Porcelain or luxury vinyl tiles with underfloor heating?

edrewdle

Hi, first post so be gentle. Also, sorry if this isn't the right board.

We're having an extension done with a new kitchen/living/dining room that will have underfloor heating. We were all set to have porcelain tiles but a few people have sung the praises of LVT to us.

We went to a friend's house yesterday. They have had similar work done and we found their tiled floor to be a bit cold underfoot (heating wasn't on). Has anyone got experience of both? I've read underfloor heating works best with tiles, is that true and how much of a difference is there? Is LVT a bit warmer underfoot (when heating is off) as I imagine it to be?

All thoughts gratefully received.

FreeBear

Can't compare tiles & LVT with UFH, but... I have LVT flooring in my kitchen. Quiet underfoot, easy to lift should it be needed, and not at all cold. I used 5mm wood fibre underlay for most of the floor and some 5mm thick foam in another area by an outside door. If I were to do the whole floor again, I'd use the foam - The underlay provides a little bit of insulation (both for sound and heat) and also evens out any small lumps & bumps in the floor.

My Sis has tiles in her kitchen, and some of them have come loose and the grout is starting to look a bit icky after five years or so. Small children & dogs can make quite a bit of mess.

rach_k

I can't help with the underfloor heating part but we had porcelain tiles in our kitchen and they were always cold and absolutely freezing in winter. We now have LVT and it's so much warmer. We actually chose not to have any heating in the kitchen when we redid it and the LVT floor is comfortable even with bare feet in the middle of winter, first thing in the morning before the room heats up through use. It's a concrete floor with a layer of screed so nothing particularly insulating underneath.

As FreeBear said, I prefer LVT for other reasons too - quiet, easy to clean, easy to replace a single tile, no grout to stain... and also looks nice if you find one you love.

FreeBear

rach_k wrote: »

As FreeBear said, I prefer LVT for other reasons too - quiet, easy to clean, easy to replace a single tile, no grout to stain... and also looks nice if you find one you love.

One thing I should have mentioned - There are different types of LVT flooring. Some are glue-down tiles, and won't work with underlay (also best left to professionals to install). I used a click system floating floor tile which is dead easy to fit, and fairly easy to lift if/when a tile needs replacing - Or, if like me, you have a manhole in the middle of the kitchen (don't ask why....).

One downside of LVT flooring - If you place a heavy object on it (a table for example), it can leave an indentation. It is recommended that stools & other furniture have a cork pad glued to the bottom of each leg.

CKdesigner

Hi

LVT from a decent manufacturer is great. I would tend to avoid the Far East made products (Carndean for instance) as they are not the same quality as the European made ones.

However, the important factor for the OP is the underfloor heating part and that works best, by far with porcelain tiles. Sure when the heating is turned off the tiles are cold, but this is welcome on those hot summer days!

Also with many porcelain tiles you can continue with them outside as a patio area, this really looks fantastic and gives you a real sense of expanding your living space to outside.

In my opinion it!!!8217;s a simple choice!

CK