Should this room have carpet or LVT?
You want the real pros and cons of LVT, measured against carpet.
LVT is waterproof, tough, works over underfloor heating and copes with kitchens and pets. Carpet is warmer, quieter, cheaper to fit and safer on stairs. LVT is the more demanding install, because the subfloor has to be genuinely flat.
Written for: Renovators weighing luxury vinyl tile against carpet room by room.
What LVT actually is
Luxury vinyl tile is a multi layer vinyl plank or tile with a printed design layer under a clear wear layer. It is not laminate and it is not sheet vinyl. The wear layer thickness, given in microns, is the number that tells you how long it will last, and it is the specification worth asking about.
The genuine pros of LVT
There is a reason it has taken over kitchens and hallways across Britain in the last decade.
- Fully waterproof, so spills, mopping and wet boots are a non event
- Very hard wearing, with commercial grade wear layers available
- Warm and quiet compared with tile or laminate
- Excellent over underfloor heating, which it conducts rather than insulates
- Individual planks can be replaced if one is damaged
- Realistic wood and stone designs that survive being walked on
The cons nobody mentions until fitting day
The subfloor is the big one. LVT is thin and flexible, so every lump, dip and screw head in the floor telegraphs through to the surface. A latex screed or ply lining is often needed, and that cost can rival the material.
Beyond that: it can dent under very heavy point loads, strong sunlight can fade cheaper products, and glue down LVT is a slow, skilled job that costs more in labour than laying carpet over the same area.
Where carpet still wins outright
Stairs, bedrooms and any room where warmth and quiet are the point. Carpet is safer underfoot on a flight of stairs, it takes the noise out of a first floor, and it is cheaper both to buy and to fit over the same area.
There is also the barefoot test. Nobody has ever complained that their bedroom floor was too warm in February.
Using both, which is what most people do
LVT through the kitchen, hall and dining area, carpet on the stairs and upstairs, with a threshold strip at the change. We stock both here at warehouse-only prices and can price the whole house as one job, which makes the comparison a lot easier to see.
Useful pages for this job
Common questions
- What are the main disadvantages of LVT flooring?
- It demands a very flat subfloor, so levelling can add real cost, and it is colder and noisier underfoot than carpet. Heavy point loads can dent it and cheaper products can fade in strong sun.
- Is LVT good with underfloor heating?
- It is one of the best floors for it, because it conducts heat rather than insulating against it. Check the maximum surface temperature for the product you choose and keep within it.
- Which is better with dogs, LVT or carpet?
- LVT, in most cases. Accidents wipe up rather than soaking in, claws do not pull it the way they pull a loop pile, and it copes with muddy paws coming in from the garden.
- Does LVT need underlay?
- Click LVT usually takes a thin dedicated underlay, while glue down LVT is bonded straight to a prepared subfloor. Never use a soft carpet underlay under either, because the planks will flex and the joints will fail.
- Can I put LVT on the stairs?
- It can be done with proper stair nosings, but it is slippery and noisy compared with carpet, and the labour is considerably higher. Most people carpet the stairs even when the whole ground floor is LVT.
Price the carpet and the LVT together
Send the room by room list and we will quote both materials, the underlay and any levelling, so you can see where each one earns its place.