Karndean flooring... any experience?

[littlepig]

Am moving into a new build in a few months and am thinknig about Karndean flooring. Most reviews seem to be really good but there are odd ones now and again saying that it's been hard to maintain. The alternative for us (downstairs) is laminate and the cost is working out to be similar enough.

Has anyone got this/ had it for a while?
Do you like it? Does it wear well?

I've had a very disappointing experience with Karndean. We chose beautiful tiles from the Opus range (supposedly the commercial range) as we wanted a hard wearing floor. We spent over £1000, it was installed 8 months ago. It started scratching almost as soon as it was laid. It's taken until today for the Karndean rep to come and see the scratches which are so bad now that I expect we will have to replace the floor within the next 12-18 months. Today was extraordinary, he suggested velvet tabs for the bottom of our chairs, that we are using the wrong type of mop and that we should only be using their speciality floor cleaner. This is supposed to be commercial flooring - it's not. It can't handle a family of 4 in their slippers. I was expecting to be told that this was a bad batch of tiles or that they had not been sealed, I had not expected to be told that it's less robust that the cheap laminate that was in our previous kitchen for 6 years with barely a scratch.

Karndeen - I am happy to discuss this with you, your rep came today Elaine & Alan, M16

everyone wondering about the longevity of Karndean- I've had it throughout my large home ground floor for 8 years- it still looks good although I NEVER use the yukky Karndean glow-finish gunk or the dumb moppy thing and scraper - what tosh in this day and age?!?! I use a Bissell Flip-It floor cleaner with Pledge hardwood floor cleaner of Bissell's own and the flor is lovely and clean it has scratches a bit but that's it's character-much like real wood.Just water and a non-chemically cleaner will keep it in god nick - their own cleaners are rubbish , it gives the floor a yellowy flaky film that ruins the looks and feel, keep it simple!

It's only recently I realised we have karndean in our back hallway. It was chosen (pre-me) to be hardwearing and is warm underfoot. It's an antique oak plank effect so if there are any knocks or scratches they fit in with the style (if that makes sense).

I have karndean and I love it! I've never used karndean products and just clean it with any old floor cleaner. The bloke that fitted it had been fitting their flooring since the company started and he said you don't NEED karndean products. It's hardwearing, it's been flooded in our bathroom with no visible signs of damage, I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

Just thought I'd add to this as I have karndean throughout the ground floor and all bathrooms. It's great and a huge improvement on the previous laminate. It's scratched but then so would wood etc, it's easy to take care of, just sweep or vacuum and mop now and again. I have never used the karndean products and never applied the special top coat that needs stripping and reapplying as I knew I would never bother.
I will definitely have it again if I ever move.

ours has gone a bit green in the sun

In our experience the laminate scratches very easily. We have two dogs and phoned Karndean Head Office to enquire about the suitability before we had it laid. Over £1,000 worth of flooring was laid in Jan 2013 (Caribbean Driftwood) and by March we had the fitter back who agreed it looked awful and called in Karndean Technical Services. The Tecchie guy came out in May, we eventually received the report in July, basically denying any responsibility, but offering us free additional planks to replace the worst affected. We accepted the offer by letter on 10 August, and re-sent the letter recorded delivery on 30 Sept but have still heard nothing! Their floor looks dreadful, their customer service is nil and 10 months after having it fitted, it looks as though its been down for 10 years! We really wish we'd laid tiles or even kept the original lino which had been down for the two years previous was unmarked. My advice - AVOID!!!!!

I hate ours. Would never buy again. But unfortunately we're stuck with it.

just be aware to match the flooring planks before you fit - my fitter had glued them and some of them did not meet the next plank there was a small gap - because they have been laid i cannot get recompense - have been told should have lifted before the glue set -as used in the bathroom if I had done this would not have been able to use my loo - have been told they have not had this problem with anyone else

I have it in kitchen, bathrooms, and hallway. Been there for 7 years.

I have 2 largish dogs, and I find the floor very easy to clean after their mucky paws. Once every couple of months, I get right down with a large floor wipe and clean all the "contour lines" of the tiles. But other than that, a wipe with a mop once a week keeps it looking good.

please see my message of 8th april 2014 - not about scratches but not happy how they have treated my problem - just wonder if anyone else had the same problem - used the White Oak product

My Karndean in the kitchen has been down for eight years. It has survived a fire from a Bosch dishwasher and a flood. It now needs to be revitalised with the Karndean stripper and polishing equipment. I have been using all sorts of floor cleaning products and this has built up a bit of a film in places. I also have it in bathroom, toilet and living room. My daughter has it all through her house which is heavily trafficked. My daughters husband is a builder and has fitted no end of Karndean. He sticks it on ply wood and not hardboard which some fitters do. It is important to get it fitted well.

I have Earthwerks - same thing but a bit cheaper- It's brilliant.

I have Karndean in my kitchen. It was very expensive but I thought it would be worth it because of the 15 year guarantee. I wish I hadn't bothered because some of the edges have started to lift. I contacted Karndean and they sent someone out and are saying I must have left water on it for long periods which is totally untrue, I mean to say why would I? It is just a lame excuse by Karndean to wriggle out of their guarantee.
I will be grateful if anyone could tell me where to go to get advise on this.

I liked the look of karndean at the ideal Home Show. Made an appt for the sales person to come. He is the only person I have ever had to request to leave my home. He was so rude to us after he had quoted a figure for a floor and fitting and we said that was great, we would think about it and get back to him. Apparently he was under the impression that we would buy there and then. We were very strange for not doing so, the price quoted was for that day only etc etc. That was back in 1999. I wont consider Karndean after that treatment. We have amtico - bathrooms only - love it.

I have heard that Amtico are much better

Have a look at Polyflor Camaro, I have it in my hall and am very pleased with it.
Everyone thinks it is Karndean, it looks like it but costs a lot less.

Hello how did you resolve your problem as I am in dispute with Karndean about the opus terra range, it is in the hands of trading standards at present

We had karndean in our old kitchen which was ok. When we moved out we could see dents on the floor where the table and chairs had been. In our new utility room, I chose Amtico instead. The cost worked out the same as Karndean, and I think it looks better. The supplier we used stocked both karndean and Amtico so we could make a good comparison.

hi am really interested in karndean but am worried about some of the comments ive been looking for months and cant decide between that and real wood but due to a big dog and five grandchildren thought karndean was the more serviceable as there always spilling stuff could you send me your pictures please

like mine a lot, it has faded in the sun tho

nutcasean - does the floor treatment work?

If you look on my profile there are pics of the Karndean I have throughout the ground floor. I'm very lazy with it and haven't stripped and redone it but it doesn't need it really and looks as good as it did when it was first laid in 2011.
Also have it in all our bathrooms. It will dent if something heavy is dropped from a height - thanks DH - but ours is textured so it's not obvious.