Engineered wood or LVT?
Discussion
Any experiences of living with LVT?
I've had engineered wood before and it was good, really nice, but did need a wax every year or so.
I've a family member telling me LVT is even better, but I'm not sure and have no experience.
If it makes a difference, this is concrete ground floor of a new build without underfloor heating. To be used in hallway, kitchen, dining and utility room.
I've had engineered wood before and it was good, really nice, but did need a wax every year or so.
I've a family member telling me LVT is even better, but I'm not sure and have no experience.
If it makes a difference, this is concrete ground floor of a new build without underfloor heating. To be used in hallway, kitchen, dining and utility room.
Engineered wood is much nicer IMHO, but it's vulnerable to damage.
LVT is well-marketed plastic. It's fair enough, tough, practical, plastic.
But, in the final analysis, Plastic.
How precious do you want to be about your kitchen floor, or a hallway opening onto the garden?
I'm happy to have wood, engineered or otherwise, in a shoes-off lounge.
I'm happy to have vinyl, 'luxury' or not, somewhere where life is a bit tougher.
It's the floor. I prefer homes to have more than the floor to look at.
Current house has laminate, of the 'obviously fake wood' genre in the hallway. At 22 years old, it looks OK.
Some half-decent pictures on the wall so people aren't primarily staring at the floor, we're happy!
What I don't get, is having a real wood floor in a kitchen with plastic/painted unit doors.
If you want some real wood in your kitchen as a feature, the doors are surely the most practical thing to be wood faced?
LVT is well-marketed plastic. It's fair enough, tough, practical, plastic.
But, in the final analysis, Plastic.
How precious do you want to be about your kitchen floor, or a hallway opening onto the garden?
I'm happy to have wood, engineered or otherwise, in a shoes-off lounge.
I'm happy to have vinyl, 'luxury' or not, somewhere where life is a bit tougher.
It's the floor. I prefer homes to have more than the floor to look at.
Current house has laminate, of the 'obviously fake wood' genre in the hallway. At 22 years old, it looks OK.
Some half-decent pictures on the wall so people aren't primarily staring at the floor, we're happy!
What I don't get, is having a real wood floor in a kitchen with plastic/painted unit doors.
If you want some real wood in your kitchen as a feature, the doors are surely the most practical thing to be wood faced?
How much maintenance engineered (or solid) wood needs depends on what it's treated with. We've had engineered oak down in much of our house treated with a wax-oil for 10-15 years now without any maintenance and it still looks immaculate, albeit darker and redder than when it was installed.
We don't wear shoes in the house and don't have any pets, so I guess it has a relatively easy life.
We don't wear shoes in the house and don't have any pets, so I guess it has a relatively easy life.
Cheers all.
I am leaning towards wood because it is wood! I just feel that even nice LVT will feel like plastic long term and annoy me.
We are a shoes off household, and having had pretty cheap laminate at a back door for over a decade with a mat, I think we can look after things well.
We are looking at inset mat at front and back door, but nothing at patio door.
Now, any suggested good suppliers of engineered wood flooring around central Scotland?
I am leaning towards wood because it is wood! I just feel that even nice LVT will feel like plastic long term and annoy me.
We are a shoes off household, and having had pretty cheap laminate at a back door for over a decade with a mat, I think we can look after things well.
We are looking at inset mat at front and back door, but nothing at patio door.
Now, any suggested good suppliers of engineered wood flooring around central Scotland?
I walk about with bare feet all the time in our house and have LVT in the kitchen, hallway, downstairs loo etc and it feels fine to me. I think it's Amtico, it was down when we moved in but with a dog, clumsy wife and a cleaning routine that should probably be better it's still looking the same after 4 years.
My folks engineered wood not so much but I don't know what type it is etc.
My folks engineered wood not so much but I don't know what type it is etc.
Firstly, this is absolutely crucial that we get it clear on what we are referring to here when we say LVT:
If you mean the 'glue down floppy planks' of vinyl, then in my experience I would say this is a very good product. It is what is Amtico is.
Like this:
If we are taking about the thicker, rigid planks of 'click' flooring, like the below, then run an absolute mile. A dreadful product.
If you mean the 'glue down floppy planks' of vinyl, then in my experience I would say this is a very good product. It is what is Amtico is.
Like this:
If we are taking about the thicker, rigid planks of 'click' flooring, like the below, then run an absolute mile. A dreadful product.
I get the lean towards wood, we were the same, but I would suggest at you have a look at some of the LVT solutions in the flesh, or at least get some samples delivered, as they are very convincing alternatives these days, and do have some benefits for the rooms with more traffic or homes with pets etc. It's better though to see in person how a larger display looks.
