LVT vs Porcelain Tiles: Kitchens & Bathrooms Compared
For kitchens and bathrooms these are the two serious options. Which one suits your room comes down to warmth, comfort and how the space is used.
On this page
01
Two good answers to the same question
Both handle water, both take traffic, and both work over underfloor heating. Neither is a compromise, which is why the choice feels harder than it should.
What separates them is how the room feels rather than how the floor performs. Porcelain is harder, colder and more water resistant. LVT is warmer, quieter and more forgiving of a dropped glass.
The quick answer: Standing in the room a lot, or no underfloor heating? LVT. Wet room, or you want the look and permanence of stone? Porcelain.
See also
02
Where they differ
The practical comparison.
Underfoot
LVT is warm and slightly resilient. Porcelain is hard and cold without underfloor heating.
Water
Porcelain is the more water resistant of the two. LVT handles everything a normal kitchen or bathroom produces.
Sound
LVT is markedly quieter. Tiles amplify footsteps and dropped items.
Breakage
A dropped glass usually survives LVT. On porcelain it does not, and a dropped pan can chip a tile.
Maintenance
LVT is a wipe. Tiles are easy too, but grout is what discolours over time.
Fitting
LVT is quicker and lighter. Tiling is slower and needs a subfloor that will not move at all.
03
By room
The same two materials, different answers.
Family kitchen
LVT. Warmer to stand on, quieter, and kinder to dropped crockery.
Wet room or shower room
Porcelain. This is the room where the extra water resistance earns its place.
Family bathroom
Either works. LVT if comfort matters, porcelain if the room takes heavy use.
Utility room
Porcelain if there is a washing machine that has ever leaked. LVT otherwise.
04
What both need
The subfloor decides the outcome for either.
A subfloor that does not move
Tiles crack the grout first. LVT works its joints. Neither forgives movement.
Flat and clean
LVT follows what is underneath. Tiles sit proud of it. Both show a bad base.
Underfloor heating suits both
Porcelain conducts heat best. LVT is warm to begin with.
Allow 8% to 12% for waste
And order the whole quantity in one go. Batch shade varies in both materials.
05
Questions about LVT and porcelain
Which is warmer underfoot, LVT or porcelain?
LVT. Porcelain conducts heat away from a bare foot, which is why a tiled floor feels cold without underfloor heating and why it feels so good with it. Rigid vinyl sits closer to room temperature and is quieter to walk on.
Which copes better with water?
Both cope with the water a kitchen or bathroom sees in normal use. Porcelain is fired dense and does not absorb; rigid vinyl is listed as waterproof at the plank. In both cases the base underneath and the sealed edges at a bath or shower tray decide whether water gets under the floor.
Can either be laid over underfloor heating?
Yes, every rigid vinyl plank and every porcelain tile in our range is listed for it. Tile passes the heat through most readily; the vinyl needs an underlay rated for heating, kept thin so floor plus underlay stay within 0.15 m²K/W.
Which is easier to replace later?
A click vinyl floor lifts and one damaged plank can be swapped; a bedded porcelain tile is cut out and replaced with grout and adhesive. If the kitchen will be refitted in a few years, that argues for the vinyl; if the floor is meant to outlast the kitchen, for the tile.
Your next step
Compare them in the room itself
Warmth and texture decide this, and neither shows in a photograph. Order samples and put them on the floor.
- Samples £1.99 each
- UK-wide delivery
- Advice before you order
On this page
Not sure it suits your room?
A real cut from a real board. Samples £1.99 each, up to 10 per order.
Order samples · £1.99