What is LVT?

Luxury Vinyl Tiles. Although we should point out LVT is often in the form of planks rather than tiles. LVT is part of what is known in the floor covering industry as "resilient flooring" which also includes sheet vinyl flooring and rubber flooring. In many ways LVT is similar to laminated wood flooring, the major difference being that it is made of vinyl rather than High Density Fibreboard (HDF) which is processed and compressed wood particles. Like laminate flooring LVT's strength lies not in the base material per se but in the layers that make it up. Both have wear layers.

LVT is made of layers too; its primary component is PVC vinyl which makes LVT dimensionally stable and flexible. Because of its composition LVT is waterproof as against laminate which can swell and rupture if waterlogged.

The ability to replicate real hardwoods and stones using advanced photographic technologies is the foundation of luxury vinyl flooring systems. There are four distinct layers fused together to produce the final product: a resilient vinyl backing, a vinyl color layer, a photographic film layer, and a urethane or aluminum oxide top layer. The protective top layer (also called the wearlayer or mil layer) is very important to the durability of the product. Quality products will have as high as a 40 mil layer. Commercial applications can successfully utilize 20 mil or above. Lower mil layers are available, but should be specified only for light traffic applications. Good LVT has an extremely hard aluminum oxide wear layer that resists scratches and provides UV protection to prevent fading from prolonged exposure to sunlight. LVT may also have a clear vinyl coating and a urethane coating to protect it.

LVT also has the advantage of being warmer to the touch and because of the manufacturing process it is easier to create surface texture so LVT most often has a realistic wood grain or a texture like natural stone.

Our factory is ISO 9001:2008 certified and produces LVT planks measuring 128mm x 1,25m long to real AC3 standard. In other words the flooring is 8,3mm thick overall. The coreboard is between 850-880g/m2 and the wear layer is 38g/m2 right in the top range of the AC3 classification.