Vinyl Flooring — LVT, Homogeneous and Heterogeneous

Vinyl flooring is PVC-based resilient flooring supplied as LVT planks and tiles, homogeneous sheet with colour through its full thickness, or layered heterogeneous sheet. The wear layer, the transparent top film that alone resists traffic, decides its service life, and a dry, flat subfloor decides whether the adhesive bond holds.

By Dhruv Agarwal · · 1 min read

What it is

PVC-based resilient flooring, supplied in three broad forms:

TypeFormTypical use
LVTPlanks and tilesOffices, retail, hospitality
Homogeneous sheetRoll, heat weldedHospitals, labs, clean areas
Heterogeneous sheetRoll, layeredEducation, general commercial

Specification at a glance

PropertyTypical specification
ClassificationEN ISO 10874 use class, e.g. 33 for heavy commercial
Wear layer0.3 / 0.55 / 0.7mm and above — state it
Total thickness2mm — 3mm typical
BackingDryback, loose lay, or click
Fire and slipClass stated per application

What the specification must cover

Use class · wear layer thickness · installation method, since loose lay, dryback adhesive and click systems behave very differently under rolling loads · subfloor moisture limit and test method · welding requirement for sheet · skirting and coving detail · transition and threshold details.

Where projects go wrong

  • Wear layer unspecified, so a thin residential-grade product is laid in a commercial corridor.
  • Laid on a damp slab. Bubbling and lifting appear months later and the whole floor comes up.
  • Subfloor not flat. Every undulation reads through resilient flooring, and it cannot be corrected afterwards.
  • Heavy point loads from cabinets and racking on a thin wear layer, indenting permanently.
  • Sheet joints not welded in wet or hygienic areas, leaving open seams.

Standards referenced

Resilient floor covering classification under EN ISO 10874. PVC floor covering requirements under EN 649. Concrete subfloor requirements under IS 456:2000.

Standards referenced

  • EN ISO 10874 — Resilient floor coverings — classification (ISO)
  • EN 649 — Homogeneous and heterogeneous PVC floor coverings (CEN-CENELEC)
  • IS 456:2000 — Plain and reinforced concrete (Bureau of Indian Standards)

Frequently asked

The wear layer is the transparent top film and it is the only part that resists traffic, so it determines service life. Roughly 0.3mm suits light residential use, 0.55mm suits general commercial areas, and 0.7mm and above suits heavy commercial traffic such as corridors, receptions and retail. Specifying LVT by pattern and not by wear layer is the standard way projects end up with flooring that looks worn within two years.

Because the colour and structure run through the full thickness, so surface wear does not expose a different layer, and sheets can be heat welded and coved up the wall to form a continuous impervious surface with no joints for bacteria to sit in. That hygienic detailing, not the material itself, is the reason it dominates healthcare flooring.

More than most trades allow for. The screed must be flat, sound and, critically, dry — residual moisture in a concrete slab will push through and break the adhesive bond, causing bubbling and lifting months later. Moisture testing before laying is not optional, and it is the single most common cause of vinyl floor failure on Indian projects where programmes compress the drying time.

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