Is waterproof flooring really waterproof?

What "waterproof" means on LVT and click SPC, where water really gets in, and which rooms are fine, with a bathroom floor costed in full.

The quick answer

The planks are. The floor is not. LVT and click SPC are made of vinyl and stone, so water does not swell, soften or stain them. But a floor is hundreds of planks with joins between them and gaps at the walls, and water can get through those to whatever is underneath. So LVT is a good choice for kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms, as long as spills are wiped up and the edges are sealed in wet areas. It is not for wet rooms, shower floors or outside.

This is for anyone choosing a floor for a kitchen, bathroom, utility room or a house with pets and small children, who has seen "waterproof" on every label and wants to know what it means in practice. It covers what the word means on LVT and click SPC, where water really gets in, which rooms are fine, and how to fit and clean the floor so water stays on top. Prices were checked on 12 November 2026 and include VAT.

What "waterproof" means on a flooring label

When a maker calls LVT or click SPC waterproof, they mean the plank. Vinyl does not drink water. Stone plastic composite (the SPC in click SPC) is limestone powder bound in vinyl, and it does not drink water either. Drop a plank in a bucket overnight and it comes out the same size and shape it went in.

That is a real difference from laminate and wood. Laminate has a core of compressed wood fibre, and when water reaches it the edges swell and do not go back. Wood moves with every change in moisture. Our laminate vs LVT comparison goes through it side by side.

What the label does not tell you is that nobody walks on a single plank. You walk on a floor, and a floor has joins.

Where water actually gets in

The joins between planks. On glue down LVT the planks are butted tight and stuck down, so a spill sits on top. On click floors the joins lock together but are not glued, so water left standing can creep down through them.
The edges of the room. Every floor needs a small gap at the walls, hidden under the skirting or a trim. In a bathroom, water running down the side of a bath or shower tray finds that gap.
Round pipes and the toilet. Any hole cut in the floor is a way down.
From underneath. A damp concrete slab or a slow leak under a dishwasher wets the floor from below, where you cannot see it. The plank is fine. The adhesive, the underlay and the subfloor may not be.

The plank never rots. What gets damaged is what is under it: a timber subfloor that swells, a screed that stays damp, an adhesive that loses its grip, or mould in a damp underlay. So when a "waterproof" floor goes wrong, look for the water that got underneath it, not at the planks.

Glue down or click: which handles water better?

	Glue down LVT	Click SPC
The plank	Not harmed by water	Not harmed by water
The joins	Tight and stuck down	Locked, not glued
Underneath	Stuck to the subfloor, no gap	Floats, often on an underlay
After a big leak	Usually dries in place	Can be lifted to dry the floor below
Best for	Kitchens, bathrooms, busy hallways	Upstairs rooms, over old tiles, quick jobs

For a bathroom or kitchen, glue down is the safer choice for most people: there is no gap under the floor for water to travel along. Click has one advantage worth knowing: after a burst pipe, a click floor can often be lifted, the subfloor dried and the same planks clicked back down. Our glue down vs click guide covers the rest of the choice.

Room by room

Room	LVT or click SPC?	What to do
Kitchen	Yes	Wipe spills when you see them. Fit a leak tray or alarm under the dishwasher if it is old
Bathroom	Yes	Seal round the bath, shower tray, toilet and pipes with flexible silicone
Utility room	Yes	Check the washing machine hoses once a year
Hallway	Yes	A mat at the door takes the worst of the wet shoes and grit
Wet room or shower floor	No	The floor is meant to run with water to a drain. Use a specialist wet room floor
Outside, garden room with no damp course	No	Sun, frost and standing rain are outside what LVT is made for

Our which floor for which room guide covers every room, and the best flooring for kitchens post goes deeper on the kitchen.

How to fit it so water stays on top

Start with a dry subfloor. Concrete and screed under 75% RH, timber at 13% or less. A damp slab will wet any floor from below. The tests are in our subfloor preparation guide.
Use the right adhesive for glue down. A high temperature, pressure sensitive LVT adhesive such as UZIN KE 49 HT, spread with an A2 notched spreader, gives full contact with no hollows for water to sit in.
Seal the edges in wet rooms. In a bathroom, run a bead of flexible silicone where the floor meets the bath panel, the shower tray, the toilet pan and any pipe. This is the single most useful thing you can do.
Keep the joins tight on click. Click every plank fully home. A join left slightly open is where water goes first.

The guide to laying glue down LVT takes you through the whole job.

What a bathroom floor costs

Here is the working for a 5 m² bathroom in Daytona Natural Oak plank, our own LVT range, checked on 12 November 2026:

Floor: 5 m² plus 10% for cuts round the bath and toilet is 5.5 m². 5.5 ÷ 3.685 = 1.49, so 2 packs (7.37 m²). 2 x £84.72 = £169.44.
Adhesive: at 3 to 3.5 m² per kg, 5 m² needs about 1.4 to 1.7 kg, so one 6 kg tub of UZIN KE 49 HT at £79.99. There will be some left over.
Spreader: one A2 notched spreader at £9.95.
Total: £259.38 inc VAT, plus a tube of silicone from your merchant.

Daytona has a 0.55 mm wear layer, an R10 slip rating, and a 25 year residential guarantee and a 10 year commercial guarantee, backed by Flooring Monster. If you would rather click, Nordikka Woodland Fir herringbone SPC is £30.02 a pack of 1.114 m² (£26.95 per m²) and has its underlay built in. For your own room, use the flooring calculator and the LVT adhesive calculator.

Cleaning: the water you add yourself

Most water on a vinyl floor is put there with a mop. Use a damp mop, not a wet one, and a cleaner made for LVT such as Textures FloorCare concentrated LVT cleaner (£24.99 for 1 litre, diluted). Do not use a steam mop: the heat and steam are forced into the joins and can loosen the adhesive or lift the edges. Our cleaning and maintenance guide has the full routine.

Waterproof flooring questions people ask

Is LVT completely waterproof?

The planks are not harmed by water. The floor as a whole is not sealed, because water can get through the joins and the gaps at the walls to the subfloor. Wipe up spills and seal the edges in bathrooms and it will cope with everyday water for years.

What happens if LVT flooring gets wet?

A spill on top does no harm: wipe it up. Water that sits for days, or a leak from underneath, can damage the subfloor or the adhesive even though the planks are fine. If that happens, find and fix the leak first, then dry the floor underneath.

Can you use LVT in a bathroom?

Yes. Glue down is the safer choice, and the edges round the bath, shower tray, toilet and pipes should be sealed with flexible silicone. It is not for wet rooms or shower floors, where water is meant to run across the floor to a drain.

Is click SPC more waterproof than LVT?

No. Both cores are unharmed by water. The difference is the joins: glue down planks are stuck down tight, click planks lock together but are not glued, so standing water can find its way through more easily.

Can I mop LVT flooring?

Yes, with a damp mop and an LVT cleaner. Avoid soaking the floor and never use a steam mop.

Is LVT good with pets and children?

Yes. Spills, bowls and accidents wipe off without staining the planks. Clean accidents quickly so they do not sit in the joins. Our pets guide has more.

Next steps

Order up to five free samples and put one under the tap: you will see what the plank does.
Browse the Daytona range or the click SPC floors.
New to LVT? Start with what LVT flooring is.

Written by Flooring Monster. Facts and prices checked 12 November 2026. Moisture figures are from BS 8203; product figures are from our live product pages. Questions? Call us free on 0800 870 8795.