Kitchens have a hard life. There’s the morning rush, muddy boots coming in from the garden, pasta water boiling over and the odd jar of sauce slipping out of someone’s hand. So the best flooring for kitchens has to look good and put up with all of that without needing much looking after.
In this guide we go through the main kitchen flooring options, what each one does well and where it falls short, and the kitchen-friendly floors our customers sample and order the most.
In this guide
Before you get into colours and finishes, it’s worth thinking about what the floor actually has to do. In most kitchens it comes down to six things.
Here’s how the most common kitchen floors stack up against each other.
| Floor | Waterproof? | Feel underfoot | Fitting | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPC click vinyl | Yes, fully waterproof | Warm, with a little give | Clicks together, often a DIY job | The rigid core copes with small dips in the subfloor |
| Glue down LVT | Yes, fully waterproof | Warm, solid and quiet | Glued down, usually by a fitter | Needs a smooth, level subfloor first |
| Sheet vinyl | Yes, and usually no seams | Soft and cushioned | Laid in one piece, cut to size | Usually the most affordable option |
| Engineered wood | No, spills need wiping up quickly | Warm and natural | Click or glued | Real wood, so it will mark over time |
| Ceramic or porcelain tiles | Yes, once grouted and sealed | Hard and cold without heating | Specialist fitting | Very tough, but dropped plates rarely survive |
| Laminate | Water resistant at best | Firm, can sound hollow | Clicks together | Standing water can swell the joints |
For most kitchens, we’d go for vinyl. SPC click vinyl and glue down LVT are both fully waterproof, comfortable to stand on and easy to keep clean, and they come in convincing wood, stone and tile looks. If you’re working to a tighter budget, sheet vinyl ticks most of the same boxes for less. If you’d like a closer look at how the three compare, our guide to the types of vinyl flooring goes into more detail.
SPC stands for stone plastic composite. It’s a click vinyl built around a rigid core made with crushed stone, so it feels solid underfoot and won’t flex over small bumps in the subfloor. The planks and tiles click together and float over the floor below, with no glue involved, which makes it one of the easiest kitchen floors to fit yourself.
Of all the floors that suit a kitchen, SPC is the one our customers order most, and it’s easy to see why:
One thing to plan for: a floating floor needs room to expand and contract slightly as the temperature changes. That means it should be fitted up to your kitchen units and island rather than underneath them, with the expansion gap the fitting guide asks for. The kickboards and skirting will hide the gap. If you’re fitting a brand new kitchen, it’s worth talking to your kitchen fitter about this early on.
Torn between SPC and glue down? Our guide to SPC vs glue down LVT compares the two side by side.
Glue down LVT (luxury vinyl tile) is stuck directly to the subfloor. It sits completely flat, feels solid and quiet underfoot and, because it’s fixed in place, it doesn’t need expansion gaps in the same way a floating floor does. That makes it a good fit for big open-plan kitchens and for patterns like herringbone that look best running through without breaks.
Our River Stone tiles and Heritage herringbone are both 2.5mm with a 0.55mm wear layer, the thickest wear layer of any floor in this guide. River Stone was tested with a wet pendulum value of 41, which puts it in the low slip risk category. Both are fully waterproof and work with underfloor heating.
The trade-off is preparation. Glue down LVT needs a smooth, level subfloor, which usually means a screed first, and it’s normally laid by a professional fitter. Browse our glue down LVT, tile effect LVT and herringbone LVT ranges.
Sheet vinyl, or lino as a lot of people still call it, comes off a roll in 2m, 3m and 4m widths. Most kitchens can be done in a single piece, so there are no seams for water to find its way into. It’s soft and quiet to walk on, and it’s the most affordable way to get a waterproof kitchen floor.
All of our sheet vinyl is waterproof and pet friendly. Ranges like Arianna are 2.75mm thick with an extra thick acoustic cushion backing and a 15 year warranty, while Kefi has a felt backing and a 12 year warranty. Patterned designs are a big part of the appeal too, from terrazzo to Victorian tile effects.
The wear layers on sheet vinyl are thinner than on LVT and SPC, at 0.25mm to 0.35mm on the ranges above. It will still last well in a normal family kitchen, but if yours takes a real battering, the thicker wear layer on LVT or SPC will go further.
Engineered wood has a real wood top layer, and nothing quite matches it for warmth and character. It isn’t waterproof though, so it can work in a kitchen if you’re happy to wipe up spills straight away and you like the way real wood marks and changes over time. See our engineered wood flooring.
