Which floor for which room

The busiest floor in most houses, and the one that gets everything spilled on it.

Glue-down LVT is the first choice. It is fully bonded, so there is no joint for water to run through and nowhere underneath for it to sit. It takes the point loads from appliances and island legs, it copes with a mopped floor, and at 0.55mm it is comfortably above what a domestic kitchen demands.

Click SPC works and is a good DIY option. Just remember that a floating floor must be free to move, so units and islands go in first and the floor goes round them, never underneath.

LVT and SPC are waterproof products. Wood is not. That settles the category.

Between the two, glue-down has the edge for anywhere that gets properly wet, for the same reason as the kitchen: no joints for water to travel through. In a normal family bathroom, either is fine.

Wet rooms are a separate case. Most standard LVT and SPC is not rated for a wet room installation, and some manufacturers say so explicitly. A wet room needs a specified sheet or welded system with sealed edges, not a domestic tile laid normally. If the project is a genuine wet room, email us before ordering.

The hardest-working floor in the house, because everything that ever scratches a floor arrives through the front door on the bottom of a shoe.

Specify 0.55mm minimum here, whatever you do elsewhere. And put down proper walk-off matting, long enough for several steps. Matting does more to protect a hallway than any upgrade in wear layer.

Both LVT formats work. Glue-down gives the most design options, which matters in a hallway because it is the room people most often want a pattern or a border in.

The easy rooms. Low traffic, no water, no heat extremes.

This is where you can buy on looks. It is also the only place a 0.3mm wear layer genuinely makes sense, in a spare room or a bedroom that sees light use.

This is the room that catches people out, and it is not really about the floor. It is about the adhesive.

A glazed room swings through enormous temperature ranges. A dark floor behind glass on a south-facing wall gets far hotter than anyone expects, and vinyl expands when it is hot. Fit it with a standard adhesive and the tiles creep, joints open, and edges lift.

Glue-down LVT with a high-temperature adhesive is the answer, such as UZIN KE 49 HT. See Why the right adhesive matters.

Click SPC is dimensionally stable, but in strong sun and a big glazed space check the manufacturer’s guidance on maximum area and direct sunlight before committing.

Two things decide this one, and both favour glue-down.

Expansion breaks. A floating floor needs a gap at every wall and, above a certain run, a break with a threshold bar. In a large open plan, that means trims appearing across doorways and openings. A bonded floor runs continuously, wall to wall, with no breaks at all.

Underfloor heating. Open-plan ground floors usually have it, and glue-down conducts heat much better than a floating floor with attached underlay.

If the look matters and the space is big, this is a glue-down job.

Glue-down LVT is the practical choice. It bonds to the tread, follows the nosing, and stays put.

Click SPC is not suitable for stairs. A floating system needs to float, and a staircase gives it nowhere to do that. Some manufacturers allow it glued with specific nosing profiles, but as a general rule, do not.

Stairs also need thinking about for grip. Look at the slip rating, and consider stair nosings with a contrast edge.

Desk chairs destroy floors, and it is the castors doing it rather than the floor being weak.

Use Type W castors designed for resilient flooring, undamaged, or put down a chair mat. Adhesives such as UZIN KE 49 HT are rated for castor use to DIN EN 12529, and good LVT is tested to EN ISO 4918, but that assumes the right wheels.

Glue-down is the better choice here, because a rolling load on a floating floor pushes it around over time.

Different priorities: turnaround speed, repairability, and surviving people who do not own the place.

Click SPC is usually right. It goes in fast, needs no adhesive and no drying time, and can be lifted and relaid. A room can be turned round in a day.

Specify 0.55mm minimum. Below that you will be replacing floors every couple of tenancies, and the cheaper tile stops being cheaper the second time.

Short version: glue-down, 0.7mm, high-temperature adhesive.

A bonded floor cannot creep or open at a joint under trolley traffic, it takes a scrubber drier, and the adhesive under it can be specified to support wet cleaning. Check the usage class as well as the wear layer, because that is what a specifier will ask for.

Dogs bring in grit, and grit is what actually scratches floors. Claws are the smaller half of the problem.

• 0.55mm or 0.7mm wear layer.
• A textured or embossed finish hides marks far better than a smooth gloss one.
• Matting at every external door, and keep it clean.
• Avoid a very dark, very smooth floor. It shows every scratch and every paw print.
• Choose LVT or SPC. Textured finishes hide everyday marks particularly well.