LVT and ceramic tiles. The ceramic tiles do conduct heat better than the LVT, but they actually get a bit too hot. Your feet get sweaty on the tiles. Whereas the LVT is a more comfortable heat imo.

Thank you! This is all really helpful.

We’re about to have Amtico laid in our kitchen. Apparently it’s bullet proof and looks immaculate for decades.

I've also got Quickstep. It's lovely and looks great. No underfloor hearing here though.

We are getting this too for the bathrooms . A friend of mine has it it's brilliant.

We used flooringhut, around £250 for 5 boxes including shipping. Very good customer service when courier damaged a box.

We've had Armstrong Rhino floor fitted - we paid to have it put down (which 25 years ago received the equivalent recommendation to Karndean today). Looks like tiles - it's a tile pattern but in one sheet, has worn extremely well and even though there are a couple of stab wounds (knife dropped blade point down) it's not torn or ripped and I've even had people say 'have you got a new floor?' (It was probably just after I washed it- very easy to wash as no cracks or joins).

I’ve have Amtico in 2 of my bathrooms which was laid 20 years ago and still looks fantastic. It’s expensive but if you are the kind of person who doesn’t need to change things up decorating wise regularly then it’s a great investment. It’s in our upstairs bathrooms so we didn’t bother with underfloor heating and it never feels cold underfoot. We do have underfloor heating in our kitchen, downstairs cloakroom and hallway but these areas are tiled. I prefer the tiles, to be honest, I just think they look better and they do heat really well.

We have Amtico in the hall, cloakroom, kitchen/diner/ family room, with underfloor heating. It’s been down since the house was new eight years ago. We use the Amtico products to clean it and I’ve no complaints.