Laminate or Engineered wood in a kitchen

[ptumbi]

We are putting down a new floor in the kitchen - this has a concrete subfloor so is cold. We'd be putting a thermal/moisture proof underlay underneath.

Is laminate cold? The reason DP wants it is a) price, (although the thicker ones seem not to be 'cheap') and b)hardwearingness. He wears safetyboots, and doesn't always remove them in the hall - laminate seems to be more scratch and wear resistant than wood.

I want engineeered wood, because i think it'd be warmer, and if we get a nice textured one, it will not matter if he scratches it a bit. And if it gets too bad, we can sand it and oil it to come up like new.

But it is more expensive. Furthermore I think it will be more suitable to a kitchen than laminate, which i am afraid will swell.

Any ideas?

We had laminate in our old kitchen and if did get a bit water damaged and swelled up during the 10 years wed had it. We now have engineered oak and I love it! However, we have only had it for 7 months so don't know how it will age yet.

Thanks - I am driving myslef nuts looking at all the options !
One site will say don't use laminate in a kitchen (moisture making it swell/crack) another will say 'use a quality product' - how do I know which is quality?

Maybe sheet vinyl is the way to go. Except it will transfer the cold from the concrete floor, not look as nice, and there 'll be a step up into carpeted rooms.

Engineered wood - expensive, not guaranteed not to swell if wet, dents and scratches easier so not so hardwearing...

Personally I wouldn't have any kind of wood floor in the kitchen for the reasons mentioned. ...tiles or vinyl...

Ceramic tiles are a complete No - i've had these before and hated them. Cold, hard, unforgiving if I dropped something, but mostly icey cold. And deadly when wet.
Vinyl - yes ok, I've personally gone for Karndean before and love it. But it will be straight onto a concrete subfloor and cold. And sheet vinyl doesn't look as good.

I'n now looking at cork.....

My friend has karndean in her kitchen and laminate in her hall. She is getting the laminate ripped up and replaced with karndean as, in her words, 'it feels much warmer and nicer'. It's a mid '80s house so both are laid onto a concrete floor.

We've just had a Polyflor floor fitted into our hall and downstairs loo. It's like Amtico/Karndean but a bit cheaper (costs the same fitted as amtico/karndean does without fitting) and is used quite a lot commercially. We went for a dark oak 'look' and it looks lovely and doesn't feel particularly cold underfoot.

I've had karndean in my last 2 kitchens, laid onto concrete - but it had insulation underneath the subfloor. Its too cold otherwise

I have bamboo (pic on my profile).
It part on the new concrete and part on the old suspended wood.
Its just glued down with the glue that acts as a DPC
been there 6 years
never feels cold (as its 13mm thick)
not expensive
environmentally sound
love it

Bamboo, bamboo, bamboo. It's so much more hard wearing than any other wood or engineered floor or laminate and we're really super happy with ours. It can take some moisture, unlike other wooden floors, and should last pretty well even in a kitchen!

We used the Bamboo Flooring Company, who were pretty fab. This is what we have: www.bambooflooringcompany.com/solid-natural-strand-woven-bamboo-flooring-wide-board.html

I've kaid bamboo flooring in one of the bedrooms (attic room, gets really hot in summer) but have to say I find it really slippery, it's so smooth.
Do you have any problems with slipperiness?

Ah - I've just looked at the link - every single site we've looked at says DON'T lay solid wood onto concrete slab.

Now looking at Luxury Vinyl Tiles - vinyl but on a board backing. Can't find much about it tho

ptumbi
I'd like to see those links because the glue supplier was recommended by the floor supplier and it is definitely bamboo glued to concrete and I've no regrets at all

slippery : nope, no more so than any smooth floor

I have bamboo in my kitchen, dining room, utility room, hall, office and all three bathrooms

I'd like something a bit more textured. although I love the bamboo I put down in ds2 room. This was a floating, click-together floor.

I get from your post that you've glued it down - but you have a new concrete floor. This will have been laid with 4" insulation in it; the concrete floor we have is 50s, so no insulation and we are not even sure it has a DPM.. Hence we have to lay an thermal/moisture proof underlay under any floor - and can't therefore have it glued down.

we've had engineered wood for over 10 yrs and its fab.

We've just had engineered oak put down. it looks great. Very warm.

I think that is the way we are going to have to go. Engineered wood (my choice ) rather than laminate which i still think of as cheap and shiny.
Now to get samples - it's amazing how much they vary in price.

We have gone for Amtico, but we are having underfloor heating. Engineered bamboo was the only wood we seriously considered - the rest of them won't cope with water or wear as well. If I could have convinced DH we would have gone for bamboo.

We can't use Amtico/Karndean as they have to be glued (no underlay)

Have also seen something called Tegola Luxury Vinyl Tile(plank) which looks like Amtico but on a backing board. It's a click-system so has an underlay, is waterproof and hardwearing. Looks good so far

We have engineered wide plank Bausen boards, with underfloor heating. In five years now, no problems with swelling, but then we don't drench it with water to test it regularly.

Last house we had solid wood (oak) floors in the kitchen for ten years, part laid over concrete, with no problems at all.
Current house we have used a Pergo laminate - wasn't planning to, but was surprised when I saw it that the stuff wasn't at least engineered (not far off it in price mind you). It's been laid using a thermal underlay on a concrete floor. Does get a little chilly right by the back door, but everywhere else is a similar temperature to wood for standing on.

We had tile effect laminate from B&Q in our kitchen. This was supposed to be an inexpensive temporary fix until we had the money to redo the whole kitchen. Ten years later it has coped with every leak and abuse possible and it's still perfect. We are now in the process of doing an extension and the builders have left the flooring down to keep it clean(ish) while they work on it and even they are amazed that it is still perfect.