How to lay click vinyl flooring
Updated: October 2026
You have the packs in the hall and you are about to click the first row before you have looked at the slab. That is where these floors go wrong: a dip, a second layer of foam, or silicone squeezed into a gap the plank needed in order to move. This is how to lay click vinyl flooring as a floating floor on a dry, flat base, using the underlay the warranty allows and the gap the instructions in your box actually own. The four listings are on the [click vinyl comparison](/hub/flooring/click-vinyl). Which board is which is on the [click vinyl flooring buying guide](/hub/flooring/click-vinyl/sub/click-vinyl-buying-guide). A tanked wet room is not this sequence. There is no lab test.
You have the packs in the hall and you are about to click the first row before you have looked at the slab.
You have the packs in the hall and you are about to click the first row before you have looked at the slab. That is where these floors go wrong: a dip, a second layer of foam, or silicone squeezed into a gap the plank needed in order to move. This is how to lay click vinyl flooring as a floating floor on a dry, flat base, using the underlay the warranty allows and the gap the instructions in your box actually own. The four listings are on the click vinyl comparison. Which board is which is on the click vinyl flooring buying guide. A tanked wet room is not this sequence. There is no lab test.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Underlay | Heating limit | Core | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  FLOORNATION FLOORNATION SPC, London Fog | Yes, 1.5 mm IXPE | 27°C | SPC | 7.0 | about £55.99 | View offer |
 Grandismo Grandismo click vinyl, grey | No | n/a | Vinyl, titled rigid core | 8.6 | about £29.99 per m² | View offer | |
| Best value |  Grandismo Grandismo click vinyl, White Cliffs | No | n/a | Vinyl, titled rigid core | 8.0 | about £29.99 per m² | View offer |
Dry and flat first
BS 8203 is the British code of practice for fitting resilient floor coverings. It is the document UK fitters are pointed at for plastic floors. It is not a millimetre printed on these amazon.co.uk packs. The working moisture figure used with that code is about 75 percent relative humidity. These four listings do not print their own moisture number, so you cannot claim the Grandismo or FLOORNATION page has cleared your slab. If a concrete floor still reads damp, or you can see a tide mark, you stop. A click lock does not dry a floor, and a vinyl surface will not hide a wet screed for long.
Flatness is the next check, and the number people quote comes from prep guides rather than from these ASINs. Harvey Maria, writing about how to lay LVT and citing BS 8203 and BS 8204, describes a gap under 3 mm under a 3 m straight edge, which they call SR1. Their page is mainly glue-down preparation. Use the straight edge as the idea: kneel, slide it, and look for daylight under the middle. A hollow that takes a 3 mm packer will click shut on day one and open when the room is walked. FLOORNATION names concrete, tile and wood as subfloors. Tile is only a base if it is flat and sound. Levelling compound and a damp slab are a fitter’s job.
Underlay, once
Grandismo’s warranty line tells you to use Grandismo LVT underlay with this flooring. The 1 m² pack does not include it. If you lay the vinyl straight on concrete because the roll has not arrived, you are outside the line the listing itself prints. White Cliffs and the grey pack are the same on this point. Buy the roll the warranty names, roll it in the direction the sheet shows, and do not overlap the seams into a ramp.
FLOORNATION says the opposite, and you should not mix the two rules. The bullet says 1.5 mm IXPE is already attached and that you do not need a separate underlay. A second foam roll under that pad is how the floor feels soft and then snaps at the click. Wickes’ own click-tile sheet makes the same point for that product: no second underlay if foam is pre-attached. That sheet is not Grandismo’s, but the failure is the same shape. One allowed layer, not two.
Cutting is where the reviews get practical. Grey Grandismo reviewers score with a blade and snap. One White Cliffs buyer had no instructions in the box and nearly used a saw. Score the face, snap down, and keep the offcut. A saw is for a door frame or a last rip if the leaflet says so, not for every plank. Joints that arrive chipped, which White Cliffs reviewers reported across boxes, should not be forced into the middle of the floor. Put a damaged end in a cupboard or send it back.
