alternative to LVT

[marmic]

morning all,

 

anything weird and wonderful I may have missed as an alternative to LVT but still affordable?!  There are some cork based proucts out there for example but doubles the money!  LVT seems at present to be the only option - and glue down to avoid expansion gaps at perimeters / doorways and keep watertight - currenty plan is keeping same everywhere.  Limited to about 8-10mm thick.  Don't want laminate flooring.....  Any ideas beyond the obvious please would be very much appreciated   I don't think there is anything, but may have missed something!?

[JohnMo]

Tiles?

Epoxy?

Micro cement?

[marmic]

1 hour ago, JohnMo said:

Tiles?

Epoxy?

Micro cement?

thanks John, tiles not right for us on this project as wanted to avoid grouted joints, & slippery for dogs, and cost too high for anything nice (which we had 2 houses ago - we cleared stock of a discontinued item and had a cracking deal!).

 

Epoxy / micro cement - looks interesting, a very brief google search tells me market swamped with options!  any pointers please? will have a proper look later........... 

[nod]

I’m doing some micro cement at a job in a couple of weeks Walls and floors 

Similar cost to tiles I’ve also some engineered flooring at a job I’m at today Glued down But you will still need perimeter expansion gaps 

[Gone West]

6 hours ago, marmic said:

LVT seems at present to be the only option - and glue down to avoid expansion gaps at perimeters

IIRC loose lay LVT doesn't need expansion gaps.

[marmic]

36 minutes ago, Gone West said:

IIRC loose lay LVT doesn't need expansion gaps.

thank you  - sounds interesting.   what is the IIRC bit please?  - nothing obvious appears on a google search.................

[Tony L]

if I remember correctly

[marmic]

😁 ah thank you, now i know another polite abbreviation!   I thought maybe it was a brand or type!!!  😆   One floor company I called into did say this, but I wasn't convinced they knew what they were doing!  others I have spoken with say you do - so who knows!  also had contradictory info on suitability for bathroom etc

[Susie]

Have you considered bamboo flooring, can be glued down or loose lay, UFH is ok, some are 2x harder than oak and can be sanded if necessary.

Uniclic edges, non slip, and UV coating, warm under feet.

we have a dog who loves to run up and down hallways, and do that stretching out of legs with toe nails ready to mark floor.  
Only had samples so far but seem good option for us.

 

 

[Oz07]

2 hours ago, Gone West said:

IIRC loose lay LVT doesn't need expansion gaps.

It definitely does. I had it in last place and carpet fitter fitted a threshold hard up to it. Expanded in middle of the run in hot weather

[Big Jimbo]

@Susie Bamboo would be a lot harder, as Oak is actually a softwood.

[mjc55]

21 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

@Susie Bamboo would be a lot harder, as Oak is actually a softwood.

Oak is a softwood?

 

Not what I thought!

Edited Monday at 20:34 by mjc55

[Big Jimbo]

@mjc55 Common with most people who think Oak is a hardwood. It's not.

[JamesP]

4 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

@mjc55 Common with most people who think Oak is a hardwood. It's not.

Please explain why you call it a softwood?

Paging @SteamyTea

[Nickfromwales]

21 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

@mjc55 Common with most people who think Oak is a hardwood. It's not.

Then it’s you vs the rest of the world with that thinking. 
 

Oak = hardwood to every person I’ve ever bought it from, or fitted it for. 

[LnP]

1 hour ago, Big Jimbo said:

@Susie Bamboo would be a lot harder, as Oak is actually a softwood.

Ah, so those things I thought were acorns are actually oak cones! 😉

[SteamyTea]

6 hours ago, JamesP said:

Paging @SteamyTea

Will have to say the word sperm, so will get in trouble.

Softwoods are gymnosperm, hard woods are angiosperms.

Now it is early in the morning to be thinking about wood.

 

[marmic]

10 hours ago, Susie said:

Have you considered bamboo flooring, can be glued down or loose lay, UFH is ok, some are 2x harder than oak and can be sanded if necessary.

Uniclic edges, non slip, and UV coating, warm under feet.

we have a dog who loves to run up and down hallways, and do that stretching out of legs with toe nails ready to mark floor.  
Only had samples so far but seem good option for us.

 

 

thank you Susie, have looked briefly online, few companies out there - may I ask who you've talked to please?  found one with a glue down 'page' but no products listed!

[Beau]

10 hours ago, Big Jimbo said:

@mjc55 Common with most people who think Oak is a hardwood. It's not.

News to me.

 

I have the 'Handbook of Hardwoods' an HMSO publication.

 

These are oaks in it.

 

American Red

American White

European

Holm

Japanese

Turkey

 

I always find it amusing that Balsa is a hardwood though

 

 

[Gone West]

14 hours ago, marmic said:

One floor company I called into did say this, but I wasn't convinced they knew what they were doing!

 

12 hours ago, Oz07 said:

It definitely does. I had it in last place and carpet fitter fitted a threshold hard up to it. Expanded in middle of the run in hot weather

This is one site out of a few I've seen that say you don't need a gap. Maybe it's brand dependent, I hope so as we are hoping to use it without a gap.

