Amtico, yay or nay?

[DarkBlueEyes]

I need to find new flooring for a significant part of our house (big renovation and extension coming up I am not scared ).

We have original oak floorboards in the study, living and dining rooms. Living room is having an extension and will therefore need solid oak flooring coordinated to current floor and staggered in so it won't look completely silly.

New flooring needed in kitchen, hall and entrance way, as well as utility, bootroom and corridor outside indoor pool.

I had thought of engineered oak as we want underfloor heating, with grippy tiles outside pool (current tiles are like an ice rink - absolutely lethal).

I had the local flooring guy out today and he has suggested Amtico to coordinate with the current flooring. I had a look at the brochure and it looks quite good.

Any views or experiences? I don't know anything about it but am assuming it would be good in the areas where it might get water on it, as opposed to the wood.

Thank you in advance for reading this far!

[GiddyOnZackHunt]

Pricey but good. Karndean is another similar option.
You can have them coated to improve waterproofing I think.

[Groovee]

The amtico in our house has lasted over 15 years and still looks new.

[Thelovecats]

Gate crashing...
How do you decide what kind to get? I gather some are thicker than others. Would love to see photos of it in situ as we are thinking of using it.

[Gardencentregroupie]

We had amtico in our flat. Loved it.

[yomellamoHelly]

We had Amtico fitted last year. Cost was eye-watering but it was definitely the right choice and looks SO fab! (Much of that area is cheap and cheerful, so it kind of gives it a lift.)

[SarahSea1]

Coincidentally, I've just this second picked up a couple of samples whilst browsing in a flooring showroom, having never previously considered it. The finishes seem to have come a long way and there are a few 'on trend', if a bit dark options that would give Porcelanosa tiles a run for their (not inconsiderable) money. Price seems OK, given you don't need buckets of grout. Utility, bootroom and around pool seem like ideal spots for it. I'm sure you've considered this, but do ensure you see a large section of it before deciding as the samples don't do them any justice, IMO.

[DarkBlueEyes]

Thanks all. So not naff then? Does it really look like wood when laid?

I asked him about cost and he said it would be around the same as engineered wood depending on the type of flooring we chose.

Good tip about the large section, thank you Sarasea1

:)

[Sidge]

We've just had Karndean (similar to Amtico) laid in the bathroom. I love it; looks great, splashproof and not slippy. I wish we had it in the kitchen.

We went for tile-effect rather than wood but the wood effect does look good.

[bookoflife]

We have it in our new build been here just over a year and it cost about £800 per room but that included fitting. We have 2 different style wood effects and it does really look like wood. Everybody who comes in says I like your wooden floor.

We bought it last minute as we saw it the show office and commented on the wooden floor and how nice it was then they showed us the samples.

In fact we have it out our bathroom and en suit too and have tile effect and it looks just like titles hence why I've forgotten it's not. Cleans up fab with a steam mop too

[GiddyOnZackHunt]

Sidge we've just put Karndean slate in our kitchen and it looks gorgeous :)

[Lonecatwithkitten]

In my last house I had Amtico in my kitchen by the time I left it had been down 15 years and still looked good. It didn't quite look the same as the engineered bamboo flooring I had that looked like oak, but was much easier to care for. In my current house I gave three different styles of Kardean and like it all.

[NotCitrus]

It's great - a few pieces came up and had to be shaved slightly and re-glued, but we've had 4 rooms done and the first still looks great after 11 years. We've gone for industrial quality Amtico because they sell the leftovers via Ebay, so it's actually cheaper just less selection of colours. Karndean is quite a bit thinner but should be sufficient.

Imagine my surprise though when I returned to work after mat leave to find all the office floor matching my new bathroom!

[CodyKing]

It was down in a house we brought - been down 25 years and still looked new! Took quite a bashing with little kids on trikes and food etc - large kitchen area

Best thing is it's warm underfoot rather than colder wood -

Cleans really well!

Lots of choice now as well -

[Sidge]

Giddy I bet it looks amazing!

We've got Urbus in the bathroom, I'd like similar in the kitchen (we've got black tiles at the moment which rarely look clean and show every speck). I'm tempted to ask them to quote for laying it over the existing tiles as I can't bear the idea of lifting the tiles up

[Donatellalymanmoss]

What is it made of? Is it posh laminate?

[CodyKing]

It's very think laminate - loads of lacquer layers and very cushioned

[gqip]

Check the samples for how easily it scratches. We have amtico tiles throughout and it is so badly scratched after 6 months, a very expensive mistake ☹️
In laws have a different pattern amtico in their kitchen and looks like new several years later.

[3boys3dogshelp]

It might not be suitable for everywhere in your house but possibly for outside your pool - when we recently renovated our bathroom our fitter recommended multi panel twin floor click when we asked for something as non slip as possible (3 crazy boys). I love it - we have the grey oak in our bathroom and our cleaner (after cleaning it!) asked where our grey oak flooring was from as she wanted to buy some! So pretty realistic. I have been really impressed by how non slip it is, even when wet. It has a textured surface which definitely helps. It is also warm underfoot. Warmer than our laminate certainly.
I have no experience of laminate but when looking at floors several friends warned me off Karndean saying they had had problems with it lifting. My neighbour has just lifted hers which has been down 7 years. She is very house proud and the rest of her house is beautiful but the floor was all scraped and scratched and looked as though it had been down much longer.

[Gardencentregroupie]

I'm not impressed with Karndean, there's Karndean in two rooms in our new house and it's scored to fuck. We had amtico in our living room and kitchen in our old place, highchairs and moses basket stands and heavy tables were trailed over it every day and not a hint of a scratch.

We're having amtico fitted in our bathrooms when we have them re done in a couple of weeks (there is 11 year old carpet there at the moment )

[wowfudge]

Cody it isn't laminate, it's vinyl. It's a sandwich of layers and the 'wear layer' is the uppermost level, which I think goes over the patterned bit. Ime the textured LVT (luxury vinyl tiles) wear better over time than the smooth ones.

Fitting is expensive, but good fitting makes all the difference.

[SarahSea1]

Whilst we're on the subject, can it be used with wet and/or electric underfloor heating?

[DarkBlueEyes]

Sarah yes it can according to my flooring guy

[cressetmama]

Karndean is good and lasts well but eventually (after 16 years here) the pattern will wear in high traffic patches, leaving white patches. My solution is going to be to lift the section where the table and chairs go, and drop in a 5 x 7 alternative block, in a wood finish. The rest of the kitchen is terracotta coloured/patterned, with a wood strip in between. We cheated this way before when I used up the leftover tiles in the cloakroom. It helps that the fitter is a blinking genius at his job!