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LVT and SPC Flooring: What are the Differences?

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LVT and SPC Flooring: What are the Differences?

Choosing the right flooring for your home means balancing budget with aesthetics, practicality, how much wear or tear the surface receives on a regular basis, and which floor type compliments your interior style.

There are some interior flooring types which lend themselves to modern homes. Carpets, hardwood floors, and traditional vinyl are all cornerstones of the flooring market and offer options for homeowners with all preferences and budgets.

But with the rise in innovation comes some new names on the market – namely SPC, which works alongside classic LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles) to offer an alternative with subtle but definitive differences. Let’s take a closer look at what those differences are and the impact they have on the finished surface.

What is SPC Flooring?

SPC stands for Stone Plastic Composite, and to all intents and purposes from the perspective of a client or homeowner, it does much the same job as a vinyl floor tile. SPC mimics the look and surface texture of natural wood and stone materials, yet is highly durable, easy to maintain, and is undeniably more affordable than the natural materials mentioned above.

It is constructed from a series of layers, which include limestone and material stabilisers to create really versatile planks that slot together. All together a single plank of SPC boasts five layers, delivering the look that homeowners want but in a more durable, comfortable, and temperature-resistant format that’s considered more “at-home friendly”.

So far so good. But many of these benefits are also present with LVT flooring – which leads us to ask how the two actually differ.

How Does SPC Compare to LVT?

SPC has, from the outset, a much thicker design and a more stable and durable structure. The planks are solid and slot together rather than sticking to the floor, which makes them less flexible but better for longevity and durability.

Not only does this mean that SPC is harder wearing, but it also makes the floor more comfortable underfoot. This comes from the fact that SPC contains limestone, while LVT leans on its vinyl structure with an aesthetic layer on top.

Is One Better Than the Other for Certain Rooms in the Home?

Because both SPC and LVT are suitable floorings for interior surfaces, which mimic the aesthetic and professional finish of natural materials but with a much more affordable price tag and a more durable finish, they are both commonly recommended and used throughout the home.

SPC is pitched by most flooring retailers and specialists as a thicker and stronger alternative to LVT, which on most surfaces is a positive and a selling point. In properties with uneven floors, SPC can offer a solution for evening up the surface.

And that’s not all. Because of its superior strength, SPC is better suited to rooms with high footfall as well as those which undergo extreme humidity and changing environments, such as kitchens and wet rooms.

All of this means that SPC is a subtly superior flooring type to LVT – something that comes at a cost but is well worth exploring next time you are upgrading your home flooring.