 

https://www.bricoflor.co.uk/flooring/vinyl/loose-lay.html

 

Easy Installation, Easy Maintenance, Easy Removal: Loose Lay Vinyl Planks

Loose lay vinyl flooring benefits from the newest and most innovative installation technology, thus allowing you to save time and money when you choose them over other products. To be more specific, Vinyl flooring simply makes use of physics to stay in place even without glue or other adhesives. The back of every vinyl tile is covered with a special material that has a very high coefficient of friction. That way, these tiles effectively get a strong grip on the subfloor underneath, so strong in fact, that you might not even be able to tell the difference between glue-down and loose-lay planks. But the difference becomes notable later if you need to remove or replace individual tiles. While vinyl tiles and planks featuring other installation systems either leave residues behind, from glue or adhesives or require removing an entire row for just one plank, click vinyl, the loose lay variety does neither. While some effort is required to dislodge a tile or plank, it comes out clean and on its own. Moreover, due to their heavier and thicker build, loose-lay vinyl tiles and planks are guaranteed to stay in place and will not be affected by differences in moisture or temperature levels. Thus, you will not have to leave an expansion gap between the flooring and the walls.

 

 

[Gone West]

3 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

Softwoods are gymnosperm, hard woods are angiosperms.

https://rfs.org.uk/learning/tremendous-trees/how-can-we-group-different-types-trees/

 

Angiosperm means ‘hidden seed’. These trees typically have flowers, in which seeds are hidden. The part of the flower where the seeds are produced is called the ‘fruit’ of the tree, but this is not necessarily ‘fruit’ like those we eat. These trees evolved alongside insects, birds and mammals and usually use them for pollination. You can think of Angiosperms as hardwood trees, such as oak and beech.

[Susie]

https://simplybamboo.co.uk

https://www.bambooflooringcompany.com

these are the big 2 companies, other flooring companies might have one or 2 bamboo plank options, eg Wickes has at least one 

 

double up on the free samples by getting delivered to multiple homes if necessary. They don’t hassle you afterwards. 
 

They also do skirting to match and door thresholds etc

 

 

 

[marmic]

20 hours ago, Susie said:

https://simplybamboo.co.uk

https://www.bambooflooringcompany.com

these are the big 2 companies, other flooring companies might have one or 2 bamboo plank options, eg Wickes has at least one 

 

double up on the free samples by getting delivered to multiple homes if necessary. They don’t hassle you afterwards. 
 

They also do skirting to match and door thresholds etc

 

 

 

thank you.  response from simply bamboo below - which is very much what I was expecting (but didn't answer about glue down section on website not showing anything.  not sure how glued down product moves however - probably flexible adhesive, but imo can't then be bonded well).

 

You’d need expansion gaps for any timber, no matter how its fitted. LVT may be best.

 

 

[marmic]

21 hours ago, Gone West said:

 

This is one site out of a few I've seen that say you don't need a gap. Maybe it's brand dependent, I hope so as we are hoping to use it without a gap.

 

https://www.bricoflor.co.uk/flooring/vinyl/loose-lay.html

 

Easy Installation, Easy Maintenance, Easy Removal: Loose Lay Vinyl Planks

Loose lay vinyl flooring benefits from the newest and most innovative installation technology, thus allowing you to save time and money when you choose them over other products. To be more specific, Vinyl flooring simply makes use of physics to stay in place even without glue or other adhesives. The back of every vinyl tile is covered with a special material that has a very high coefficient of friction. That way, these tiles effectively get a strong grip on the subfloor underneath, so strong in fact, that you might not even be able to tell the difference between glue-down and loose-lay planks. But the difference becomes notable later if you need to remove or replace individual tiles. While vinyl tiles and planks featuring other installation systems either leave residues behind, from glue or adhesives or require removing an entire row for just one plank, click vinyl, the loose lay variety does neither. While some effort is required to dislodge a tile or plank, it comes out clean and on its own. Moreover, due to their heavier and thicker build, loose-lay vinyl tiles and planks are guaranteed to stay in place and will not be affected by differences in moisture or temperature levels. Thus, you will not have to leave an expansion gap between the flooring and the walls.

 

 

sounds good, maybe too good - I shall dig deeper.  Anybody had experience of this type of product please?

[marmic]

On 21/10/2025 at 08:14, Gone West said:

 

https://www.bricoflor.co.uk/flooring/vinyl/loose-lay.html

 

 

Sent them a polite and simple email (out of working hours) asking for a call** to discuss this particular product. So instead of calling they replied by email with no name (extract below in red - polite but astonishing - basically asking me to contact them again and do what I don't have time for) - to which I responded   'I shall look elewhere then.......'   Nothing since - they don't care!  Perhaps they think we're just browsing for fun and won't actually be spending money on floor finishes for a whole house?

 

**  An approach I have taken quite often throughout the build process to save a lot of time and also narrow down companies that can be bothered.  In some cases has also clearly been a good approach to provide some confidence they know what they are doing, or not!  Particularly the larger packages / supply and install.  Sometimes emails are of course more appropriate / preferable.

I reckon on average when I've sent enquiries to a number of companies for the same thing:

 

A third don't respond or want you run around after them

A third respond but clearly haven't read the brief and/or don't know what they are doing often offering something we don't want/need

With the final third being the narrowed down options - who we end up spending money with!

 

Maybe it's just me, but I'm astonished so many businesses these days must lose out because they can't be ar#ed!  I have to work for a living (construction industry) - if an email like this was sent out from the office of the company I am employed by I would not be happy!  Rant over!!  Thank you for listening!! 😆😃😁

Thank you for your message and your interest in our loose lay vinyl flooring.

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