Can someone come and talk to me about amtico vs wood floor pros and cons

[Loueytb3]

We are having an extension built which will be a family room. It will be open plan to the kitchen and lead into the garden. As its open plan, the kitchen flooring which is currently tiled needs to be removed and replaced with the same flooring we use in the new room.

We've got a good flooring shop near us and I had a chat with the co-owner and she recommended engineered wood over amtico/karndean because she said it would wear better, and it could be easily repaired if you got scrapes in it, whereas amtico is much harder to repair because its in a larger sheet. She also said that amtico does need maintenance/treatment which I wasn't aware of. She has a similar room in her house and has wood in hers as does her co-owner. She said that she knew friends who had used amtico and it does have a wear/fade mark in it after a while.

However, I've also read things that suggest that amtico is the perfect thing to have in that type of room. So I'm confused. I don't think there will be a massive difference in price as the wood isn't cheap either. We would be going for a wood effect amtico if we chose it.

There will be a table in there and we've got 3 DSs who make a lot of mess at mealtimes. I know that there will be mud trailed in from the garden on a frequent basis. Can anyone who has amtico or wood please tell me how its worn in their house?

[PorkyandBess]

I am interested to know too.

We had a quote (2.2k) for Karndean but I am a bit put off by the fact you have to strip it and re-coat it every year.

I have a friend that has just had engineered wood and it looks really good.

[maybeIwillmaybeIwont]

Well, I have Amtico (wood effect) in my hall, cloakroom, kitchen and breakfastroom.It was here when I bought the house and I love it!

Hand on heart, I can honestly state that I have NEVER done any maintenance/treatment on it in the 6 years I have lived here. Just a steam mopping every week ( and I have only had the steam mop 10 months, before that it was a damp mop).

My Dsis had Kardean flooring (wood and slate effect) throughout the ground floor level of her house and, again, no special treatment or maintenance, just regular mopping.

Both our floorings still look good, so maybe we are just lucky?

Just another opinion :)

[Rhubarbgarden]

I put Amtico in my previous property. It was hardwearing and practical, but always looked fake. I wouldn't buy it again, I would use real wood or stone.

[Florin]

We have amtico through the whole of our holiday home apart from the bedrooms. It gets heavily used and abused by our family with wet sandy dogs, everyone trailing through in their wetsuits, lots of parties etc and there is not a mark on it. My dh suggested it was put in as he is a chartered building surveyor and put it in lots of refurbishments. It has required no maintenance just hoovering and mopping. We are also right on the coast with huge window in all the main rooms and it has not faded (compared to fil's house which is similar and wood floor by windows has faded awfully). Amtico is what M & S uses in its stores so proves how hard wearing it is.

[myron]

Karndean/Amtico is more practical but I can't get past the fact that I CAN TELL very easily that it is vinyl. I've chosen this engineered wood flooring after copious research visiting various showrooms. You need to get more than a sample and the quality varies enormously ime. For a big ticket item, you need to 'touch & feel'. We've chosen to purchase from a local flooring independent to supply and install for the after service aspect. (They're also fitting our carpets so got a good deal overall). I think that you need to accept that any hard flooring will inevitably get scratched and scuffed especially in main living areas. (Wouldn't stop me getting precious about it in the first year though!) You need to get what you personally like/want.

[Loueytb3]

See the reason I thought about amtico in the first place is that we went to a conservatory showroom where they had some wood-effect amtico on the floor and I thought it was wood until I saw the sign. Admittedly I had shoes on but still, I thought it was quite realistic. I do like the feel of wood underfoot though and I spend most of my time in bare feet.

We've got karndean in our bathrooms (put in by previous owners) and it looks pristine but it doesn't have the footfall that the new room will have. Does have a lot of water going on it though. We haven't done any maintenance to it as we were in ignorance about having to do so and it hasn't suffered. Very interesting to see that others haven't done any either!

[albertswearengen]

We have Amtico in the bathroom and engineered wood in our new kitchen/diner. The engineered wood looks better and I think wears better plus you can put a layer of good quality insulation underneath it. The Amtico is nice but it looks like vinyl and has quite a few marks in it (it was here before us). I didn't know you have to maintain it- I'll have to go and worry about that now.

[sparkybabe]

I have the same type of kitchen/family room, and I have Karndean. I put down the Art select range, looks like wood and even has a raised grain pattern, it looks fab. It doesn't need stripping - i had karndean in my previous kitchen for years, and it looked the same after 5 years as the day it was laid.

It's warmer than tile, easy to clean. I did the prep myself, putting down plywood and i paid a floorer to lay the karndean which i bought online. I was quoted £3500 (plus vat) fitted ,by the local flooring shop, but got it done for £500(floorer), £1200 for the karndean and another £200 for ply.

