SPC vs LVT: is there really a difference?
People shopping for vinyl flooring keep bumping into two initials: LVT and SPC. They sound like rival products, so it is easy to think you have to choose between them. You do not. SPC is a kind of LVT, the rigid-core kind, and it is the reason modern vinyl lies so flat and lays so easily. Here is how the two relate, and why every Hana Flooring floor is SPC.
LVT, SPC and WPC: the names, sorted out
LVT stands for luxury vinyl tile (or plank). It is the umbrella term for vinyl flooring that copies wood or stone in a realistic plank or tile, rather than the old sheet vinyl sold off a roll. Under that umbrella sit two families, split by what the core is made of.The original LVT had a flexible PVC core: thin, bendy, and usually glued down. It is the older kind, and the one most people still picture when they hear the word vinyl.
SPC, stone-polymer composite, is the newer rigid-core family. It carries the same realistic wood or stone surface, but builds it on a solid mineral core that stays dead flat.WPC, wood-polymer composite, sits alongside it: a lighter rigid core from the same generation. If you are deciding between the two rigid cores, our SPC vs WPC guide walks through how they differ and which one suits a Singapore home. It is worth a read.
So SPC is not a rival to LVT. It is the grown-up version of it. The flooring industry treats rigid-core vinyl as its own category, distinct from flexible LVT (see the Resilient Floor Covering Institute).
The one difference that matters: the core
Every luxury vinyl plank is a stack of layers: a clear wear layer on top, a printed décor layer for the wood or stone look, and a core underneath that holds it all together. The surface can look identical between a flexible LVT and an SPC plank. The core is where they part ways.
A flexible LVT core is soft PVC you can roll in your hands. An SPC core is a rigid stone-polymer board, limestone bound with PVC, that does not bend. That single swap is what gives SPC its dimensional stability: it holds its size and shape when the room heats up, and it stays flat instead of following every ripple in the floor beneath. Hover a layer above to see what each one does.
What the rigid core changes in a Singapore home
On paper the difference sounds small. In a Singapore flat it decides how the floor behaves.
- It stays flatter by the windows. A floor that runs up to a sunny balcony door takes real heat through the day. A flexible plank expands more and can open small gaps at the joints; a rigid SPC core moves less and holds its shape.
- It lays over a level existing floor. A rigid core does not telegraph fine grout lines the way a thin flexible plank does, so where your tiles are flat and even it lays straight over them, no hacking. Where the grout lines are wide or the tiles are bevel-edged, we self-level first to give the rigid planks a flat bed to sit on.
- The planks click without glue. The wood-look SPC planks lock together with no adhesive, so they install fast and clean, and a single plank can be lifted out and swapped if it is ever damaged, without disturbing the rest. Our large micro-cement tiles are the exception: the same SPC core, but glued down for their size, not because the core needs it. Flexible LVT, by contrast, is more often glued or loose-laid over a carefully prepared base.
None of this makes flexible LVT a bad floor. Rigid vinyl asks for one thing in return, a level base, and over the right floor it is the lower-fuss, more stable choice for this climate.
SPC and flexible LVT, side by side
| Rigid SPC (Hana) | Flexible LVT | |
|---|---|---|
| Core | Stone-polymer composite. Rigid, mineral, dimensionally stable. | Soft, bendable PVC. Thin and flexible. |
| Stays flat | Holds its shape in 70–90% humidity and by sunny windows. | Can expand and gap where a floor gets a lot of sun. |
| Over your subfloor | Rigid core bridges minor bumps; lays over sound, level tiles. | Follows the base closely, so it telegraphs bumps and grout lines. |
| Install | Välinge 5G click, glue-free. | Usually glued down or loose-laid; needs a near-perfect base. |
| Underfoot | Solid and quiet, with a little give. | Softer but thinner, and can feel less substantial. |
| Reversible | Lifts and re-lays; a damaged plank swaps out. | Glued planks are harder to lift cleanly. |
Where Hana sits: all rigid SPC
To be straight with you, every floor in Hana's current range is rigid SPC, not flexible LVT: the wood-look Oak and Walnut planks, the Heritage Herringbone, and the micro-cement stone tiles all sit on the same rigid, waterproof core. That rigid core is what keeps it flat in this climate and lets it lay over the tiled floors most homes here already have.
So when you compare a Hana floor against a flexible LVT elsewhere, you are really comparing rigid core against flexible core. If you are weighing vinyl against other materials too, see vinyl vs laminate and SPC vs real timber in Singapore humidity.
