Karndean?

[TheOneWithUnagi]

We have a fair sized family room (kitchen/diner/lounge area). We currently have tiles down but they are pretty horrible and need replacing.

Was originally thinking karndean (we have 2 young kids and a dog) but I'm not sure if it just looks a bit fake? (Obviously it is!)
And the quotes are at £4k so not exactly cheap.

We have engineered wood in our living room and hallway, just not sure how practical it is for a kitchen. My husband prefers tiles and although we do have UFH I find it cold.

I think the vinyl is the obvious choice so please convince me it looks nice and will be practical!

I have done the same with our wood floor 😢

Our quote is from a platinum installer shop, probably added a bit onto the price...

My insurer is paying for my living room and kitchen/diner floor to be replaced. Was engineered wood which I have loved but admit it has got stained, scratched, faded. It can be resurfaced but only a maximum of three times, so I was thinking of doing it soon.

The floor layer has talked me into Karndean. I'm hoping I'll be happy with it. It's about £1k less overall, though the insurer is paying the higher price. I'll let you know in about ten days.

When he gave me the sample book, I opened it, said "that one", he said well, look some more. I said no, I've chosen now. And he told me I had chosen the most expensive one!

Our house had dark karndean in the hall, kitchen, utility, dining room and cloakroom when we moved in and it was 17 years old. Looked great… then we had a leak and had to claim on the insurance. Previously I was a tile fan but with 3dc with phones likely to be dropped and smashed, karndean is much more forgiving. We replaced it with lighter flooring and love the look. Easy to clean and 4 years on still love it. Dc rollerblade on it (much to the fitter’s horror).

Haha always the way! 😅

if I scratch the floor though I give it a wipe over and it’s pretty much gone. I was just trying to say while it’s not indestructible it’s very good day to day - normal family life won’t leave a mark on it

We had Karndean laid 2 yearas ago through whole ground floor - busy living areas/kitchen/hallway/bathroom..
2 young kids, lots of spillages, things being scaped along door. No damage as yet, super easy to clean (no special stuff needed really),looks great and is relatively warm underfoot.
No it doesn't look teal wood but it does look nice and is very practical. I can't imagine having anything else now.
I think it was Karndean Van Gogh classic oak. Went to a few flooring shops for samples.. but ended up ordering from online flooring supplier and it was fitted by professional floor fitters our builder got in (we needed a lot of work done to the subfloor as well)

Karndean Van Gogh classic oak

I think that's what I'm having, entirely unironically.

The prepping for the floor took a whole day. When they pulled up the carpet underneath was Karndean 😂 . They still boarded again. The herringbone took another 2 1/2 days, 9 doorways. Husband dropped a washing machine on it which made a slight scratch mark. Otherwise still perfect.

What colour did you go for? I was considering herringbone but it's another £1k to do that so possibly we will do diagonal instead

We have amtico and it's a bloody swine to clean. Their advice of a light sweep and S shape motions with a mop is ridiculous. Dirt gets in the grain effect and the only way to clean it is on hands and knees with a scrubbing brush. Wish we'd never chosen the one we did.
It was post covid and the shop was still closed so we had to choose from the catalog without seeing or feeling it which didn't help. Would never have chosen the one we did had we been making a more informed choice. Very expensive mistake!!!!

We had quickstep laminate in our old house and had the exact same thing. It was particularly bad in the "v" groove. We do also have a large dog who loves a muddy swim. One to consider if and when choosing, thanks.

Recommend both Karndean and Amtico. We have one of each in two of our bathrooms, and Amtico in our lobby/boot area so they’re all high “traffic” areas. I had a lot of fun getting samples too and went for different looks. If I had the money, I’d definitely do our kitchen as well.

Karndean washed scandi. It's a pale white/grey wash. Chose it because the hall was dark. Cost 3k

Ours lasted 24 hours in our kitchen before it was scratched and taken up! We were refunded the whole lot after inspection by seller. Not family friendly. We changed for tiles in the end.

Jakers that was unlucky.

I have karndean in my living room and hall, and I love it. I bought from the second cheapest level, and picked a reasonably light but warm 'wood' and couldn't be happier. My living room is south facing with big patio doors, so I did worry a little about potential sun bleaching, but no. I've had it for five years so far and it all looks as it did when it was new.

I'm also one of those people that Mumsnet hates. I wear shoes indoors a lot of the time. But my karndean doesn't care. There's not a mark or scratch on it.

Sounds lovely! I don't always take my shoes off either... sshh

I’ve just committed to new floor for my entire downstairs 😬 I’ve gone for amtico in the end ( although the picture I showed them of the floor I wanted was my friends Karndean). When they brought the samples the Amtico ( my second choice ) looked better. Now just have to wait until march to have it fitted as that’s the first availability.

It’s amazing. Warm. Quiet. Easy to maintain and has a crazy warranty. Deffo worth the money

Actually that is my only bugbear with ours, it's got the fake grain effect which is a pig to clean thoroughly and eats socks because of the slight roughness, it's not appreciable when you walk on it, but ds goes through his socks a lot faster. So yes buy it but avoid fake grain as it's ridged and tricky to clean.

i have marble tile effect karndean in my kitchen and dark oak plank in living room, dining room, entrance and downstairs loo. Really hard wearing - kitchen has been down 13 years, and doesn't look fake at all.

I just use a normal Valeda mop with flash solution. No special cleaner needed.

We have karndean. Do look carefully at the grade and go for a better one. Also ensure a good fitter. You can also go to the showroom in Evesham which is mind blowing and totally changed our mind on what we thought we wanted!

I've had the cheapest Karndean down for almost 20 years and apart from the bit where DH (110kg) moves his chair around, it's still almost perfect although where the sun hits it in a south facing room it has lost a lot of colour. I would choose it again.

We have “spring oak Karndean in living room, yoga room, study and hall and cloakroom. It replaced some very tatty engineered wood and some carpet. We are very pleased with it, looks good and easy to clean. We treated ourselves to a couple of nice oriental rugs to make it a bit more cosy.