LVT vs Laminate

These two get compared more than any other pair, because on a showroom floor they look alike and sit close on price. The difference is not in the surface. It is in what the surface is stuck to, and that decides everything else.

The construction, in one paragraph each

Laminate is a photographic decor layer under a hard melamine wear surface, bonded to a high-density fibreboard core. The core is wood fibre. It is dense, it is stable, and it swells irreversibly when water reaches it.

LVT is a printed design under a clear vinyl wear layer, on a core that is either flexible vinyl or — in rigid-core and SPC formats — a dense mineral-filled composite. Nothing in that stack is wood. It takes on no water.

Where each one wins

Water: LVT, decisively. This is not a close call and it is the reason most people end up choosing between them. A spill wiped up promptly does no harm to either. Standing water — a leaking appliance, an overflowing shower, a dog that comes in wet every day — finds a laminate joint and swells the core beneath the decor. The damage is permanent and visible, and it does not sand out.

Underfoot feel: LVT. Warmer and quieter. Laminate has a characteristic hard, hollow sound that identifies it the moment you walk on it — good underlay reduces this considerably but does not remove it.

Scratch resistance: laminate, usually. The melamine wear surface is harder than a vinyl wear layer. Against fine scratching from grit and claws, laminate holds up well; against a dropped tin, both dent.

Price of the board: laminate. It is the cheapest way to floor a whole house without it looking cheap.

Price of the fit: about level for click formats. Glue-down LVT costs more, because it needs a genuinely flat subfloor and more labour. See what LVT costs and what laminate costs for the breakdown.

Build-up height: LVT. Thin enough that doors often do not need trimming. Laminate plus underlay usually does.

Realism: level, and it depends on the range. Deep embossing has closed most of the visual gap on laminate; good LVT does the same. Both are printed. Neither is timber.

The room-by-room answer

Kitchen, bathroom, utility, cloakroom — LVT. The water argument decides it.

Hallway — LVT, with the wear layer specified up. It is the room where wet shoes and grit meet.

Bedrooms, landing, home office — laminate is a sensible saving and not a compromise. Match the AC rating to the room.

Living room — either, and the decision is usually about feel. LVT is warmer and quieter; laminate is cheaper and harder-wearing against scratching.

Conservatory — rigid-core LVT. The temperature swing rules laminate out.

The two specifications to compare, and they are not the same thing

People compare the wrong numbers here, because the two products measure durability differently.

Laminate has an AC rating — a class describing abrasion resistance. Choose it room by room; a hallway and a spare bedroom are not the same job.

LVT has a wear layer thickness — a measured dimension for the clear film over the design. The same design is often sold in two or three wear layers at quite different prices.

One is a class, the other is a dimension. They do not convert into each other, and a higher number on one side means nothing about the other.

If you want one answer

For a whole house with a fixed budget: LVT in the wet rooms and the hall, laminate in the dry rooms upstairs. That puts the money where water and grit actually are, and it costs less than flooring everything in either one.

Common questions

If the shortlist is really between vinyl types rather than against laminate, what SPC and rigid core actually mean sorts out the names. The ranges are at LVT and rigid vinyl and laminate.

Which rooms get wet, and how much grit comes through the door, has as much to do with the house as with the household. Browse by town and region.