Which flooring for which room? A fitter's room-by-room answer

There is no single best floor. There is the best floor for the room, the house and the way you live in it. We measure a lot of houses across Bolton, from Victorian terraces in Halliwell to new builds in Horwich and Westhoughton, and the same patterns come up every week.

Kitchen and kitchen-diner

Water, dropped pans, chairs scraping, the dog's bowl. The kitchen floor takes more punishment than any other room, so it needs to be waterproof, hard-wearing and comfortable to stand on.

Our first choice: glue-down LVT with a 0.55mm wear layer. It is warm underfoot, quiet, waterproof on the surface and easy to replace a single plank if something heavy ever goes through it. In open-plan extensions with bifolds we use a high-temperature adhesive so the sun through the glass is not a problem. Tile effect, stone effect or wood plank all work; herringbone looks superb in a long kitchen-diner.

Also good: sheet vinyl. Fully waterproof, no joints, and the modern cushioned ranges look far better than the lino of old. Ideal for rentals and budgets.

Avoid: laminate. Even "water-resistant" laminate swells at the joints when a dishwasher leaks or a mop is too wet. Real tiles are cold, hard on dropped crockery and unforgiving on the knees.

Hallway, porch and downstairs WC

The hallway is the first thing visitors see and the floor every pair of shoes crosses. In Bolton's terraces and semis it is usually long and narrow with a staircase coming down into it.

Our first choice: glue-down LVT. Herringbone in a Victorian hallway is the floor we are asked for most, and a border makes it look original to the house. Running straight planks from the front door towards the kitchen makes a narrow hall feel longer.

Also good: a dense twist carpet in a mid tone with a decent underlay. Warmer, quieter and more forgiving than people expect; choose a bleach-cleanable polypropylene if you have children or dogs.

Think about: the door bar between hall LVT and lounge carpet, and whether the front door will still clear the new floor height. We check both on the home visit.

Living room and lounge

This one genuinely splits two ways and it depends on how the room is used.

Open-plan or through-lounge: LVT, continued from the hallway or kitchen so there are no breaks in the floor. Rugs add the softness.

Separate front room: carpet still wins on comfort, warmth and sound, especially in a terrace where next door's telly comes through the wall. A good wool or wool-mix twist on 10 or 11mm underlay is a different world from a builder's carpet.

Bathroom, en-suite and utility

Water on the floor every day, often standing. The floor has to be waterproof all the way to the edges.

Our first choice: sheet vinyl, because there are no joints at all. In a bathroom we can also cove it up the wall by a few centimetres so splashes have nowhere to go.

Also good: glue-down LVT. The planks themselves are waterproof and the adhesive bond stops water tracking underneath. Click LVT is sold as waterproof too, but water can get through the locking joints to the subfloor below, so we only use it in bathrooms with a sealed perimeter.

Avoid: laminate, and carpet in any bathroom.

Bedrooms

Bare feet, low traffic, and somewhere you want quiet and warmth.

Our first choice: carpet. A soft saxony or a deep twist on a good underlay. This is where you can enjoy a softer, lighter carpet that would not survive a hallway.

Also good: rigid-core click LVT if you prefer hard floors or suffer with allergies. Upstairs chipboard in new builds is usually flat enough to go straight on an LVT underlay, which keeps the cost down.

Stairs and landing

The highest-wear area in the house and the one place where fitting quality is also a safety issue.

Our first choice: carpet, fitted on gripper with the underlay cut to each tread and riser. A dense twist or loop pile wears best; keep the pile shorter than you would in a bedroom. A runner with painted sides looks great in older houses.

LVT on stairs: it can be done with matching stair nosings and it looks sharp, but every tread and riser is cut and glued individually and it costs considerably more than carpet. We are happy to quote it; most customers choose carpet once they see the numbers.

Homes with dogs (and cats)

Claws, muddy paws from Smithills Moor, the occasional accident. You need a floor that does not scratch easily and cleans in seconds.

Hard floor: LVT with a 0.55mm wear layer and a textured, matt finish (scratches show far less than on a gloss). Avoid very dark, very smooth designs.

Carpet: a bleach-cleanable polypropylene twist. Not wool, which stains, and not a loop pile, which claws catch in.

Is LVT slippery for dogs? A textured surface is no worse than tiles or laminate and far better than a gloss finish. Most dogs are fine; a rug at the bottom of the stairs helps older ones.

Underfloor heating

Common in Bolton's newer builds and extensions. The floor needs to let the heat through and cope with the warmth without moving.

Our first choice: glue-down LVT. Thin, dense and bonded straight to the heated screed, so the heat comes through quickly. Surface temperature must stay below 27°C and the heating is run and then turned down before fitting. We use an adhesive rated for underfloor heating.

Also good: carpet with a low-tog underlay and a carpet that together stay under about 2.5 tog. Rigid-core click LVT works too, with the same temperature limit.

Avoid: thick wool carpets and heavy underlays that insulate the heat in.

Older Bolton houses vs new builds

The house itself changes the answer. In pre-war terraces and 1930s semis the downstairs floor is usually suspended timber: floorboards, sometimes original, often with a few replaced. Hard floors here need a plywood overlay and sometimes a little ventilation work; carpet needs the boards secured and any gaps dealt with so they do not show. In 1950s to 70s houses on the estates around Breightmet, Johnson Fold and Horwich, ground floors are often concrete with an asphalt or sand-cement screed, which means moisture testing and a smoothing compound before any hard floor. New builds have screed downstairs and chipboard upstairs, usually flat, occasionally still drying out. We check all of this before we quote; see how we prepare a subfloor.