Kitchens are where flooring choices get tested hardest. Dropped pans, a dishwasher that weeps, a fridge that drips, spilled washing up water against the plinth, and heavy traffic through to the garden door. Laminate and vinyl are the two most commonly chosen budget conscious options for a kitchen, and they fail in completely different ways. We supply and fit both, from 22 pounds per square metre for laminate and 20 pounds per square metre for sheet vinyl, both supplied and fitted, so we have no reason to steer you. This page compares them for kitchen use specifically, and complements our wider best flooring for kitchens guide rather than repeating it.
Water is the whole argument
Laminate has a wood based core. The surface is a printed decor layer under a tough wear layer, and it copes with a wiped up spill without complaint. What it does not cope with is standing water reaching a joint or an edge, because the core swells and the swelling does not go back down. The usual pattern is a slow leak behind the dishwasher noticed months later, by which time several boards are lifting at the seams.
Sheet vinyl is waterproof through its whole thickness, and when it is templated and fitted with as few seams as possible it is effectively a tray. Vinyl plank and LVT are equally waterproof as a material, though a click fitted plank still has joints, so a long running leak can find its way underneath even if the plank itself is unaffected.
- Wiped up spills: both fine.
- Standing water at a plinth or door mat: vinyl fine, laminate at risk.
- Slow appliance leak: vinyl survives, laminate usually needs replacing.
- Mopping: vinyl unrestricted, laminate damp mop only.
Cost drivers, not just the headline price
Our published starting points are 22 pounds per square metre for laminate and 20 pounds per square metre for sheet vinyl, both supplied and fitted, and for a kitchen diner of roughly 18 square metres our indicative laminate range is 395 to 630 pounds. Every quote includes uplift and disposal of the old floor, standard furniture moving, underlay, beading and door bars, and all cuts and scribes.
What moves the number in a kitchen is the shape of the room rather than the product. Kitchens are full of obstacles, and obstacles are labour.
- Number of units, islands and appliance recesses to cut around.
- Whether the floor goes under the plinth line or up to it.
- Subfloor condition, and whether a smoothing compound is needed.
- Door thresholds through to hall, utility or garden.
- Seams in sheet vinyl, which we template to avoid wherever the room allows.
Wear, marking and how it looks in three years
Laminate has the harder surface of the two. It resists scuffing and grit very well, and a good kitchen grade laminate keeps its finish for years. It is more vulnerable at the edges, and a dragged appliance can chip a board edge in a way that cannot be spot repaired.
Sheet vinyl is softer. Cushioned vinyl can dent under a heavy appliance foot or a dropped pan corner, and grit dragged in from outside will dull a cheap vinyl faster than it dulls laminate. A thicker wear layer makes a large difference here, which is where the price differences between vinyl ranges come from.
Vinyl plank and LVT sit between the two and above both on longevity, which is why plenty of the kitchens we fit end up specified as LVT once the client has seen what the difference in fitted price actually is.
Comfort, warmth and noise underfoot
Cushioned sheet vinyl is the softer and warmer of the two barefoot, and it is quieter. If you spend long periods standing at a worktop, that is a genuine daily benefit.
Laminate is harder and, being a floating floor over underlay, it can sound hollow in a large kitchen. The right underlay reduces that considerably, and our underlay guide covers what to specify. Both work over underfloor heating provided the product is rated for it and the temperature limits are respected.
Fitting implications and how long it takes
Laminate is a floating floor. It needs an expansion gap at every wall and upstand, which in a kitchen means careful setting out around units and plinths, and it needs the subfloor flat enough that the joints do not flex. Boards are clicked together, trimmed around obstacles and finished with beading or scotia.
Sheet vinyl is templated and bonded. We template awkward kitchens around toilets, units and pipework so the material lands right first time and seams are avoided where the room allows. The subfloor matters more with vinyl than with laminate, because every ripple and old adhesive ridge telegraphs through the surface. In practice that often means a smoothing compound, which is preparation work rather than a hidden extra, and it is quoted as its own line.
- Laminate: floating, expansion gaps, beading, forgiving of minor unevenness.
- Vinyl: bonded, templated, needs a genuinely flat and dry subfloor.
- Both: old covering uplifted and taken away as part of the quote.
- Neither should be fitted before a new kitchen is in and the plumbing is proven.
So which is right for you?
Choose sheet vinyl if water is your main worry, if the kitchen is also the utility or the route in from the garden, if you want the softest and quietest floor to stand on, or if you want the lowest fitted cost with waterproof performance. It is also the easier floor to keep hygienic, which is why we fit so much of it in kitchens and bathrooms.
Choose laminate if you want the hardest wearing surface at a modest price, a convincing wood look with a crisp bevelled joint, and a floor that shrugs off grit and scuffing, and you are confident the room stays dry. It photographs better than budget vinyl and it feels more solid underfoot.
Where the budget stretches, LVT does most of what both do without the compromise, and that is the honest third answer rather than an upsell. Whichever way you go, we quote it in writing after a free measure so you can see the preparation, the material and the labour separately.
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Frequently asked questions
Is laminate waterproof enough for a kitchen?
It handles spills that are wiped up. It does not handle standing water at a joint or edge, because the core swells permanently. If there is any chance of an unnoticed appliance leak, vinyl or LVT is the safer specification.
Which is cheaper, laminate or vinyl?
Our starting prices are 20 pounds per square metre supplied and fitted for sheet vinyl and 22 pounds for laminate, so they are close. The real difference in a kitchen comes from subfloor preparation and the number of units and appliances to cut around.
Does the floor go under the kitchen units?
Usually up to the plinth line rather than under the carcasses, which keeps the material cost down and still looks continuous. If the kitchen is being replaced at the same time we will discuss sequencing at the survey.
Will I see seams in sheet vinyl?
We template rooms so that seams are avoided wherever the room width allows. In wide or awkwardly shaped kitchens a seam may be unavoidable, and we set it out in the least visible run.
Can either be laid over existing kitchen tiles?
Sometimes, but the grout lines have to be filled and the surface made flat first or they will show through. That preparation is quoted as its own item so you can see what it costs before deciding.