Nothing makes a house a home quite like a carefully chosen floor. Not only is a good flooring ergonomic and functional, but it can be just as impactful as furnishings or interior colours on our mood. But before all of this comes budget, which leads us to the question: what are the average LVT and vinyl flooring costs?
In this complete guide, we answer just that by providing a breakdown of the overall price, including how much it costs to lay vinyl flooring and all the hidden price tags involved.
First up, what are the benefits of LVT flooring?
It goes without saying, we love vinyl! In our professional opinion, it’s practically the most versatile product on the market. With LVT and vinyl flooring, you can emulate the natural grained appearance of wood without breaking the bank. Some of our favourite reasons to choose LVT or vinyl include:
- Beautiful designs and authentic wood effect
- Easily installed and maintained
- Hardwearing and durable
- Pairs brilliantly with underfloor heating
- Waterproof
- Economical price tag – 20-30% cheaper than real wood or stone!
LVT vs vinyl flooring: what’s the difference?
LVT stands for luxury vinyl tile. As the name suggests, it offers that extra special something over your standard vinyl flooring. In this case, we’re talking about its stronger composition and specifically its thicker wear layer. This is the top surface that works to protect it from wear, staining and scratches.
Vinyl Vs. LVT flooring costs comparison
| Standard vinyl flooring | LVT (luxury vinyl tile) | |
| Price | £10 – 25 per square meter | £20 – 45 per square meter |
| Thickness | 0.20-1mm | 0.25-0.015mm |
| Installation | Self-adhesive | Floating installation or loose lay |
| Types | Vinyl sheet and planks | Vinyl tiles and planks. |
| Durability | Relatively durable, may endure scratching | More scratch resistant and generally more hard wearing |
| Lifespan | 10-15 years | Up to 25 years |
Is the wear layer important?
Absolutely. After all, it will affect your budget.
The average wear layer that you’ll see for LVT is 0.55mm – this is perfectly adequate for the busy home, but you can go lower or higher depending on your budget and requirements. On the lower end, you can cut down to 0.20mm and on the higher end you could reach 1mm, which is about as good as it gets.
Vinyl flooring costs by quality
As with anything in life, you get what you pay for. But that’s not to say you have to spend a fortune to get a hard-wearing, good quality product. While many vinyl flooring fitters will happily purchase the materials for you, shopping around will allow you to search for the best deals and products that meet your needs.
Lower end vinyl
You should be able to get a 0.30mm product for around £20 per square meter on average, but prices can start from £10 per square meter if you know where to look.
While cheaper vinyl flooring may not possess the highest quality finish or longest lifespan, it certainly is budget friendly. Stain-resistant, sturdy and waterproof, it is suited to any room in the house that might be prone to spillages including bathrooms and children’s playrooms.
Do keep in mind, however, that the lifespan is much shorter than other types of vinyl, lasting 10-15 years. This means that when it comes down to it budget vinyl is less cost-effective, so extra thought it due here if you’re looking to make the best investment.
Standard vinyl
Expect a 0.55mm wear layered product to cost £24 square meter upwards depending on brand, style and quality. This middle of the range estimate would get you a good quality floor with a hardwearing surface and the added bonus of a greater variety of finishes than budget alternatives.
Luxury vinyl or LVT
For the top products you would be looking at least £45 per square meter for a 0.70mm wear layer. Generally speaking, these higher end brands boast a more convincing wood or stone appearance and will last up to 25 years of wear and tear. What’s more, you truly benefit from a wide range of colours, finishes and styles, allowing you to add that personalised touch.
Budgeting your overall LVT and vinyl costs
Beside the purely material LVT flooring costs, there are a number of other factors to consider from the pattern you select to the preparation and clean-up.
Choosing a pattern
While picking a pattern may seem like a relatively surface-level aesthetic choice, it can make a significant impact on your overall LVT or vinyl costs.
Simple but classy wood effect planks are more affordable while more complex patterns such as the popular Victorian style or herringbone will be on the pricier side, given the extra effort required to manufacture and lay them.
Subfloor preparation
Don’t forget to factor in subfloor preparation into your overall budget. As 99.9% of LVT, and by extension vinyl flooring requires it, prepping the floor for your new look is absolutely crucial.
While this is something you can undertake alone, due to the accuracy needed, we recommend getting a professional to do this for you. In fact, most reputable flooring installers will insist on doing this as the majority of manufacturers will offer no warranty if the product is installed on incorrectly prepared subfloors. Expect to pay an average of £2-£13 per square meter for the labour costs.
Flooring removal services
Removing flooring is a fairly easy job for a proficient DIYer, however, you may want to cover your back in case you encounter something unexpected. If you’re concerned about damaging the base floor when removing your unwanted flooring, it’s best to leave it to a professional flooring fitter. The average cost for this service is around £120.
Underlay
Another key aspect impacting how much it costs to lay vinyl flooring is your underlay. As flooring underlay is competitively priced by square meter you may see some variation. Nevertheless, the middle of the range average you will see in stores is between £3.50 and £15 per square metre.
Delivery fees
As with most flooring installations, delivery costs will vary company to company. Often this cost will be factored into the overall fitting cost of a professional installation. If you opt for a DIY job, however, you will need to include this extra cost in your budget.
Expect to pay around £30 for delivery for most parts of the UK with some variation area to area. You can shave a little off the price by hiring the services of a local vinyl fitter.
How much does it cost to lay vinyl flooring?
The average cost to hire contractors to fit an LVT or vinyl floor is between £15 and £30 square meter – this includes the material and labour costs. Again, this price point is dependent on a number of things.
Firstly, you can minimise costs by asking the fitter to complete several jobs, providing them with more work. You may also see differences in rates across different areas – generally speaking, cities with higher costs of living such as Manchester and London will be more expensive than jobs based in smaller towns.
Simpler jobs like vinyl installed with the glue down method will cheaper than more complex installations such as herringbone patterns, which require extra care to get the interlocking pattern right.
Waste disposal
An important thing to remember about waste removal services is that they can be quite variable when it comes to fees. This means you’ll have to do your homework to find a company that caters to your needs within your budget. Hiring a skip could be anything between £120-£300 depending on which size you need and the duration you need it for.
Get started!
Vinyl flooring is one of the most versatile products on the market. But before deciding on which type to install, you should take extra care to consider each of your options to keep the associated LVT or vinyl flooring costs within your price range.
With this knowledge you can now go forward and set a realistic budget to off start the renovation process! All that’s left is to find a local LVT and vinyl fitter to get the job done.