Laminate is affordable and easy to fit, but most of it doesn’t cope well with standing water, which can get into the joints and make them swell. If you like the look of laminate, click vinyl gives you a very similar wood effect and is fully waterproof.
Ceramic and porcelain tiles are very hard-wearing and waterproof once they’re grouted and sealed. They’re also hard and cold underfoot unless you have underfloor heating, dropped plates and glasses rarely survive, and fitting takes time. Tile effect vinyl gives you the same look in a floor that’s warmer, softer and quicker to lay.
These are the kitchen-friendly floors our customers sample and order the most. Every one of them is waterproof and works with underfloor heating.
One of our best sellers. Mid Grey Slate Tile has the soft, layered look of natural slate in a mid grey that’s very forgiving of crumbs and paw prints. It’s 5.5mm SPC with a built-in underlay and an R10 slip rating, and each pack covers 1.48m². It’s a lovely match for painted and shaker style kitchens.
Concrete Grey Tile is one of our most sampled floors. It’s a cool, light grey with a subtle concrete texture that suits modern and industrial kitchens, and it pairs well with wood worktops if you want to warm it up a little.
If you want a bright, clean kitchen, White Marble Tile is a popular choice. It has a square edge with no bevel, so the tiles butt up closely and read more like one continuous marble floor. It’s shown here in a bathroom, and it works just as well in a kitchen.
For a wood look, Crafted Oak is a warm mid oak plank with natural grain. It’s a good choice for open-plan kitchens where the floor carries on into a dining or living area. Each pack covers 2.23m².
Tivoli and Urbino are bright white stone effects from our thicker Vestige range. At 8mm with a 0.5mm wear layer and a painted bevel edge, they feel substantial underfoot and bounce light around kitchens and conservatories.
Classic Limestone is a pale, softly textured limestone look in our glue down River Stone range. With a 0.55mm wear layer and a low slip risk rating in the wet, it’s a practical way to get a light stone floor that won’t feel cold.
Arran Oak Herringbone is a glue down herringbone in a warm, honeyed oak. Herringbone works especially well in period homes and in kitchen diners where you want the floor to be a feature.
Our most popular sheet vinyl. Terrazzo Milan is a white and beige terrazzo with an extra thick acoustic backing, so it’s one of the most comfortable and quietest floors we sell. It comes in 2m and 4m widths.
For something with more personality, Victorian Green is a green and white period tile pattern that looks great against plain cabinets. It’s 2.8mm with a cushioned backing.
Once you know which type of floor you want, it’s time for the fun part. A few things to bear in mind:
Samples are £1 each and you can order up to four at a time. They usually arrive in 1 to 2 working days, and delivery on flooring orders is free across the UK. Pop them down on your kitchen floor for a few days and see how they feel with the rest of the room before you decide.
For most homes, vinyl flooring is the best all-round choice for a kitchen. SPC click vinyl and glue down LVT are fully waterproof, comfortable to stand on, easy to clean and available in realistic wood, stone and tile designs. Sheet vinyl is a good lower cost option.
Yes. Vinyl is one of the most practical kitchen floors you can choose. All of our LVT, SPC and sheet vinyl is waterproof, and vinyl is warmer and softer underfoot than ceramic tiles.
Yes. SPC is fully waterproof, has a rigid core that copes with small dips in the subfloor and clicks together without glue. Our Ashdown range also has a built-in underlay and an R10 slip rating.
Generally, no. Click vinyl floats, so it needs to be able to move slightly. It should be fitted up to your units and island, with an expansion gap hidden behind the kickboards. Always check the fitting guide for the floor you choose. If you want one continuous floor under everything, glue down LVT is the better option.
Of the floors in this guide, our glue down LVT has the thickest wear layer at 0.55mm, followed by our Vestige SPC at 0.5mm. The wear layer is the clear top layer that protects the design, so the thicker it is, the better the floor stands up to heavy use.
Our LVT and SPC floors are designed with grip in mind. Our Ashdown SPC has an R10 slip rating and our River Stone LVT is rated low slip risk when wet. As with any floor, wipe up spills quickly.
Shaker kitchens suit floors with a natural, classic feel. Grey slate tile effects, warm oak planks, herringbone and Victorian tile patterns are all popular choices.
Yes. Our underfloor heating compatible LVT and SPC floors can be used with water and electric systems up to a surface temperature of 27°C.
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