KITCHEN FLOORING GUIDE

Luxury Vinyl Tile is now the most popular kitchen floor choice and it has earned that position. It is warm underfoot, quiet, water-resistant, durable, and available in a wide range of wood and stone looks. It can go over most existing subfloors without the extensive preparation that tile demands.

We only use stick-down LVT, not click-fit. Click LVT sits on a floating layer which can flex, squeak, and allow moisture to pool underneath over time. Stick-down gives a solid, stable finish that behaves much more like a fixed floor and is our strong preference for kitchen installations.

The suppliers we use:

Ambiance

Our primary LVT supplier. Strong range, reliable quality, and a good selection of wood and stone effects across entry-level and mid-range products.

J2 Flooring

Our second regular supplier. Comparable quality and range to Ambiance. Useful when lead times or specific finishes require an alternative.

Karndean and Amtico

Both are premium LVT brands we can access for clients who want to step up. Wider choice of formats, deeper embossing, more distinctive designs. The quality difference is real and visible at close range. Karndean and Amtico are worth considering in a high-specification kitchen where the floor is a feature rather than a background element.

Hard, durable, genuinely waterproof, and available in very large formats that are popular in contemporary open-plan kitchens. Cold and hard underfoot, so underfloor heating is worth planning in if you go this route. Grout lines collect dirt and need maintaining, and a cracked tile can be difficult to match once the range discontinues.

For a seamless contemporary look in a large kitchen-diner, large-format porcelain from a brand like Porcelanosa is a strong choice. Tiling installation is also more labour-intensive than LVT, so factor in the fitting cost alongside the material.

Beautiful, but a genuinely demanding choice in a kitchen. Wood and standing water do not mix well. If you want the look of wood in a kitchen-diner, we would suggest considering stick-down LVT in a quality wood effect for the kitchen zone, matched to real engineered wood in the dining area. It achieves a very similar visual result with significantly better practical performance in the wet zone.

We are not fans of floating floors in kitchens or anywhere else. The movement inherent in a floating installation, whether click LVT, laminate, or floating engineered wood, gives a floor that never feels quite as solid as one that is fixed. We always prefer fixed installations where the substrate allows it.

This depends on the type of floor you are installing, and getting it wrong can cause problems.

Porcelain and ceramic tile go in before the kitchen. The kitchen is then installed on top of the tiled floor, with the plinths covering the gap at the base of the units.

Stick-down LVT can go in before or after the kitchen. Our preferred method is to level the subfloor thoroughly beforehand, then install the LVT after the kitchen is in. This saves material because the LVT only needs to cover the visible floor area rather than running under the units. It also means that if you have a tiled or bordered detail around the perimeter, the LVT can follow the exact footprint of the finished units rather than needing to guess the layout in advance.

Floating floors including laminate and solid wood should go in after the kitchen. These materials need space to expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes. They sit beneath the plinths and end panels, with a small expansion gap at the perimeter, which the plinth covers. This is also why we do not recommend floating floors in kitchens: the movement they need to accommodate conflicts with the rigid, fixed nature of a kitchen installation.

Underfloor heating under a kitchen floor is a genuine comfort upgrade, particularly with porcelain tile which is cold underfoot. If you are considering it, there is one important practical point to raise with your installer early: mark out the positions of any island, peninsula, or breakfast bar on the floor plan before the heating system is laid.

If underfloor heating is installed beneath the footprint of a fixed island or peninsula, the heat has nowhere to escape upward through the unit. Over time this can cause the temperature inside the base units to rise, which shortens the life of any food stored in them and can damage the unit carcass. It also represents wasted heat. Wherever possible, the heating circuit should stop at the edge of any fixed kitchen furniture rather than running underneath it.

The subfloor condition matters more than most clients realise. An uneven floor causes LVT to telegraph imperfections through to the surface and causes grout to crack in tiled installations. Self-levelling compound before the kitchen goes in is a modest cost that makes the floor installation cleaner, faster, and longer-lasting.

Usually yes, provided the existing tiles are well bonded and the floor is level. It adds 2 to 3mm of height (for stick-down) which needs accounting for at door thresholds and transitions to adjacent flooring. Worth measuring before committing.

Yes. Most stick-down LVT is compatible with water and electric underfloor heating up to a surface temperature of around 27 degrees. Check the specific product's maximum temperature rating. Just make sure the heating circuit avoids the footprint of any fixed kitchen furniture, as heat trapped beneath an island or peninsula can cause problems over time.

In open-plan spaces, a consistent floor makes the whole area feel larger and more cohesive. In a separate kitchen, matching is not necessary and sometimes works against the kitchen's colour palette. We will advise based on your specific layout.

Stick-down LVT wins on almost every practical measure for a busy household. Warm, quiet, easy to clean, scratch-resistant, and repairable section by section if something does go wrong. Porcelain is harder wearing but colder and less forgiving of a rough subfloor. Real wood requires more care than most family kitchens realistically give it.