Woven Vinyl, LVT or Carpet Tile

Woven vinyl. Vinyl strand yarn is woven into a textile and then coated. The pattern comes from the weave and from two-tone yarn, so the surface keeps a textile grain rather than a printed image. The material is bonded to a backing chosen for the product line: a 3.0 mm PVC foam for wall to wall flooring, a 3.2 mm PVC rigid backing with fibreglass reinforcement for modular tiles, and a glass-fibre reinforced PVC backing with acoustic felt for the acoustic modular range. Wallcovering and upholstery take a PET non-woven backing, or a 1 mm vinyl cushion backing for furniture faces and soft walls.

Luxury vinyl tile. A printed decorative film is bonded to a PVC core, with a transparent wear layer on top. The image is printed, so the design range is wide and repeatable. Formats are planks and tiles.

Carpet tile. Pile yarn is tufted or bonded to a backing, usually with a secondary backing for dimensional stability. The format is almost always a tile.

The table is a starting point. Every row has an exception, and the exception is usually the detail that decides the job.

Buildings have two separate acoustic problems and they get confused.

Impact noise is the sound of a footfall travelling through the slab into the room below. It is measured as ΔLw. A resilient backing reduces it. Our wall to wall floor with a 3.0 mm PVC foam backing cuts impact noise by 22 dB (ΔLw, BS EN ISO 140-8).

Airborne absorption is the sound inside the room, measured as αw. Woven vinyl is a dense surface and does not absorb much. Our acoustic modular range is tested to EN ISO 354 at αw 0.05, which is not classified. That number earns its place in a specification by stopping an error early: these tiles are not sound-absorbing panels and should not be sold as one. Where absorption is the real requirement, carpet pile usually answers it better, but ask for the test report on the specific product rather than a claim about the category.

Write the requirement as a number with a standard attached. "Reduce impact noise" is not a specification. "ΔLw not less than 19 dB to BS EN ISO 140-8" is.

Every material is cleanable on day one. The question is what it takes in year three, once the cleaning contractor has settled into a routine.

Ask the supplier three things: the written maintenance schedule, the chemicals it names, and whether the surface takes a machine pad without changing appearance. Then compare the number of steps. A floor with a two-step routine stays presentable longer than one that needs four, whatever the samples look like on a table.

For woven vinyl, the maintenance document exists for each product line. It is worth reading before the sample is approved rather than after installation.

Roll goods give fewer seams across a large area. A minimum roll width of 200 cm (±1%, EN 426) covers most corridor and room widths, and wider or exceptional widths can be discussed on request. Where a seam is unavoidable, welding closes the joint and keeps soil out of it.

Tiles give up something in seam count and gain something in service life. One damaged tile is replaced in an afternoon. In a hotel corridor or a school entrance, that difference shows up in the maintenance budget rather than in the showroom.

Documents take longer to obtain than samples, so ask early.

• CE marking to EN 14041
• Declaration of Performance for the product
• Reaction to fire classification to EN 13501-1, for the exact product and backing
• REACH statement, plus restricted substances reports where the client requires them
• Colour fastness reports to BS EN ISO 105-B02 and 105-B04, with laboratory references
• Impact noise test report, where acoustics is in the specification

Our colour fastness position is supported by TÜV SÜD report 70.404.18.21948.01-00, SGS report SHIN1707041322MR, and SGS report HZ1293415/TX. A fire classification value belongs in the DoP for that product, next to the standard and the backing. We send the document rather than a figure in an email, because the figure on its own invites the wrong comparison.

1. Name what fails first in this space: appearance, seams, acoustics, or cleaning time.

2. Separate impact noise from airborne absorption, and write the requirement with the standard.

3. Agree the cleaning routine with the people who will do the work.

4. Choose format by service life: roll for long runs, tiles where replacement matters.

5. Collect the documents before the sample is approved.

None of that depends on the brand. Once the requirements are written down, the samples can be measured against them.