Glue down vs. click-fit vinyl, pros and cons

dunroving

Ho hum, am being let down by a floorer who was supposed to lay glue-down vinyl planks in my concrete-floored living room (long story - I had a water leak; see separate thread on DPM).

He had recommended glue-down vinyl, based on a better fit, and no need to allow for expansion via beading at the edges. He seemed to be reluctant to lay click-fit. I think another issue he identified was if there is a problem, it's easier to remove a plank or two of glue-down, whereas with click-fit, you'd have to remove more flooring to get at the offending area.

I spent a lot of time researching, and had settled on Hessian Oak from the Karndean Van Gogh range.

I have a back-up, but he doesn't lay glue-down (he's a kitchen fitter, and can lay flooring as part of the job). He typically lays Quickstep Livyn, but I got some samples and wasn't too keen (much less realistic pattern than the Karndean).

It would be simpler for me to go with the back-up, as he's already doing work for me, but wondered if it's better to hold out and try to find another floorer who will lay glue-down.

[FYI, both people intend to lay screed/self-levelling compound before installation)]

Just wondered if the wise folk on here know of other major pros and cons to decide between glue-down or click-fit? I couldn't find a past thread on this specific subject.

FreeBear

My opinion - Glue down requires a professional that has all the right tools to install the flooring. Whilst it is possible to lift a single tile, it will trash it, so you need to make sure you have spares from the same batch.

Click-lock tiles are easy to fit, even by a competent DIYer. If you can take skirting boards off, the expansion gap can be hidden when they go back on without the need for trim strips. If you plan the layout and start from the right end, should you ever need to lift the floor, it can be done with minimal disruption.

Laying the tiles on a concrete floor, there is unlikely to be any need to lift the flooring during its lifetime. The only reason that springs to mind is if one tile gets severely damaged, but LVT flooring is pretty robust and long lasting.

I have a manhole in the middle of the kitchen floor (this sort of thing was permitted "back then"), as a consequence, the click-loc tiles are laid in a way that I only need to lift a dozen or so to get to the cover.

oddjobbpb

I have had click together vinyl flooring that looks exactly like wood, you can spill stuff on it etc it's brilliant and looks fantastic ....and no waste either.

got it from howdens about a year ago, £16 + VAT per sq m inc underlay

highly recommended

PasturesNew

Personally, with no experience at all ... I'd say delay it, don't go with "the man who does a different job, but is prepared to give this flooring a go for you" because he'll possibly farq it up AND if he does you'll be hating him for that and hating him for making you change your mind about what you want.

Delay the lay.

Find another floor fitter, not just a bloke who can allegedly fit you in and have a go.

My dream flooring is the glued down sort, which I've seen in one house and looks splendid. I've seen click flooring in many places and it always smacks of "cheap job" to me.

dunroving

PasturesNew wrote: »

Personally, with no experience at all ... I'd say delay it, don't go with "the man who does a different job, but is prepared to give this flooring a go for you" because he'll possibly farq it up AND if he does you'll be hating him for that and hating him for making you change your mind about what you want.

Delay the lay.

Find another floor fitter, not just a bloke who can allegedly fit you in and have a go.

My dream flooring is the glued down sort, which I've seen in one house and looks splendid. I've seen click flooring in many places and it always smacks of "cheap job" to me.

To be fair to Steve (kitchen fitter), he is a very skilled person, and his carpentry is first class. He simply quoted for flooring on the kitchen replacement, and was cool when I said I was going with glue-down. It's good in a sense that someone acknowledges their limitations - as far as I know, he is very capable of laying click tile and doing a good job. He's just back-up in my own mind at the moment - he doesn't even know my glue-down guy is going AWOL..

I've hit a few roadblocks with tradies not responding, so I was reluctant to hit restart and try to find another floorer. Having put in the legwork (I even visited the Karndean showroom in Evesham), searching out another flooring specialist who is local is probably just as much work as researching click flooring to find one I like.

phoebe1989seb

We've fitted Karndean in the bathrooms (and one kitchen) of a few previous houses and were very happy with it. I'd definitely choose that over the click together stuff

Doozergirl

C&C Flooring in Redditch
KSH flooring in Bromsgrove

Both will do the Karndean. C&C are a bigger company and the fitters are more 'can do', in my experience.

I've only used the glue down, but I'd consider it the better product. Presumably the price reflects that.

dunroving

Doozergirl wrote: »

C&C Flooring in Redditch
KSH flooring in Bromsgrove

Both will do the Karndean. C&C are a bigger company and the fitters are more 'can do', in my experience.

I've only used the glue down, but I'd consider it the better product. Presumably the price reflects that.

You are a rock star! Have just emailed C&C and will call them to get the ball rolling.

dunroving

I thought I'd post an update to tie up this thread. I often find a search pulls up threads with problem questions, suggested answers, but often no "resolution" (what did the OP end up doing, and did it work?)

So ... thanks to Doozer, I called C&C, who specialise in commercial properties but also do domestic jobs.

They suggested a number of solutions to the fact I had a damp subfloor (see other thread about DPM, etc. here)

I ended up with a rapid drying DPM, and a rapid drying/curing self-levelling compound, which were applied on Day 1.

On Day 2, they laid Karndean Looselay luxury vinyl planks in Reclaimed Heart Pine - not cheap! However, this is rated up to 95% relative humidity. Although my floor eventually did dry, with no signs of rising damp, and I had a DPM installed to stick with the insurance company's, I decided to play it safe and go with a product that is rated to high humidity. In contrast, glue-down was only rated up to 75% relative humidity.

Looselay is literally laid loose on a prepared sub-floor. They did use a product called Tackify, which helps the planks to stick, but this is not as strong as a glue. The floor looks absolutely fantastic and I'm very pleased (so, thanks for the recommendation, Doozer!)

Looselay is much easier to lay than glue-down, so the initially higher cost was balanced with the lower installation charges.

I think the total cost came to about £100 per meter squared, but this included laying the sub-floor and DPM.