Can you put heated floors under luxury vinyl tile?
Heat causes thermal expansion in luxury vinyl tile, making it an unacceptable flooring material for heated floor systems. Because of this risk, mixing heat and LVT can damage the flooring installation.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using ceramic or tile flooring instead for heated systemsDid this help you?
- 2Checking with the LVT manufacturer to see if specific products are acceptableDid this help you?
- 3Putting the butt-joint in first, then lengthDid this help you?
- 4Working with experienced friends previously to learn basicsDid this help you?
- 5Installing flooring independently in a single roomDid this help you?
- 6Opening 5-6 boxes at once to separate colors and patterns for a more random staggerDid this help you?
- 7Undercutting door jambs for proper perimeter spacingDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“This is my first time doing LVP I might be over thinking everything but the rooms lengths were absolutely the worst for the length of LVP & the install instructions said no peice should be less than 18 inches for stability.”source ↗
“I am deathly afraid of getting through this and then 6-12 months down the road joints are going to be popping up or I didn't do the expansion gaps enough so it's going to buckle.”source ↗
“I’m not rushing through something I’m not confident in, if you want me to be fast, you have to let me get good at it first”source ↗
“Every short piece is slightly out of alignment. I’ve broken a lot trying to make them work.”source ↗
“I don’t understand how they can be out of alignment.”source ↗
“There are zero gaps long wise on previous rows (been bashing them together like crazy). I’m on row 6”source ↗
“I don’t think you can mix heat and LVT. Heat causes thermal expansion in LVT.”source ↗
“Tell your client that is not an acceptable flooring material for heated floors.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6Can you install LVP flooring room by room?
- 8Do I need a waterproof membrane under tile on a concrete floor?
- 5Do I need to take engineered hardwood out of the box to acclimate?
- 7Should I put vinyl plank flooring on my stairs?
- 2How to cover ugly hardwood floors cheaply
- 4Should I glue down engineered herringbone flooring or float it?