We have just installed EvoCore across our LGF, which has underfloor heating, and then again in the Kitchen and bathrooms. Originally we were looking at engineered wood, but concerns over moisture levels put paid to that. Then wood effect tiles, but I couldn't get on with how the grouting made them still look like tiles (in my view).
We went into Flooring Superstore and went to the EvoCore section not knowing what it was and thought that it was engineered wood at first (until you turn the plank over and see the underlay backing etc). It has a texture to it which sort of mimics the wood, and it's a million miles away from the laminates that I had in mind when I thought of vinyl flooring. We liked it straight away and ended up with a nice herringbone across the lgf, and longer planks in the kitchen etc.
You may well still prefer wood, and that's great - I'm not on commission(!) - but at least see what the premium LVT's are like these days before ruling them out, would be my suggestion.
We have just installed EvoCore across our LGF, which has underfloor heating, and then again in the Kitchen and bathrooms. Originally we were looking at engineered wood, but concerns over moisture levels put paid to that. Then wood effect tiles, but I couldn't get on with how the grouting made them still look like tiles (in my view).
We went into Flooring Superstore and went to the EvoCore section not knowing what it was and thought that it was engineered wood at first (until you turn the plank over and see the underlay backing etc). It has a texture to it which sort of mimics the wood, and it's a million miles away from the laminates that I had in mind when I thought of vinyl flooring. We liked it straight away and ended up with a nice herringbone across the lgf, and longer planks in the kitchen etc.
You may well still prefer wood, and that's great - I'm not on commission(!) - but at least see what the premium LVT's are like these days before ruling them out, would be my suggestion.
We have Amtico in the basement of our house - hall, kitchen dining room - fixed directly to the screeded concrete floor. It's a darkish wood plank style - nothing fancy or elaborate. It is practical,warm, looks good and only needs the occasional clean.
I've tried to find the pictures from the supplier and installer but it has been replaced on their website. Basically, 360,000 people clicked on the pictures and gave it the the thumbs up - the most responses they have ever had to a project.
I've tried to find the pictures from the supplier and installer but it has been replaced on their website. Basically, 360,000 people clicked on the pictures and gave it the the thumbs up - the most responses they have ever had to a project.
We were undecided between LVT, Laminate and Engineered Wood, so went on a tour of showrooms.
In an Amtico Platinum Showroom they'd been moving things around and there were some very obvious black scuff marks on the display flooring which they hadn't managed to get rid of. Totally put me off LVT as an option, but got some samples anyway.
We then collected samples of Laminate and Engineered Wood from another showroom. The Laminate looked pretty good in the shop, but when we got them home and laid them out on the floor of the room where they were going to go the Laminate looked dreadful and the Engineered Wood looked fantastic. I would say the LVT looked better than the Laminate, but nowhere close to the Engineered Wood.
You need to get decent sized samples and put them side by side in the room and look at them as the light changes.
In an Amtico Platinum Showroom they'd been moving things around and there were some very obvious black scuff marks on the display flooring which they hadn't managed to get rid of. Totally put me off LVT as an option, but got some samples anyway.
We then collected samples of Laminate and Engineered Wood from another showroom. The Laminate looked pretty good in the shop, but when we got them home and laid them out on the floor of the room where they were going to go the Laminate looked dreadful and the Engineered Wood looked fantastic. I would say the LVT looked better than the Laminate, but nowhere close to the Engineered Wood.
You need to get decent sized samples and put them side by side in the room and look at them as the light changes.
If it helps, I've got Expona commercial "glue down floppy planks" in my kitchen (pro install) and utility (installed by moi) and also 52sqm of engineered installed by myself and wifey in 2017. The engineered is 18mm with a 4mm oak layer, brushed, and wax oiled, installed as a floating floor in two sections atop a good quality underlay. I've wax oiled it precisely once, and it still looks good. There are wear marks and dents, which in part is why we went with brushed and also wax/oil than lacquer. In theory i can do spot repairs, but I think it looks fine as is.
The LVT (expona) was very easy to lay, as was the engineered in fairness.
The LVT in the kitchen feels much nicer underfoot than the tiles it replaced, and i'd say is marginally nicer than the oak engineered underfoot as its got a slight softness to it. If you drop a cup it doesn't shatter like it did with tiles. Its hard wearing but not as hard wearing as the oak to dents.
I'd have both again and am pleased with the choice.
Incidentally the engineered wood, i left an off cut outside for six months to see if it delaminated or warped - it didn't even swell up. It is a ply substrate.
The LVT (expona) was very easy to lay, as was the engineered in fairness.
