Vinyl wood-look flooring yay or nay?

[getoffthesofa]

Can it be nice/cost effective? Or is it just hideous? My parents had it done in their kitchen and has lasted amazingly well and looks great but they can't remember where they got it. It was done at a time when engineered wood was too expensive and laminate was really cheap looking. Give me your flooring wisdom!

We've just had our kitchen floor done in Polyflor Beveline. We like it.

I think you really just have to look and judge the individual designs on their own merits. DH and I rejected a lot of laminates as too fake looking, but found one we both liked and agreed on. It wasn't any more expensive than the others. Even within the same range, some will look more fake than others to you. I think vinyl is similar. In a big book of designs by the same manufacturer, some will look naff but it's worth a look, there might be one there that works for you. Just cast your net wide.

Just had our main bathroom done this weekend. It was a doddle to put down (comes in plank style strips) and looks absolutely amazing. Looks just as good as the ensuite which is a sixth of the size and cost twice as much. We had it in our old house and loved it there too. Warm underfoot, dries in minutes after washing. Very slight texture so not too slippy. Very pleased.

We didn't bother and went with vinyl (rhino floor) for our kitchen after my brother said it wasn't worth the money and a pain to install...

Alabaster - what kind have u gone for - an LVT type thing? If so, was it hard to fit yourself? Everything I have seen suggests avoiding doing that but am hoping I can do it!

I used vinyl in my sons room - easier to clean than carpet. I love it & defo would use again.

We used luvanto

luvanto.esignserver1.com/gallery.do;jsessionid=E11E733FF3BE46587A156D8C4CF196E4

I'll post you a picture in daylight tomorrow? Then I'll tell you the price and where it was from. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Thank you!

We are most likely getting it from howdens. They have a variety of colours. And it comes with a 5 year commercial use guarantee or 20 year domestic use guarantee (against scratches/damage etc)

Here. After much procrastination we chose this one. Mainly because it has a grey tone and we already has grey towels and the adjoining carpet is grey. As I've said I've lived with the same product before and 5 years in it looked like new.....not sure it would wear quite as well in a very high traffic area, but it was a doddle to fit too. I'll let you guess how much the whole bathroom cost (3sqm)....

Ooh where did you get it from alabaster and how much?
Love love love it

£36?

I'm in a rented house with vinyl wood effect flooring. At first glance I thought it was laminate, it certainly looks as good as laminate, and it is far better in areas that get wet. Laminate is shit

It's not as nice as real wood of course, but wood is way out of my price range anyway.

Ready?

B&Q self stick vinyl planks. Whole room cost £30. Laid in an afternoon.

Put aside preconceptions about something that cheap - I had a karndean loose lay in the hall and this stuff is better. As I say, very high traffic I've not tested, but for us, in bathrooms it's just fab.

I don't think they help themselves at b&q - the photos of the product in situ are awful - colours aren't true and they've laid the floors all regimented - you need (as with any pretend wood) to take the stuff out of the pack and jumble them up - turn a few around, mix the packs up. Looks so much better and less precise.

The paler wood colours do look naff, but the greys and dark oaks are very good indeed.

www.diy.com/departments/flooring-tiling/flooring-underlay/vinyl-flooring/self-adhesive-vinyl-planks/DIY566440.cat

10 points to gravy

I'm planning on getting Amtico tiles for my kitchen, looks like wood but a whopping £75 per sq metre without fitting included!

Yeah I was quoted £12 per sq m so guessed according to that!

Crikey. That's easier on the wallet than Karndean isn't it?!

It is! And if I hadn't lived with it before I would be sceptical. We've got a quirky house. We've got mega bucks in the hall, and other than being able to bleach/steam/whatever its otherwise meh to look at. Downstairs in the sitting room we've got a herringbone wood floor, again cost a fortune, but it's lifting and we are really disappointed with it. Kitchen we've got ancient vinyl which will be replaced next year, undecided what for, would've liked tiles but it's a suspended floor and therefore options can be limited. I'm pondering that one. But for the money I can't rate this highly enough. And because it's planks it's way easier to lay than a sheet of vinyl, no bubbling.

How easily can it be trimmed? We have a bay window so it will need to be trimmed.

Stanley knife or very very strong scissors. DH had to trim round the basin and the loo. He's yet to seal round the edges with expandable sealant but he's going to do that tonight.