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!

@TheOneWithUnagi

We have karndean in three rooms in our house. I can honestly say it looks like the day we had it laid. Which is a long time ago. I love it.
We did have it laid by a professional karndean person as floor needed skimming etc. I would really recommend it. We have a whitewashed oak.

Yoga room? Now I'm jealous

Thank you all, lots of fans out there which is good to here

I've just had a lot of building work done, and the karndean is arriving for the new kitchen floor next week - it's already in the bathroom.

I had long chats with the various guys from the builders doing our work, and the plumber doing the bathroom. They all said Karndean was the way to go, not any other brand of LVT either (one told me a horror story of going for a cheaper alternative). It was quite funny in the end "hey, Alan, you've got Karndean downstairs haven't you" "yeah, you have too don't you Fred?"

It turned out that all of the guys with dogs and small children pretty much had Karndean downstairs in hallways, kitchens etc.

The wood effect looks lovely - didn't work for me due to needing to match or contrast with existing woodwork (doors, worktops et) - I went for a tile effect in the end, with what they call a design strip between them and it looks like grout. We didn't do that in the bathroom, but will in the kitchen.

The karndean web site has a design tool - so you can upload a picture of your room and then "try out" the different flooring options in it.

we had real tiles (brilliant) and wood (disaster once we got a puppy) in the old house. I'm expecting the Karndean to be at least as good as the tiles, but easier to keep clean! Very happy with the bathroom floor so far.

Hi, I've just found this thread and read through firstly with trepidation and then relief. We've finally got the cash to replace some old laminate flooring and had a fitter recommended who suggested Kardean. So then I start googling and come across the 'cons' of Karndean info. Many talking about discolouring, but no-one has really mentioned it in this thread.
Anyway @TheOneWithUnagi can I ask, your quote of £4k what square meterage is that for? :)
We're looking at the fakee wood look, and I like the idea of borders and twiddly bits, has anyone had any fancy stuff done?

Hello, it's 41m2 of flooring, floor space about 34m2. We are in the south east in case that makes any difference. Herringbone and fancy borders etc we were told would add to the cost, but we just wanted wood look straight planks but we are laying diagonally. All ordered now, we went for warm brushed oak. I shall report back 🤞🏻

Thanks @TheOneWithUnagi we're just at the start, and our potential fitter is doing a job in France atm! We're in the SW so I don't suppose it will be cheaper but the overall meterage - we need new floors in DR, halls, stairs and bathroom/loo - is similar. :)
Might ask about borders as they look good on the fitters' website pics I saw. Well you have to ask even if you can't afford! :D

We had Karndean put in our new kitchen 10 years ago, did lots of research, it looks lovely, BUT… it’s not as durable as I was led to believe, if I was going to replace/move home, I would probably save some money & just have LVT.

Hi @Chatterboxy I thought Karndean was LVT? Have only just started looking so a bit confused by all the types and brands.

Karndean Flooring is often more detailed, and a lot more authentic looking in terms of wood flooring. LVT Flooring is very detailed in design and a wider range is available at varying different price ranges.
On the topic of price, LVT
Flooring is definitely the more cost-efficient investment.

Just finished the walls, skirtings still to be done, rads to be replaced and curtains to go back up.

Karndean is definitely a type of LVT.
I was advised that the darker ones show scratches more, hoping the one we chose doesn't. I'll also be capping the kitchen table, chairs etc as it's usually furniture that scratches

Looks lovely!

Nice. Did the fitter remove the skirting board? I don't really like the 'edging strips' that cover the expansion gap and wondered how easy it is to remove skirting.

If using glue down there is no expansion gap needed so they go right to the current skirting boards (so I've been told!)

We put Karndean in the kitchen about 3 years ago and it still looks fine. A bit expensive but was worth it.

Oh wow, that is sooo helpful. :) Unless you're wrong in which case I shall hunt you down! :D ;)
I'll check with the fitter. :)

Not sure I understand what you mean. The floor fitter did remove some of the skirting, I removed some, the plasterer removed some and the decorator removed a few last bits I had missed. But it's nothing to do with edging strips. The carpenter is coming Monday to fit new skirting. I had to have it removed for various reasons (pipework, electrics, damage from the original problem which was a leak under the floor and the guys the insurers sent to rip up the floor just took most of the skirting boards with it anyway) and I've taken the opportunity to choose something I like better.

So, if you mean "did the floor fitter take them up because they need to be taken up to fit Karndean" I actually have no idea on that!

I'm not intending to have edging strips, though there is a small one in the downstairs loo because the floor goes right up to the vanity cupboard.

I also took the opportunity to get rid of the coving, yay!!

I wondered how difficult it was to remove skirting for the floor to be laid. But I hadn't realised that Kardean gluedown doesn't need to have an expension gap left and can go up to the skirting. Thanks.

Look at Woodpecker LVT. Much better quality than Amtico and Karndean, and it's been more durable, and I don't think it was much more expensive.

Our Karndean has been down for 15years, installed by the previous owner. It still looks great! Everyone thinks it’s real wood, and so did I for the first couple of years until I had to scrub something on it.

It's posh lino. I don't believe the hype. Slippery and cold.

I'd look at higher quality laminate like Quickstep before going for Karndean

I've ordered now! We've had quickstep laminate before and I agree it's nice.
But have existing ceramic tiles with UFH. Going for anything other than glue down vinyl planks would mean that we would have to lift the existing tiles which we couldn't really be bothered with. Instead we are screeding over the top and laying the vinyl.

I've got Quickstep in the bathroom, it's fine. Nothing really to distinguish between them.

No hype, btw, just people talking about the pros and cons of different floor coverings.

Thanks. Good to know about comparisons, although always subjective. :) Yeah we've ceramic tiles in the kitchen and I like them, but there's very old laminate in the dining room with a wonky 'concrete' floor under. So I thought it would need a screed and then thinking about taking off all the skirting as well, too much hassle. We've lived with the cheap laminate for 20 years and I'm at the stage of life where I just want something to look nice.

I asked our potential fitter what he recommended and he said Karndean, so if that's what he's preferring I'll stick with that, especially after all the positives on here. Keeping the fitter happy is much more important! :D

I forgot to say, I'm enjoying using the Karndean Style finder bit of software, it does help you visualise what the room will look like and how patterns look.

Doh! I meant Karndean Floorstyle, where you upload a photo of the room you're wanting to have the flooring in.
https://designflooring-residential.esignserver1.com/karndean/gallery.do

That's not our dining room! ;)