The LVT in the kitchen feels much nicer underfoot than the tiles it replaced, and i'd say is marginally nicer than the oak engineered underfoot as its got a slight softness to it. If you drop a cup it doesn't shatter like it did with tiles. Its hard wearing but not as hard wearing as the oak to dents.
I'd have both again and am pleased with the choice.
Incidentally the engineered wood, i left an off cut outside for six months to see if it delaminated or warped - it didn't even swell up. It is a ply substrate.
Looks and feel: Engineered wood > Glue-down LVT > Laminate
Practicality: Glue-down LVT > Engineered wood > Laminate
That kind of dictates which is best, so for a kitchen I don’t think you can beat LVT. For a living room you can’t beat wood. But if you want to run the same thing through the house I guess you’ve got to go with what your priorities are - practicality or looks.
What you don’t want is ‘click’ LVT as you can’t just lift a section and replace it - it all has to come up. Same with laminate. At least wood can be refinished in situ.
We went with Amtico LVT for our kitchen refurb and absolutely no regrets. We made this choice because I’d seen my brother’s very expensive engineered wood need frequent maintenance to look good in the kitchen. I did damage a section and it literally took five minutes to lift it and replace with a spare.
I actually really like the feel under foot, it’s very warm and has a pleasant texture on bare feet. It does, however, have a certain ‘sheen’ to it when the light hits at certain angles and you can definitely tell it’s not natural. It doesn’t look bad, just very unnaturally uniform.
The one thing I would say is that LVT, for me, only works in darker colours as it hides much of the fakeness. The lighter colours, especially the grey woods, look pretty dire at times.
You can sort of see what I mean about the unnatural sheen on the photo below, although the detail and resolution might get lost in the upload:
Edit: And for the OPs use case I would 100% go LVT if it’s including a kitchen and utility. No question.
Practicality: Glue-down LVT > Engineered wood > Laminate
That kind of dictates which is best, so for a kitchen I don’t think you can beat LVT. For a living room you can’t beat wood. But if you want to run the same thing through the house I guess you’ve got to go with what your priorities are - practicality or looks.
What you don’t want is ‘click’ LVT as you can’t just lift a section and replace it - it all has to come up. Same with laminate. At least wood can be refinished in situ.
We went with Amtico LVT for our kitchen refurb and absolutely no regrets. We made this choice because I’d seen my brother’s very expensive engineered wood need frequent maintenance to look good in the kitchen. I did damage a section and it literally took five minutes to lift it and replace with a spare.
I actually really like the feel under foot, it’s very warm and has a pleasant texture on bare feet. It does, however, have a certain ‘sheen’ to it when the light hits at certain angles and you can definitely tell it’s not natural. It doesn’t look bad, just very unnaturally uniform.
The one thing I would say is that LVT, for me, only works in darker colours as it hides much of the fakeness. The lighter colours, especially the grey woods, look pretty dire at times.
You can sort of see what I mean about the unnatural sheen on the photo below, although the detail and resolution might get lost in the upload:
Edit: And for the OPs use case I would 100% go LVT if it’s including a kitchen and utility. No question.
bmwmike said:
Looks good crumpet. I've got LVT in my kitchen as per my post above and agree, it is very easy to maintain. Does your island sit on top of the LVT or is the LVT cut up to the island?
The LVT runs under all skirtings as well as the plinth ‘skirtings’ on the kitchen units. It was all purposely planned so that it’s easy maintenance and easy to refresh. So when I’m bored of this style of LVT I can whip the skirtings and plinths off, replace the LVT and then put the skirtings back on. And at the same time all the kitchen units can be repainted whatever colour is in fashion at the time. It’s been down a year and the whole kitchen looks like the day I finished it, despite being hammered by family life.
The one thing I would say is that there may be an expectation of certain levels of quality depending on the age, value and style of the house. Would I want LVT in a £2m house? Probably not.
For us it’s in an extension on a 200 year old house and because the walls are all straight it doesn’t look out of place. In a wonky, old house there’s a possibility it might look a bit s
t. But then so would engineered wood unless you buy some horrifically expensive reclaimed 300 year old French Oak. That’s where the darker shades come in as they hide the unnatural-ness of plastic. We've just had kardean click LVT installed. Had no problems with it at all. Takes a hammering and they are getting so much better at looking like wood.
We went with this - https://www.karndean.com/en-gb/floors/products/war... and it really looks like wood to our eyes.
We've two young kids and wanted something that would last so felt better than engineered wood.
We went with this - https://www.karndean.com/en-gb/floors/products/war... and it really looks like wood to our eyes.
We've two young kids and wanted something that would last so felt better than engineered wood.
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