Can someone come and talk to me about amtico vs wood floor pros and cons

[Loueytb3]

We are having an extension built which will be a family room. It will be open plan to the kitchen and lead into the garden. As its open plan, the kitchen flooring which is currently tiled needs to be removed and replaced with the same flooring we use in the new room.

We've got a good flooring shop near us and I had a chat with the co-owner and she recommended engineered wood over amtico/karndean because she said it would wear better, and it could be easily repaired if you got scrapes in it, whereas amtico is much harder to repair because its in a larger sheet. She also said that amtico does need maintenance/treatment which I wasn't aware of. She has a similar room in her house and has wood in hers as does her co-owner. She said that she knew friends who had used amtico and it does have a wear/fade mark in it after a while.

However, I've also read things that suggest that amtico is the perfect thing to have in that type of room. So I'm confused. I don't think there will be a massive difference in price as the wood isn't cheap either. We would be going for a wood effect amtico if we chose it.

There will be a table in there and we've got 3 DSs who make a lot of mess at mealtimes. I know that there will be mud trailed in from the garden on a frequent basis. Can anyone who has amtico or wood please tell me how its worn in their house?

I think it's a matter of personal taste and what "look" you like. I dislike Amtico and Karndean because it looks fake (my parents have the wood effect) and I can't get my head around the cost for what is essentially posh lino. But it is very hard wearing, my Mum thinks it's the best "house" decision they made.

We have wood which I much prefer the look of and as a PP says in my view it gets better with age.

Wood every time. It's timeless, looks great and actually improves with wear. Can always be sanded and revarnished or painted another colour. With a vinyl your'e stuck with your choice.

I agree - it is down to personal choice. I on the other hand would not want wood - far too much work to look after and who could be bothered to re-sand it? With Amtico / Karndean once it is down you can forget about it apart from cleaning it.

Just thought I'd add this - although original post was ages ago! In my last house I had Amtico from front door through hall, dining area and kitchen. It survived three rugby playing sons and pets, plus usual footfall. All I did was mop it for years and it looked great. Then my decorator redid my kitchen and decided to put special treatment on floor which strips it back and renews surface. I was gobsmacked! It looked like a pristine newly laid floor! I have moved this year but now looking at Amtico again for ground floor as I don't think anything can beat it. I'd hate to have to be 'careful' all the time but this takes any amount of rough treatment!

We have engineered oak and it looks lovely. I don't have to do anything special to it - just a quick mop. I don't like karndean/amtico as I don't like things pretending to be something they are not I.e. Fake.

We have Quick Step in the kitchen. It's a matt slate effect and still very smart after 5 years. Possibly a shiny effect would be less forgiving?

Hi I am really chewed up about buying my flooring can't decide on karndean or Amtico . I had planned on Amtico as wanted it to look like wood but a flooring guy has said karndean is better and cheaper . Need hall kitchen and dining area doing so need to get it right . Feeling physical sick .

I have Hygena engineered oak flooring in our living and dining room and it's terrible. After 6months I want to rip it up. Scratches easily, faded in the sunlight areas. You can't steam mop it or let it get too wet or it will warp. Never again!

Have Karndean and Amtico and much prefer the Karndean. The Amtico does need stripping and treating otherwise it's fakeness becomes obvious imo, whereas the Karndean is happy with a very occasional mop. It is not indestructible and has some furniture moving scratches, but it is very resilient to huge amount of wear and tear and dogs' claws.

We have amtico in our hall and kitchen and we hate it (the previous owners put it down). We're currently replacing it with engineered oak flooring.

The amtico is very thin and uncomfortable underfoot and much colder than the wooden flooring. The amtico is also hideous (it's particularly ugly stuff) and feels horrible underfoot. It's always slightly too slippy yet somehow a bit sticky no matter if it's just been scrubbed.

You could not pay me to have amtico ever again.

It's also a total bastard to take up again once it's down.

So I am a wood floor girl, but it gets dented and damaged by my 3 kids. I also have a very fussy friend who has had amtico for years and swears by how reslilent it is. So I have just put down extra large (same size as real wood planks) Royal Oak amtico throughout downstairs as it also goes well with underfloor heating. Looks great ATM. Fingers crossed it lasts and we never have to change it as it looks so classic.

I spent ages trying to decide if Amtico is the best choice (it seems to be the most popular) or if something like Karndean or Polyflor etc were as good, since they seem to be much cheaper.

In the end I came to the conclusion that flooring is just like anything else - with the most popular brands half of the price is the name on the box.

In the end I chose Polyflor as a very high quality, lower cost option from a company called Floorbay after spending a lot of time asking them a lot of questions - I bet they were sick of me lol.

Anyway, I think another thing is that 99% of your decision will be down to whether any brand will have something that will fit your decor, it's no good deciding to buy on price alone, or brand name alone if another company has something that will suit your home better.

I suppose it's all about choices and making the best choice for your circumstances - if price is your main issue then choose that way, if it's a particular look you want then choose that way.

But at the end of the day I don't think there's much difference between brand A, orbrand B, or brand C, etc.

It's a bit like baked beans - some people might always buy Heinz because they're the biggest name, and some other people might buy Morrisons own brand because it's cheaper - but really you ought to buy the one that tastes the best to you.

Isn't that how we tend to buy everything else in life?

PS - I'm really happy with my flooring, I don't think I'd have been more or less happy if I'd chosen Amtico or Karndean, etc instead - it does what I need and looks really good so I'm happy.

My friend has just had textured ceramic tiles put on her kitchen floor. They look exactly like wood, including the grain, but should be super hard wearing. It seems like a good solution.

We have Amtico laid in a parquet style (can't remember the term for it, it is like chevrons) in our kitchen diner. I absolutely LOVE it. It's so easy to clean/maintain and looks great.

It doesn't look 100% authentic, but is excellent. Ours is manufactured with the wood grain and real plank effect.

In contrast, the real oak floor in our lounge has faded in parts. Maybe we can re-oil it, I'm not sure.