Luxury Vinyl Tiles LVT

Chickenman1108 · 1 December 2017 at 9:01AM

Hi All
I am due to move into a new flat soon. It's a new build and doesnt come with any flooring.
I have pretty much decided on Luxury Vinyl Tiles. Unfortunately I cant stretch to Amtico but I've seen a number of slightly cheaper options that I'm keen on.

Apparently the floor will NOT be screeded before moving in. However, all of the LVT that I am looking at uses the "CLICK" system. So it will be a "floating" floor and will need underlay.
My question is, do I still need the floor screeded if I'm using underlay? It is my understanding that underlay helps even out any slight imperfections in the floor so I dont see why I'd need it screeded first?

Also, I have read that I should leave the packs of tiles in the flat for at least 24 hours to acclimatise before laying them (to allow them to expand etc).
I'm going to be very short of time (I literally have 3 days between moving out of my rented flat into my new flat) and would like to get the floor all laid before I move all my furniture in. This may sound silly but assuming the new flat is similar in build to where I am currently living (temperature wise I dont see why it would be any different - particularly in comparison to, say, a warehouse??) can I leave the tiles in my EXISTING flat to acclimatise, before transporting them to the new flat?
Obviously I dont want to do anything that could compromise the quality/look of the floor - I am just working to really tight time frames.

Any advice would be much appreciated

J_B · 1 December 2017 at 9:33AM

Do you have wooden floor or concrete?

We've just been through this in our renovation project on the Welsh coast.

Mrs B found a 'flooring advice forum' which was quite helpful.
http://www.flooringadviceforum.com/

Don't really know about temperature, but guess your home would be ok for 'conditioning'

We initially chose Polyflor as it ticked all our boxed both quality and price wise, but sadly (apartments needed to conform to Building Reg acoustic rules) PF insisted that we used their underlay, but 'rules' said we needed something different.
We then went with Lifestyle
http://www.lifestyle-designerfloors.co.uk/designerfloors
Crap website, but good product, we think.

Good luck

Chickenman1108 · 1 December 2017 at 12:13PM

Thanks so much JB.
Ours is a concrete floor.
It's also in a flat where we have downstairs neighbours.
The developers (Barratt) were willing to lay Amtico but were charging extortionate amounts to do so. So I assume something with similar charateristics to Amtico will suffice with regards to sound insulation. There's nothing specific set out in our leasehold contract - it just says consideration must be given to prevent noise disturbance.
Those websites look really helpful. Thanks so much again for your help - its much appreciated

orangecrush · 1 December 2017 at 1:08PM

We've just fitted Polyflor Camaro Loc on a concrete floor, albeit downstairs in a 60s house. The Polyflor feels solid, and looks fantastic. As we had a cowboy builder problem, and have run out of money, we had to skimp on underlay.

Our concrete floor is pretty wonky, and you can notice some of the really prominent faults, but mostly you wouldn't notice the odd lump. We didn't bother screeding as we felt that we wouldn't get it exactly smooth, so we were trading one lump for another lump. It depends how smooth the concrete is - I doubt in a new build it will be half as bad as what we have.

On acclimatising it, I think it will be fine going from one house to another. Our supplier said their warehouse was unheated, so at this time of year will be baltic. But if it's going from one heated house to another, a few degrees won't make a massive difference.

Good luck with it

FreeBear · 1 December 2017 at 1:51PM

Fitted click'n'lock LVT flooring in my kitchen a few months back. Half concrete, and half suspended wooden floor. Although the concrete half was pretty flat, there was a step between the two halfs, so I had to pour some self leveling compound (SLC) to correct the levels. Left me with a slight problem with a manhole cover in the middle of the floor (don't ask why)...

Used some 5mm woodfibre underlay (designed for laminate flooring), and that covered any unevenness on the wooden floor - The manufacturers don't recommend woodfibre underlay, but I've not had any problems so far.

If the OPs floor is smooth and reasonably flat, then SLC or additional screed shouldn't be needed.

One tip with LVT flooring - If you're going to be putting heavy furniture on the flooring, you will leave indentations in the tiles. Put some LVT offcuts under the feet and it will reduce the marks. Chairs & stools will benefit from having felt pads stuck to the bottom of the legs.

Davesnave · 1 December 2017 at 9:44PM

When I've had LVT, the fitter has laid levelling compound and then returned the next day to lay the floor.

Holes up to about 30mm deep have been sorted like this with no drama. Looks fine.

Luxury Vinyl Tiles LVT

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