LVT is only 2 to 6mm thick. Every ridge, screw head and dip in the floor beneath will show through it within weeks. Preparation is not an extra. It is the job. Here is exactly what we do and why.
The most common reason an LVT floor fails is not the product. It is what happened, or did not happen, underneath it before the first plank went down. We have been asked to put right too many floors in Bolton that were fitted straight onto floorboards with a tube of grab adhesive. This guide is what proper preparation looks like, so you can judge any quote you are given.
Every LVT manufacturer specifies the same tolerance, taken from the British Standard for resilient floor coverings (BS 8203): no more than 3mm deviation under a 2 metre straight edge. That is a very flat floor. Old floorboards cup and dip by far more than that between joists. Screed often has a trowel ridge or a hump by the door. We put a 2m straight edge on every floor during the home visit, and we tell you what we find.
This is most of Bolton. Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Halliwell, Deane, Great Lever and Tonge Moor, and the 1930s semis in Heaton, Smithills and Harwood, nearly all have suspended timber ground floors. New builds have chipboard upstairs.
Floorboards move with the seasons, they have gaps, and their surface is uneven. Adhesive cannot hold a thin plank flat across a moving gap, and within months the board lines show as ridges in your new floor. Plywood turns a hundred moving boards into one stable sheet.
Ground floors in 1950s to 1980s houses on estates around Breightmet, Johnson Fold, Horwich and Westhoughton, plus almost every extension and new build, are solid. The job here is different.
Concrete and screed hold water for a long time, and a new screed can take months to dry. LVT and its adhesive are not breathable, so any moisture rising from below collects under the floor and lifts it. Before any solid floor gets LVT we test it with a hygrometer. The British Standard limit is 75% relative humidity. Below that, we proceed. Above it, we apply a surface damp-proof membrane (an epoxy coating such as F. Ball Stopgap F77) and only then continue. New extensions in particular are often still too wet when the kitchen is being fitted; the test tells us rather than guessing.
The floor is cleaned back to a sound surface and primed (the primer stops the compound drying too fast and helps it bond), then a smoothing compound is poured and trowelled to give a flat, hard, smooth base. We use professional products such as F. Ball Stopgap 1200 Pro or 300 HD, or the Ardex equivalents, at a minimum of 3mm. Asphalt floors, which are common in older council-built houses around Bolton, need a compound that is compatible with asphalt; the wrong one will not bond.
Sound, well-bonded ceramic or quarry tiles can be kept, degreased, primed and smoothed over. Loose or hollow tiles come up first. We check every tile with a tap test.
Dryback LVT is laid into a pressure-sensitive adhesive. Which one matters:
LVT expands and contracts with temperature. The boxes are opened and the planks left flat in the room for at least 24 hours (longer in winter, or if they came from a cold van or warehouse) at normal living temperature, usually 18 to 27°C, with the subfloor at the same temperature. Fitting cold planks into a warm house is the classic cause of gaps appearing a week later. We plan deliveries so this happens properly.
Preparation includes thinking about the edges. We check that doors will clear the new height (ply plus LVT adds a few millimetres on timber floors), plane them if needed, fit the right door bar between LVT and the neighbouring carpet, and either remove and refit skirting for the cleanest finish or fit a matching scotia. We tell you which we are planning at quote stage.
A proper LVT quote for a Bolton house will usually list some or all of: uplift and disposal of the old floor, plywood overlay, feather finish, moisture test, primer and smoothing compound (or DPM if required), adhesive, the LVT itself with a waste allowance, door bars or scotia, and fitting. If a quote for a floorboarded room has none of this, the fitter is either planning to lay straight onto the boards or has not looked. Either way, ask.
Because the guarantee on your floor depends on it. Every manufacturer's warranty is conditional on the subfloor meeting their specification. We photograph the preparation on every job so you have the record. And because a floor we fit is a floor we will be judged on for the next fifteen years.
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.
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What to expect, and what to question on any quote.
Yes. Floorboards move, cup and have gaps, and a 2mm plank cannot bridge them. A 6mm flooring-grade plywood overlay, fixed at close centres and feathered at the joints, turns the boards into one flat, stable sheet. Without it the board lines show through within months and the guarantee is void.
Concrete and screed are rarely flat to the 3mm-over-2m tolerance that LVT needs, and the surface is often dusty or pitted. A primed smoothing compound gives a hard, flat, clean base the adhesive can bond to properly. It is normal on almost every solid floor we fit.
A damp-proof membrane. For LVT it is usually a liquid epoxy coating applied to a concrete floor that tests above 75% relative humidity, so that moisture cannot rise under the floor and lift it. We only specify it when the moisture test says it is needed, and we show you the reading.
Yes, if the tiles are sound and well bonded. We tap-test them, remove any loose ones, degrease, prime and smooth over with a compound so the grout lines cannot show through. It saves the mess and cost of taking the tiles up.
Typically a day for an average room: ply and feather on timber, or prime and pour on concrete, with the compound curing overnight. The LVT is then fitted the following day. We give you the full timescale with the quote.
Yes, glue-down LVT is one of the best floors for it. The system must be commissioned and run before fitting, turned down for 48 hours before we start, and the adhesive must be rated for underfloor heating. The surface should never exceed 27 degrees C once the floor is down.
It does not have to be. We use dust extraction on sanding and cutting, protect the rest of the house and clean the room before we leave. Dust-free, tidy fitting is what Tred is known for across Bolton.
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