laminate vs luxury vinyl on concrete floor

kokolino23 · 21 January 2020 at 2:06AM

Hello,
Long story, I've had another thread here but I'm still not convinced what the best option would be to improve the temperature in our kitchen. I will insulate some of the walls as well so I can't do anything more on that side.
Basically, a few years back we had new flooring fitted over a concrete floor. The builder at the time said that there is no point insulating the concrete floor in the kitchen because the hous is fairly new (1998-2000) and there is already insulation in place. So he went for screed floor and on top of that luxury vinyl flooring (amtico). Now is damn cold !!!
So I was looking to have some insulation on top of this existing flooring and then another floor on top.
From my research, if we go for LVF again (click clack), the thicker underlay would be 1.5mm and I don't think will provide much thermal insulation, even though one side has aluminium.
If we decide for laminate flooring, the underlay can be thicker (between 3-5mm) but the laminate would be colder than the LVF ?!
I'm not sure what can provide a better insulation and warmer feeling.
Thanks a lot

Doozergirl · 21 January 2020 at 3:02AM

I suspect it isn't the floor but the walls causing your cold issue. We've laid plenty of LVT on uninsulated concrete and it's fine underfoot in a warm house.

Nor is 10mm of backing insulation for laminate floor going to help.

A 1990 house is unlikely to have much insulation! Check your walls and roof space!!

kokolino23 · 21 January 2020 at 10:37AM

Doozergirl wrote: »

I suspect it isn't the floor but the walls causing your cold issue. We've laid plenty of LVT on uninsulated concrete and it's fine underfoot in a warm house.

Nor is 10mm of backing insulation for laminate floor going to help.

A 1990 house is unlikely to have much insulation! Check your walls and roof space!!

I'm talking about the kitchen so there is nothing to do with the roof. The rest of the house is warm, every single room heats up very quickly and holds the heat very well. I made a mistake with the year, is 1998-2000, not 1990.
Also, why the floor is very cold if is not down to the concrete floor? Yes, I get the point about the overall insulation but I didn't expect the floor to be THAT cold. Is the same type of LVF used in high street shops but I've never seen anything that cold there.

Cheers

Kiran · 21 January 2020 at 11:29AM

Just to add a bit to this, the concrete is very unlikely to be the problem. If you have insulation below a concrete slab vinyl flooring is still going to feel cold when compared to say carpet. There is no way to retain the heat. The nature of a room with a lot of hard finishes is that they will feel like they cool down faster.

Concrete in itself will act as a thermal store so its also worth looking at the walls and windows as mention in the previous post, but also checking that you have sufficiently sized radiators etc.

You can get infra red thermometers and you can locate the areas that are getting cold, if it were me I'd give this a try first before committing funds to work which may prove to be unnecessary

-taff · 21 January 2020 at 11:37AM

Your kitchen has two outside walls. As doozergirl said, check those. Those two outside walls kind of suggest your kitchen ceiling is a flat roof or similar.
That also kind of suggests [ if the room does nt heat up and stay warm the way the rest of the house does] that it's the insulation in those two walls and the roof which is contributing to the rooms coldness.

FreeBear · 21 January 2020 at 12:53PM

Doozergirl wrote: »

Nor is 10mm of backing insulation for laminate floor going to help.

When I replaced the floor in my kitchen (half timber, half 1970s uninsulated concrete), I put down 5mm polystyrene underlay with click-loc LVT. It certainly made a difference to the feel underfoot compared to the original lino that had been in there.

Agreed, 5mm of insulation isn't going to help much in combating heat loss, but sometimes, even small changes can improve perceptions. It might be worthwhile if the OP had a look at heating in the kitchen - A plinth heater would be one option to consider.

kokolino23 · 21 January 2020 at 1:40PM

I don't really fancy a plinth heater because my wife doesn't want to damage the kithen at all. The radiator should be big enough, more than 8000BTU (I've got another thread recently for this) but I can fit even a bigger one.
Insulation is the main thing, I agree with that 100%.
I can't figure out if we've got single or double brick walls but there is no insulation on the interior walls at all, just plasterboard dot & dab.
Not sure how to insulate them, if outside or inside insulation is the best option. Or maybe both ?!

FreeBear · 21 January 2020 at 2:12PM

kokolino23 wrote: »

I can't figure out if we've got single or double brick walls but there is no insulation on the interior walls at all, just plasterboard dot & dab.
Not sure how to insulate them, if outside or inside insulation is the best option. Or maybe both ?!

A turn of the (21st) century house will have cavity walls, and should have some insulation in the cavity. Adding insulation externally will require additional work around window/door reveals and downpipes/soffits/etc will need to be moved. The roof overhang may also need extending depending on how much insulation is added.. In my opinion, detailing around windows & doors looks pig ugly on the houses around here that have had EWI.

Insulating internally will make the room warmer, but it will also cool down quicker once the heating is off due to the lack of thermal mass. You will also lose floor space in the process. That said, insulating internally, the work can be done one room at a time and is within the scope of a DIYer (plastering, maybe not). For most walls, insulated plasterboard is a quick & easy solution, but not a kitchen if you plan on fitting wall units.

Young Doozergirl recommending battening the walls, filling the void with insulation, and then thick plywood over the top before adding a thin layer of plasterboard - This provides a solid surface to attach wall units to, and if the battens/plywood are securely fixed to the wall, the units shouldn't fall down.

rach_k · 21 January 2020 at 2:49PM

I would agree with the others about the floor. We have a concrete floor with screed on top then Amtico tiles (spacia range, if that makes a difference), in an unheated kitchen with two external walls and it doesn't feel cold. The 1900 walls are quite thick and the window and door are new (so I assume/hope keep the heat in!). The only heat in there is from cooking once a day and washing/tumble drying a couple of times a week. It is cooler than the rest of the house but we still sit in there comfortably for breakfast etc.

kokolino23 · 21 January 2020 at 3:17PM

rach_k wrote: »

I would agree with the others about the floor. We have a concrete floor with screed on top then Amtico tiles (spacia range, if that makes a difference), in an unheated kitchen with two external walls and it doesn't feel cold. The 1900 walls are quite thick and the window and door are new (so I assume/hope keep the heat in!). The only heat in there is from cooking once a day and washing/tumble drying a couple of times a week. It is cooler than the rest of the house but we still sit in there comfortably for breakfast etc.

That's eactly we we've got as well, Amtico spacia range, I think is 0.55mm thick.

Doozergirl · 21 January 2020 at 4:43PM

I've put Amtico Spacia in plenty of period properties that have no insulation in the floor but do have plenty of insulation in the walls (renovated!).

laminate vs luxury vinyl on concrete floor

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