Kitchen Extension LVT — Richmond

A newly built rear kitchen extension in Richmond, finished to a high specification throughout but waiting for the right floor. The clients had engineered oak throughout the existing house and wanted the extension to connect visually — while meeting the additional demands of underfloor heating and the inherent moisture risk of a kitchen environment.

The Challenge: Match Without Matching

Matching a new LVT floor to an existing engineered oak floor is a nuanced task. The goal is not an exact replica — which is both impossible and undesirable — but a visual connection that reads as intentional and considered. Too similar and it looks like a failed attempt at continuity; too different and it reads as a separate room.

We reviewed six Amtico Signature samples against the clients' existing floor in daylight before recommending Light Limed Oak: similar in plank width and tone, but with a slightly cooler whitened character that differentiates it deliberately and suits the more contemporary aesthetic of the new extension.

Technical Requirements

The UFH screed had been fully commissioned and cured for a minimum of 28 days before we attended. We carried out a moisture test on arrival (CM reading: 0.3% — well within the 0.5% tolerance for glue-down LVT over UFH), applied the moisture barrier primer, allowed to dry, and began installation.

The entire 35m² — kitchen, dining area, and utility room — was installed in a single day. The architect's specified stainless steel threshold at the junction between old and new creates a clean, deliberate transition that distinguishes the two spaces without breaking the visual flow.

An Efficient Specification

LVT over UFH in a kitchen-extension context is, when correctly specified and installed, one of the most effective flooring solutions available. It handles the thermal cycling, the moisture risk, and the aesthetic requirement simultaneously — and at a cost per m² that makes engineered wood look extravagant for an area this size.