Karndean vs engineered wood - help!

[hannah1122]

We can’t decide between using Karndean throughout our bungalow (other than bathrooms), or using tiles in the kitchen diner, then engineered wood in the hallway, living room and bedrooms.

We’ve never had Karndean or engineered wood before but need to switch to a hard floor due to allergies. Please help me decide! Would be great to hear the pros and cons of each :)

I will also add that in some rooms we have real wood and the engineered looks just as good.

Your question re-fitting/levelling - your builder should be able to prep floor to right standard using self-levelling compound as long as you are specific he does this. Will speed up the floor fit if done already.

Finding a god fitter - as difficult as finding a really good builder or kitchen fitter! We were lucky, as went to a local guy who sold flooring wholesale and offcuts, who put us on to a fitter who did commercial jobs but domestic stuff in his spare time. We paid him directly for his work when he’d done, and asked for him when we needed the upstairs bathroom doing - he did both floors in the Karndean pictures.

Recommendations are a good start I suppose, as is talking to local floor suppliers and getting their input. They don’t have a vested interest if the fitter is freelance, rather than one of their own

Lastly - fitters who are great at vinyl floors not necessarily great with the wooden floors! Find one that’s really strong on wood :)

My mums got this and it's been really good
www.earthwerks.co.uk/Vinyl/List/SPCRigidClic

Wood or posh Lino is actually your question. They’re completely different. We have both in different places in the house.

Your answer however is bamboo (just to put the cat amongst the pigeons)

I have engineered wood in my hall, clockroom, kids playroom with a rug and also have it in the kitchen. It does scratch if you get say a stone under a toy, but it doesn't really matter. Water wise drops of water don't cause an issue. We have a few oil stains from food due to weaning the baby, but it's not terrible. I love it. We had tiles throughout before and it's so much nicer and warmer. There are different finishes on the engineered wood and they may wear differently, we have oiled. I didn't look into the different ones, just went with look.

My kids ride scooters, rides on in the house and play cars. It's looking great really. I hoover daily and mop once a week with a spray mop with wood cleaner.

In the toilet we have a narrow bath mat by the sink to stop lots of dripping from the kids hands. Also need to check for any boy -man spills and clear up but that can affect any floor. My DS always tells me if he has a spill.

I also have a dog, cat and a muddy pushchair. It's no problem .

@hannah1122 Whatever you decide, do pop a photo up when it's done! (Over invested :D)

@DoubleTweenQueen will do - it’s probably several months off as we still haven’t got the the roof on the extension! At this rate we’ll have to move in before we do the flooring!

We have Karndean oak effect throughout the whole of an open plan kitchen/diner/living room plus hallway, utility, toilet and den. It runs completely from one room to the next with no door thresholds. The reason I went for it was because I wanted the same flooring in the kitchen as everywhere else.

It has been down for 7 years and still looks perfect and we have 3 kids, a dog and a cat. We had a flood in the toilet within a week or of being laid and it was unaffected. I really like the way the boards are flush to each other so there are no gaps for bits to get stuck in. the part of the floor in front of the patio doors gets a lot of sun and hasn’t discoloured at all. Most of the time it does look like real wood unless the sun is shining right on it and it does look quite shiny. We got ours from a flooring shop and we were able to take some big sample boards home and keep them for a few days and try them in different lights etc so I would advise doing this.

We have Karndean Van Gogh Honey Oak. It’s beautiful. 100% agree about the fitter though. Make sure you get an accredited fitter as it does make a difference.

I also have a similar product from Howden’s which is easier to fit.

Amtico