Choosing a vinyl floor for your home

A new floor changes how a room feels every day.

Vinyl comes as sheet from a roll and as tiles, in a wide range of designs and sizes. Knowing a few of the labels makes it easier to pick one that suits the room and lasts.

These notes draw on European flooring standards bodies, a UK recycling scheme and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

What vinyl flooring is

Vinyl is a resilient floor covering. The European Resilient Flooring Manufacturers' Institute describes resilient flooring as durable, flexible and impermeable.

Because the surface is closed, spills are not absorbed and dirt does not easily work its way in.

Matching the floor to the room

Vinyl is graded into use classes under the standard EN ISO 10874. The higher the number, the more wear the floor is made for.

Class 21 is for light domestic use, such as a bedroom.
Class 22 is for general domestic use.
Class 23 is for heavy domestic use, such as a living room.
Classes 31 to 34 are for commercial use, in places such as offices, schools and hospitals.

A busy hallway or kitchen may suit a higher class than a spare bedroom.

Reading the symbols on the pack

Flooring makers use a set of standard symbols to show a floor's features in a simple way. They come from the European standard EN 15398. A symbol may only be used when the product has been tested or classified for that feature.

Look for the use class symbol, and the thickness of the wear layer. There are also symbols for whether the floor suits office chairs on castors, either all the time or now and then. Others show how well it recovers from dents and whether it has an environmental product declaration.

Planning how much to order

Some material is always lost in cutting and fitting. The Recofloor scheme puts the usual waste from fitting new vinyl flooring at about 10%, and sometimes as high as 20%. For luxury vinyl tiles it is lower, at 3 to 5%.

Measure each room at its widest points and talk to your fitter about how much extra to allow.

Keeping it looking good

Resilient floors are made to resist stains, and most marks can be treated and removed. Clean the floor in line with how much it is used.

Products differ, so follow the maker's own cleaning and care guidance for your floor.

Offcuts, old floors and floors at work

Recofloor is a UK collection and recycling service for commercial waste vinyl flooring. Small amounts can be dropped off free at participating flooring distributors. The vinyl is recycled into new flooring or into traffic management products.

Older floors need a little care before they come up. HSE says asbestos was added to some PVC and thermoplastic floor tiles, to backing paper and to the adhesive used to stick tiles down. Old tiles can be hidden under carpets. Grinding off flooring that holds asbestos needs an HSE-licensed contractor.

Floors in a workplace must be suitable, in good condition and free from obstructions. HSE explains how the slip resistance of flooring is assessed.