Wooden flooring or Karndean (or similar)?

[Daphnesmate]

I would love to put white ash wood (engineered) down in kitchen diner/hallway but thinking this is going to be totally impractical - heart says wood but head says go for a Karndean substitute (3 dcs including 2 young ones).

Engineered wood is not the sensible option but for some reason I am resisting the thought of a more man made material substitute.

Anyone else made this sort of decision - what did you go for in the end?

@Daphnesmate Iv sent you a PM

I was going to get camaro but my fitter had seen problems with scratching etc and as we have big dogs recommended we went with expona instead as the wear layer is a lot thicker. We are really pleased with the result

We didn’t buy through him so it wasn’t for his monetary gain, and actually it’s not that much more expensive

Have a look at Moduleo. I've recently had it laid in the downstairs hall, kitchen and kids' bedrooms (different shades) and it's great.

Thanks Paw, don't worry about sending a link, honestly, I have ordered a lot of samples x

Thanks Camsie, will look this one up too. Wow lots of different experiences here!

Place marking.

We have Amtico in our kitchen, whilst I do love the look of it, I have to echo what PPs are saying about how it scratches. Any small stone or bit of grit accidentally scraped on the floor will leave a fine white scratch. You can sort of polish them out with Amtico cleaner, and if really bad you can replace a whole piece, but it is not as hard wearing as I would have liked.

We went for polyflor, we love it! Have had it 2 years now in entire downstairs and upstairs bathrooms and still looks perfect. It's waaaay cheaper than karndean / amtico and is very heavy duty. Used more in commercial buildings, hospitals etc. Our builder liked it so much after laying it that he bought it for his own house! We went for Boathouse Oak which is lovely.

I have a karndean slate effect floor and love it. Was going to go for wood effect but then had a holiday in a cottage with the wood effect stuff and was put right off. It is too unnatural and sets off the uncanny tingle, I think it's because it's an inorganic material trying to mimic organic. Slate doesn't feel so weird as it isn't organic either maybe?

Have been to Karndean showroom today and brought back two samples, now they are lying on my kitchen floor and I am not totally convinced by either. I have just spilt water on my latest wood sample in the hope that it won't warp etc. so that I can convince dh that we could have wood - but I know I'm going to get 'told you so' a few months down the line if something goes wrong (in a nice way of course). Was hoping I was going to be totally sold on Karndean after this morning's visit.

We went with solid oak, and don't regret it!

I'm afraid I hate my very expensive oak engineered floor. It scratches in normal wear, has faded in front of the window and has lots of small oil marks in the kitchen which seem to have crept under the protective surface and can't be removed.

It also only looks nice just after it has been mopped when the surface is all smooth. As soon as any human or animal walks on it it immediately looks as if it has not been cleaned in a week.

In my previous house I had acacia wood effect porcelain tiles. Virtually impregnable and very easy to clean. Will be saving up to lay it here.

I had this dilemma. I hate the fake look of kardean and next doors has scratched in months. So we've gone for woven bamboo. It's being fitted next week.

Hi Junobug, could you give me a few more details please - who supplied it/make etc. did you read really good reviews about bamboo?

Will also look up acacia, so thanks for that suggestion too.
I am sorry to hear that your engineered floor has not withheld the test of time x I know, I need to act sensibly but I want something I actually like and I need to get a move on with organising this.

I have engineered wood running through the hall and kitchen. I really like it.

Have a turtle mat inside the front door, and have felt pads under the kitchen table and chairs but otherwise I don't feel I have to be super-careful with it.

It's warm underfoot and it looks really good.

I had Karndean installed last year and it is beautiful. Think you need to choose the more expensive ranges - there is no pattern repeat as others have mentioned, and many visitors have been surprised when told it is not wood.

Thanks Highland, can I ask do you have young children/pets running around on it (I have the former not the latter). And which make is it that you have please? We have lots of windows in our kitchen = it can get hot, I think the best option realistically is to get Karndean or similar brand - really wanted to be sold on it today but now the samples are placed on my kitchen floor, I am feeling a bit disappointed (looked nice in showroom or so I thought).

I looked at both for the kitchen, in the end we went with a wood effect tile. No two tiles look the same and they don’t scratch. It was also cheaper than either of the other options. I’ve had people run their hands along them to check I’m not lying!

I have ceramic tiles that look like wood floors. I love them.

Sleepless, I think we looked at everything on offer (it seemed like a large showroom). Didn't really bear cost in mind just selected the colours we thought we liked. I am glad you are pleased with yours - flooring in general even the engineered wood samples has been really difficult to select for me (probably the most difficult part of the kitchen).

We went with The Bamboo Flooring Company after reading great reviews on here. It's meant to be 5 times stronger than engineered wood and looks more natural than kardean and equivalents. They send out free samples and were really helpful on the phone.

Thanks Juno, will google. This flooring issue is driving me mad. DH is hugely practical and very pro Karndean or similar where as I much prefer wood but know this is not the most sensible choice in a kitchen, most other things we have agreed on re. kitchen so far.

I've read some stuff about Bamboo recently though - about dangerous chemicals released when it is heated (more to do with glue etc. than actual wood), wonder if this applies to flooring because it does get hot in our new kitchen.

I have Karndean throughout downstairs and about to put in in my bedroom. Love it. Much harder wearing and less maintenance than Amtico. Literally just hoover it, mop less than once a month. Slight scratches from furniture moving and dog claws, but only noticeable if you're looking.

I also found it the most difficult thing to choose and wasn't certain until it was being laid, my dh chose the colour in the end as I just couldn't decide. It is really difficult to get a good impression from the samples. I would have liked wood but was worried about having it in a kitchen and small children ruining it.