Every LVT range is sold two ways: click (floating) or glue-down (also called dryback). The brochure makes them sound the same. On the floor they behave very differently. Here is how we decide on a home visit in Bolton.
Luxury vinyl tile is the floor most people in Bolton ask us about now, and the first real decision is not the colour. It is how the floor is held down. Get that wrong and you end up with a floor that bounces, gaps at the joints or lifts near the patio doors in July.
Dryback planks are thin (usually 2 to 2.5mm) with no locking edge. Each one is bedded into a pressure-sensitive adhesive spread over the subfloor. Once the adhesive has gone off the floor is one solid surface: it cannot move, creak or flex, and you can put a 300kg island unit on it without a second thought.
Because the planks are glued individually, you can lay them in any pattern: straight plank, herringbone, chevron, basket weave, or a border with a feature strip. That is why nearly every herringbone floor you have seen in a Bolton hallway is glue-down.
The trade-off is preparation. A glue-down floor copies every bump beneath it, so the subfloor has to be properly flat first. On floorboards that means a plywood overlay; on concrete it means a smoothing compound. We cover exactly what that involves in our subfloor preparation guide.
Click planks are thicker (4 to 6.5mm, more with a built-in underlay) with a locking profile on the edges. They float on a thin, dense underlay and lock to each other rather than to the floor. Nothing is glued. The floor is held in place by its own weight and the skirting or beading around the edge.
Modern click LVT comes in two constructions. Flexible click is the original type and is the one that gives click a bad name for movement. Rigid core (often sold as SPC) has a stone-polymer core that is far more stable and is what we would recommend if you go click. Brands such as Karndean Korlok, Moduleo LayRed, Polyflor Camaro Loc and Quick-Step Alpha are all rigid core.
| Question | Glue-down (dryback) | Click (rigid core) |
|---|---|---|
| How does it feel underfoot? | Solid. No give, no hollow sound. | Good on a flat floor; can sound slightly hollow on a poor one. |
| Herringbone or a border? | Yes, any pattern. | Herringbone click exists but is fussier and limited in sizes; borders are not practical. |
| Room with bifolds or a south-facing window? | Yes, with a high-temperature adhesive. | Risky in big sunny rooms; the floor expands and contracts as one sheet. |
| Underfloor heating? | Yes, up to the manufacturer's limit (27°C surface). | Yes, same limit, but expansion gaps become more important. |
| Long open-plan kitchen-diner? | No run-length limit. | Needs expansion breaks over long runs; door bars in openings. |
| Kitchen island or heavy furniture? | Fine. | Can pin the floor and stop it moving, which leads to gapping elsewhere. |
| Slightly uneven subfloor? | Must be smoothed first. | More forgiving, but still needs to be within 3mm over 2m. |
| Need it out again in a few years? | Hard work to lift. | Lifts and relays easily. |
| Repair a damaged plank? | One plank can be heated and replaced. | Have to unclick back to the damaged plank. |
| Fitting time | Longer: prep day, then fit. | Faster on a good floor. |
Downstairs: glue-down. Upstairs: either, with rigid-core click being a sensible saving. If you are torn, the question we ask is "how long are you planning to live with this floor?" Ten years or more and glue-down nearly always wins.
This is the one that causes the most call-backs from other fitters. Click LVT is more forgiving of a slightly imperfect floor, but the manufacturers all state the same tolerance: no more than 3mm deviation under a 2 metre straight edge. Lay rigid-core planks over a dipping floorboard and the locking joint takes the strain every time you walk over it. Eventually it opens up. We still check every subfloor with a straight edge before we quote, whichever type you choose.
Usually, but not by as much as people expect. The plank itself is often similar in price, and you save the adhesive and some labour. What you really save on is preparation, if (and only if) your subfloor is already good. On a floorboarded room that needs ply, the gap between the two quotes shrinks a lot. We itemise both on the quote so you can see where the money goes. More on this in our LVT cost guide for Bolton.
Bring the question to the home visit. We will look at the subfloor, the light in the room and where the doors are, and tell you which one we would put in our own house. If you are leaning towards a pattern, read the herringbone guide next. If you are weighing LVT against laminate or wood, start with LVT vs laminate vs engineered wood.
Based in Bolton? We fit LVT, carpet, vinyl and laminate across Bolton, Horwich, Westhoughton, Egerton, Bromley Cross, Harwood, Breightmet, Blackrod and Lostock. See our Bolton flooring page or book a free home visit.
More straight answers from the people who actually fit the floors.
Ply, smoothing compound, moisture tests, DPM: what proper prep is and why it is on your quote.
Read the guide →LVT · HerringboneWhy it costs more, borders, direction, click vs glue, and the rooms it suits best.
Read the guide →LVT · BrandsKarndean, Amtico, Moduleo, Invictus, Polyflor, Quick-Step: what you actually pay for.
Read the guide →Real installs across Bolton and Greater Manchester — dust-free, clean, precise.
Rated 5.0 from 29 Google reviews — see what customers say.
What Bolton homeowners ask us most on home visits.
For most ground-floor rooms, yes. It is more stable, suits any pattern including herringbone, copes with sunlight and underfloor heating, and feels completely solid. Rigid-core click is a good choice for bedrooms, rentals and flat chipboard floors where you want speed and the option to lift it later.
Only if the boards are flat to within 3mm over 2 metres, which old Bolton floorboards rarely are. In most cases we fit a thin plywood overlay first. Without it the locking joints open up over the gaps between boards.
Yes, unless the plank has an underlay bonded to the back. It must be a thin, dense underlay made for LVT (around 1 to 1.5mm). Soft laminate or carpet underlay lets the joints flex and will fail the manufacturer's guarantee.
Not when it is fitted properly. In conservatories, rooms with bifolds or south-facing glazing we use a high-temperature adhesive (such as F. Ball Styccobond F48 Plus or F49) that is made for exactly that. Lifting almost always comes from the wrong adhesive or a damp subfloor, not the product.
A few ranges offer click herringbone, but choices are limited and the fitting is fussier. If you want herringbone, a border or a feature strip, glue-down is the right way to get it.
Click on a good subfloor is the quickest. Glue-down normally takes a day of preparation (ply or smoothing compound) before the fitting day. We tell you the timescale with your quote so you can plan around it.
Book a free home visit in Bolton. We bring samples, check your subfloor properly and give you a clear, itemised supply-and-fit quote — no showroom, no pressure.
Prefer to talk? Call us on 07724 318794