Gap and trims
These four listings do not print an expansion gap, and they do not print an acclimatisation time. Do not invent 48 hours and do not declare a universal 10 mm. If the leaflet in your box gives hours, a room temperature and a gap, that leaflet wins. If the box has no leaflet, you are guessing, and guessing with silicone is how a floating floor becomes a fixed one.
Other UK sheets show the range, and they must stay attributed. Wickes’ click-tile sheet uses an 8–10 mm gap and tells you to fix the skirting to the wall. Luvanto’s SPC click guide says at least 5 mm, a break if a run exceeds 8 m, and no silicone in the expansion gap. One grey Grandismo review mentioned a 10 mm gap at the skirting, and the floor still bowed when the heating came on. That 10 mm was a reviewer’s gap, not a Grandismo specification. Leave the perimeter clear. Fix trims and skirtings to the wall, not through the plank into the subfloor. A doorway between two rooms needs a break, not one continuous click run that has nowhere to grow.
Silicone is the argument you will see on forums, and the sheets do not agree. Wickes allows silicone only at a WC or a pedestal on that click-tile sheet. Luvanto says not to silicone the expansion gap at all. Neither sentence is printed on these Amazon listings. Around a toilet, a small seal at the base of the pan is a different job from filling the whole perimeter so the floor cannot move. The bathroom edge cases sit on click vinyl for a bathroom.
When a fitter takes over
You can click a single dry room when the base is flat, the underlay rule is clear, and the gap is the one in your leaflet. You stop when the slab is damp, when the straight edge shows a hollow you cannot live with, or when the room needs levelling before any plank goes down. You stop for a continually wet floor. A floating joint is not tanking, and tanking is not a DIY bead of silicone. You stop if electric underfloor heating is still to be laid. FLOORNATION states a 27°C limit at the floor. Grandismo states none, and one review already describes softening once the heat was on. Commissioning a new electric mat is not the same afternoon as clicking a lounge.
Stairs are the same kind of limit. Reviewers have laid Grandismo on stairs. The listings do not state a stair rating. A stair nose is a fitter’s detail, not a floating click. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Common questions
What do you check before the first plank?
You check that the base is dry, using the about 75 percent relative humidity practice associated with BS 8203, and that a 3 m straight edge does not show a hollow on the scale Harvey Maria cites as under 3 mm. You also check you have the underlay that listing allows, and that chipped ends are not going into the middle of the room. These Amazon pages do not replace that check.
Do you add underlay?
On Grandismo, yes: the warranty line says Grandismo LVT underlay, and the pack does not include it. On FLOORNATION, no separate roll: 1.5 mm IXPE is already attached. Do not put a second foam layer under attached IXPE.
How big is the expansion gap?
These four listings do not say. Wickes’ click-tile sheet uses 8–10 mm for that product. Luvanto’s SPC guide says at least 5 mm, and a break if a run exceeds 8 m. A 10 mm gap in one Grandismo review did not stop the floor bowing on heating. Use the sheet in your box.
Can you silicone the skirting?
Not along the expansion gap as a default. Wickes’ sheet allows silicone only at a WC or a pedestal. Luvanto says not to silicone the gap. Skirtings should be fixed to the wall. These Amazon listings do not print either rule.
Can you lay over tile?
FLOORNATION names tile, with concrete and wood, as a subfloor. The tile has to be flat and firmly stuck. A lip between tiles is a ridge under the lock. Grandismo does not give you a tile method on the product page, so a tiled floor that needs flattening is a reason to pause.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and amazon.co.uk listings, checked on 19 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the figures in the display file. Wider shop prices are guides, not these amazon.co.uk shelf prices.
- BSI BS 8203:2017, code of practice for installation of resilient floor coverings (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- BSI BS EN 16511:2014+A1:2019, floating multilayer modular floor panels (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Contract Flooring Association, guidance on underfloor heating (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Homes and Floors, flooring standards notes (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Quick-Step UK, vinyl with underfloor heating (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Grant UK, suitable flooring for underfloor heating (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Wood and Beyond, luxury vinyl tile wear layer guide (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- amazon.co.uk listings B07C49TS79, B07CLDQGBV, B0GDSSXVVT and B0GXX67S3Q (retrieved 19 October 2026)