How to lay LVT flooring

Inspired by a helpful YouTube guide. This walk-through draws on the comprehensive “How to Install LVT Flooring – Full A-Z Guide” from the Tile Mountain channel, presented by Craig Phillips. Craig is a qualified joiner and one of the UK’s most recognisable DIY faces — and he covers the LVT process thoroughly, from the subfloor check right through to trimming the final row.

1. Check and prepare the subfloor

LVT is unforgiving of an uneven subfloor. Any bump or dip in the surface underneath will eventually telegraph through, showing as a high or low spot in the finished floor.

Use a long straight edge or spirit level across the floor in multiple directions. The maximum acceptable deviation for most LVT products is 3 mm over a 1.8 m span. Fill any dips with a self-levelling compound and grind down any high spots. Let everything cure and dry fully before proceeding.

2. Acclimatise the flooring

Bring the LVT packs into the room and leave them flat for a minimum of 24 hours — 48 hours is better. The planks or tiles need to stabilise to the room temperature before laying. Laying cold boards in a warm room and then watching the gaps open up is frustrating and entirely avoidable.

Keep the room at normal living temperature (above 15°C) during acclimatisation and for 48 hours after laying.

3. Plan the layout before you cut anything

Measure the room at its narrowest point and calculate how wide the final row will be. Aim for the cut row to be at least half a plank width. If it comes out less than that, shift your starting point inward so you share the off-cut more evenly between first and last rows.

LVT usually looks best running along the longest wall or parallel to the main light source. Mark a chalk line as your straight starting reference and do not assume the wall is straight — it usually is not.

4. Underlay (if required)

Many LVT planks come with a pre-attached underlay. If yours does, you do not need to add another layer. In fact, adding extra underlay under a pre-underlaid LVT can make the click joints work loose over time.

If the subfloor is concrete, lay a thin damp-proof membrane first. On a timber subfloor this is generally not required, but check the manufacturer’s guidance for your specific product.

5. Lay the first row

Start along your chalk line with the tongue edge facing the wall. Leave a 10–12 mm expansion gap around all fixed edges — walls, door frames, pipes, and fitted furniture. This space allows the floor to expand and contract slightly with temperature changes without buckling.

Use spacers to hold the gap consistently. Some LVT products have a recommended gap specified in the installation guide; use that figure if it differs.

6. Lock the rows together

Click-lock LVT planks typically join along the long edge first, then the short end. Angle the plank at roughly 20–30 degrees, engage the long edge click, then lower the plank flat to lock the joint. The short end then clicks in to the end of the previous plank in the same row.

Stagger the end joints by at least 200 mm (some manufacturers recommend a third of a plank length). Avoid a continuous joint running across the whole floor — it weakens the installation and looks odd.

7. Cut edge rows and obstacles

Measure each edge piece individually — rooms are rarely perfectly square. Score and snap thin LVT planks, or use a sharp utility knife and straight edge. For thicker boards a fine-toothed jigsaw or mitre saw makes cleaner cuts. Cut with the decorative face up when using a hand saw, face down with a jigsaw to avoid chipping the surface.

Around pipes and architraves, cut the profile carefully with a jigsaw or coping saw. Gaps around pipes will be covered by pipe collars.

8. Fit beading and door bars

Once the floor is down, remove the spacers and fit beading or skirting to cover the expansion gap. Beading is pinned or glued to the wall, not the floor — the floor needs to float freely.

Fit door threshold bars where the LVT meets a different floor surface. Match the style and height as closely as you can to the neighbouring floor.

When to call a handyman

LVT installation is very manageable, but uneven subfloors or awkward rooms with lots of obstacles can slow things down considerably. Richard can lay click LVT flooring in Sandwich and East Kent — and tackle the subfloor preparation beforehand if needed.