[sparkybabe]

BTW - the poster who uses a steam mop on Amtico - Karndean do not recommend a steam mop, as it can lift the glue.

[talkingnonsense]

What is engineered wood? Is it like laminate?

[ajandjjmum]

We've used Amtico in various rooms both in this house and our last. It has never been a problem, has worn well and is easily cleaned. Karndean is cheaper, but to me, it's a little easier to tell that it's a vinyl.

Some of the Amtico slate and stone tiles look very genuine.

OP - Amtico comes in tiles not a large sheet, so can be replaced if necessary in small sections.

[ogredownstairs]

Engineered oak in hard wax oil finish is incredibly hard wearing. I've had it for five years throughout the ground floor including kitchen and utility - couldn't have solid oak as we have u- floor heating. It doesn't look exactly the same as it did when it went down, because it has mellowed and aged, but I think that's a positive. Never had to do anything to it beyond a damp mop, although it can be re-sanded up to 3 times. I'm not a fan of amtico etc - having that amount of something so 'fake' in my house. I know loads of people love it though.

[sweetmelody]

Sparky - are you prepared to share your sources? If yes, would you PM me? I want Karndean Art select too but have heard a couple of ebay/online horror stories.

[Loueytb3]

So basically, no one really does any maintenance to either wood floors or amtico despite what the flooring experts say you need to do.

It sounds like it comes down to personal taste then. I need to go and have a closer look at the amtico samples I think and drag DH along with me.

[Artyjools]

Just to add another option.....there are some pretty impressive laminates out there. We went to the Ideal Home Exhibition this year and a company called Quick Step had a large stand which they had floored 50% in engineered wood and 50% in laminate. The laminate was a old oak planks design which looked and felt just like the real thing. We got right down to look and feel it and we were amazed.

We need flooring in the hall, a large kitchen diner, another reception room and the utility room, so cost is an issue for us. The laminate was quite a bit cheaper and the saleswoman said that it was much hardier than the engineered wood.

Maybe worth considering.

[Loueytb3]

arty - I was there too! I looked at their stand and was quite impressed with the laminate but something in me can't quite bring myself to get it. You've reminded me though that I picked up their brochure and must have it somewhere.

ogre - I think that engineered oak was what I had looked at before. It looks hard wearing.

[Artyjools]

Louey - I know what you mean, I really do. We are extending and doing up a house in a really good road IYSWIM. Couldn't have afforded one here already done up. It deserves quality, but the extension is costing us more than we were expecting and compromises have to be made. Having said that, the woman on the stand told us that in her opinion the laminate was better than the engineered wood even though it was half the price. OMG I have so many decisions to make!! Good luck with making yours.

[ogredownstairs]

I had some very good quality (30 year guaranteed, 'industrial' quality, textured just like real wood planks etc) oak laminate put down in a bathroom and bedroom so I could run the same flooring throughout on the top floor. I really didn't want to but it seemed a sensible choice given that it was for the dcs and needed to be totally waterproof etc, plus it was half the cost of real wood. I have to say that it is very, very good - hard wearing, cleans really easily, looks the same as the day it went down etc. It's been a really good choice for the purpose. But I just don't like it. It doesn't feel right - it just doesn't have the same warm feel under foot that you get from wood and it is almost too perfect to look at. So I think it boils down to how much that sort of thing bothers you.

[atonofwashing]

We have amtico on our ground floor. it's really hardwearing. Not beautiful (it came with the house), but has been a god send for a house with kids and dogs.

DB and SIL have put a wooden floor in their new and very lovely kitchen. They get very panicky if anything gets dropped on the flooring as it might dent it. Interestingly they used good laminate on their kitchen surfaces. I'd do it the other way round.

My parent's living room floor is (old) wood and although covered in rugs, has been badly dented over the years with high heels and knocks.

We have covered most of our Amtico in rugs and it's worked really well.
Personally i'd never put down a wooden floor in a well used family home.
Unless you can be bothered with the resanding or have it in a room that is for "best".

HTH and Good luck!

[cressetmama]

We put the cheapest Kardean tiles in a terracotta finish down in our kitchen almost 15 years ago (now 5 years beyond guarantee expiry date). It has worn where our chairs get moved around during meals, but is otherwise in good nick, despite having nothing more than mopping for maintenance. One day we'll change the worn patch using a plain "wood" tile so it defines the eating area, or we'll re-do the whole kitchen eventually. It has survived dogs, children, pushchairs, muddy boots, water and everything else trucked in.

[cece]

We have Amtico in our kitchen extension. It is a stone effect tile. it came in squares and the grout lines came as separate strips. Someone asked me recently where I'd bought my. tiled floor. They had to bend down and touch it as they thought it was real tiles. It has worn OK. a few scratches where chairs scrape. plus a very small hole where I dropped a plate that broke. overall I am happy with it. easy to clean too!