LVT Flooring for Bathrooms

Ceramic Tiles are almost considered a “default” choice for a bathroom floor. However, LVT has qualities that outshine it:

• Water Resistant vs WaterProof – Ceramic Tiles are water resistant, however, the problem comes with the grouting. Grouting is susceptible to moisture damage, which can then evolve into mould. Luxury vinyl tiles are made of synthetic materials, and are 100% waterproof.
• Comfortable Bathroom Space – Ceramic is hard and cold. This is especially noticeable when stepping onto it after a hot shower. Luxury Vinyl Flooring, on the other hand, is much warmer to the touch.
• Easier, Quicker Installation – The installation of luxury vinyl tiles is much easier and faster than ceramic, so much so that it’s not uncommon for customers to DIY install their click-lock bathroom LVT flooring themselves. This effectively means that your new flooring can be ready to walk on as soon as it is laid.
• Wide Range of Styles – Ceramic design options tend to be limited, but that’s not the case with Luxury Vinyl Tile. LVT has so many design choices that entire categories have been created for it, such as wood effect and stone effect LVT, with a myriad of colour choices.
• Cost Effective – LVT flooring isn’t cheap, it’s premium quality reflected in the price, but it’s generally cheaper than Ceramic. When you put the practical benefits of a bathroom floor with LVT versus Ceramic, we feel it’s a no-brainer which is the most advantageous.
• Slip Resistance – Luvanto LVT has market leading slip resistance due to the properties of the top wear layer. Ceramic floors, on the other hand, are notoriously slippy when wet.

LVT is designed to be resistant to the vast majority of household challenges, so yes, LVT will accommodate most cleaning agents just fine.   

The top layer of LVT is something called the “wear layer”. The wear layer is responsible for protecting the floor from most wear and tear issues, but this also includes household chemicals. Wear layers come in different thicknesses. The typical wear layer thickness for a domestic property is 0.3mm, however, Luvanto’s standard wear layer size is 0.55mm. This is usually reserved for areas with high-traffic residential areas and commercial use, meaning that the wear layer will be almost entirely unimpacted through use.   

That being said, you should stick to pH-neutral cleaners if you’re worried about damage. PH-neutral products are less aggressive than highly acidic or alkaline products.  

If you want the best results, you should go with the Luvanto Floor Care Cleaning & Maintenance Kit. With it, you get a mop head with two cleaning pads, 750ml of initial cleaning solution, 750ml of general polishing solution, and 750ml of clean and strip solution. This should be all you need to keep your floor squeaky clean and protected.

It’s not required, but an underlay made specifically for use with glue-down LVT installations, such as QA SoundBarrier, is beneficial for quite a few reasons.  

• Moisture Barrier – There are underlays specifically built in order to have a moisture barrier. Bathrooms, utility rooms and other wet rooms are high-moisture environments, and Luvanto LVT itself is highly waterproof. With an underlay that provides an additional moisture barrier, your floor more or less becomes immune to all forms of moisture from below and spills from above. 
• Sound Absorption – LVT is already a very soft feeling material, with it having a sort of cushioning effect against your foot. However, with SoundBarrier underlay, the noise from impact sound and footsteps is minimised, making the room a whole lot quieter. 
• Longevity and Protection – SoundBarrier underlay essentially supports the floor, even under the heaviest foot traffic, and will easily last the lifetime of the floor. 

Sealing the edges of a Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) floor is typically not necessary and is not a common practice. LVT flooring is designed to be a low-maintenance and water-resistant flooring option, and is designed to lock together or fit tightly to create a seamless and waterproof surface.  

Some flooring, for example, is a floating floor that needs an expansion gap to deal with changes to the floor in different temperature and humidity settings. Sealing the edges could prevent movement and could lead to the floor lifting in extreme cases. Glue-down LVT is by far the best option if you are concerned about water penetration at the perimeter of the room. It is far more stable and less prone to movement, and sealant can be used where the flooring meets the skirting board or upstand. 

Yes, LVT Bathroom Flooring and Underfloor heating are both compatible. That being said, the real concern is whether the specific variant of LVT flooring is compatible with underfloor heating. All our Luvanto LVT flooring has a low thermal resistance which is required for underfloor heating to spread heat effectively.

You should also be careful of the underlay that you install, if any, as high TOG ratings (measures of thermal resistance) can block heat from spreading. Luvanto have a range of underlays for LVT that are suitable for use with underfloor heating.