Luxury Vinyl Tile Costs Guide

Hard floors are becoming ever more popular sellers here at Flooring Megastore and whilst there are several different types of hard floors available on our website the one that continues to outsell the rest of them is Luxury Vinyl Tiles, or 'LVT' for short. They are the perfect package of realism, practicality and performance with plenty of different designs and effects available to choose from. This costs guide aims to break down the different LVT types to consider, their typical price ranges, and what our recommended ranges would be within those brackets to take a look at.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring (LVT) is a type of floor that is made to last. It's made up of multiple layers of PVC with a printed design sandwiched between the backing and the wear layer, made to typically replicate wooden or tile floors. The surface layer, (known technically as the wear layer) usually embossed in a way that conforms to the design of the print. So if you have a real rustic wooden plank design, with several knots seen within the plank, LVT's with 'registered embossing' you'll be able to feel those knots and deep grains within the top layer, making the product even more realistic. Being made primarily of PVC it takes the room temperature very well and isn't cold to touch like real stone floors would typically feel.

Luxury Vinyl Tiles are best segregated by wear layer and the price brackets will follow in tandem. Most vinyl tile wear layers come in three thicknesses. Those are usually 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm and 1mm. Thinner wear layers will tend to be the nicer on the budget whilst the thicker you go the more this will push the price up. From a performance perspective, whilst a 0,3mm product will be very tough for a home installation with minor levels of foot traffic, it won't last as long as a product with a 1mm wear layer at the other end of the scale. Below is our advised breakdown in price between each wear layer:

Starting from the bottom, luxury vinyl tiles with this wear layer bracket are perfect for small home installations, such as 1-bed apartments or homes with light foot traffic without pets. Domestic guarantees will be offered by most manufacturers and are typically around the 10-year mark. So you can see even in the lowest wear layer bracket you can keep the costs down per square metre whilst still benefitting from extensive warranties. 

Our recommended brand in this category is: Quick-Step

Luxury Vinyl Tiles in this bracket turn up the strength notch slightly and would be the perfect benchmark to look for if you have a family home with young children and pets. The increased wear layer will provide added durability for exited animals and kids. You'll also find in this bracket there is a huge array of different manufacturers, ranges, and products to choose from so if you're struggling to source your new floor, this category would be a great start. Warranties in this bracket will be typically around the 15 - 20 year mark and may carry a commercial installation approval. 

Our recommended brand in this category is: Distinctive Flooring

Last but not least we have the strongest group of the LVT bunch. Products within this section are built to last and to be installed in the most demanding of locations such as offices, shopping stores and hotels. They're perfect for those that want the very best in strength and design in both commercial and residential installations. You'll find this range has the most on-trend designs and laying patterns, so herringbones, chevrons, and beautiful victorian tile collections will be readily across a number of different manufacturers. Warranties will be near the 25-year or lifetime mark and will be fully approved for installations in commercial spaces too which will reassure you of their strength. 

Our recommended brand in this category is: Berry Alloc

Installation of these beautiful floors is very subjective to the condition of the subfloor they're being installed on and if you've chosen a glue-down or click-system product type. If it's a brand new concrete base, at a new-build property, for example, this will usually require very little preparation work to the subfloor before a glue-down floor can be installed. Glue-down Luxury Vinyl Tiles will, in almost all cases, require the subfloor covered in a fresh layer of screed (also known as self-leveling compound) to smooth out any minor undulations and/or imperfections in the floor. Whilst you may not be able to spot any imperfections with the naked eye, they can show up through the floor after it's installed if it's not been corrected through screed or repair mortar beforehand.

Once the floor is smoothed over with screed, installation can take place. Now if your chosen floor has a very simplistic plank or tile design this will help to keep the labour costs down for fitting. On the other hand, if you've chosen a parquet or intricate chevron or Victorian tile design, this will increase in costs for labour due to the detail and time required to get the perfect finish. We've broken it down below what you should typically factor in on top of the cost of your chosen LVT.

Screeding: £10.00 per square metre

Fitting: £12.50 per square metre

Total: £22.50 per square metre

Screeding: £10.00 per square metre

Fitting: £25.00 per square metre

Total: £35.00 per square metre

Fitting: £12.50 per square metre

Total: £12.50 per square metre