Flagstones or karndean?

[michelehu]

Have a not insignificant hallway and large kitchen diner to put flooring down in and in true libra style I cannot decide between karndean blonde oak herringbone or a honey tumbled flagstone. Help me decide?

Things to note!

We're in a village but not super muddy

We have a toddler and are expecting a second next year

I love the look of flagstones but am worried about it not feeling cosy enough

I'm concerned karndean won't be hardwearing or waterproof enough

Help me?

I have Karndean; it is very hard wearing and very waterproof. Every few years I go over it with their restorative pack and it looks as good as new.

OK, being honest, I prefer flagstones, but Karndean is so much warmer on your feet, doesn't necessarily smash all your glasses if you drop them and will be a far softer landing for little people. I have Karndean in my kitchen, as a replacement for original 1930's tiles (had to, floor collapsed!), and it's a revelation. We still have the original tiles in the pantry etc, and I shiver as soon as I walk in there.

Oh and no hint of damage after 3 years - family of 5 adults and very large dog.

Another vote for Karndean. It is super hard wearing and completely waterproof. We have 18month and 5 year old DSs and our floors still look the same as the day they were laid.

We have Kardean been down 12 years and has had bikes, scooters, dogs, kids and it still looks brilliant.

I brought ours from EBay as end of project so very cheap compared to full price.

Thanks all. Any idea how the price compares between the two? My husband is convinced karndean will be miles more expensive so was hoping the consensus would be flagstones 😭

Prices totally depend on your local suppliers for flags. Karndean isn't particulary expensive.

I love flagstones but went for karndean after dropping my phone on tiles the week before choosing the flooring in our hall/kitchen/dining room. Obviously the phone smashed. I have 3dc and just had visions of them smashing their phones because I chose tiles. Karndean is more forgiving. The old karndean that we had that came with the house as a newbuild was 17 years old. This is now 4 years old and still looks new. We only replaced the old flooring because we had a leak that caused damage or we would have kept it a few more years.

My kids roller skate on ours (much to the floor guy’s horror).

We have flagstones. I sealed them as per recommendation by supplier and they are the easiest thing to keep clean. Incredibly cosy with UFH underneath. And no worry about anything damaging them! Although, things dropped do not always survive...
They were also cheaper than karndean. Never needs replacing.

Thanks! Don't suppose you have a pic I could nose at?

We smashed 3 mobiles within 4 months of moving into our rental with flagstones. Those phones only had to drop from a height of about 1ft. Many glasses have gone the way of the dodo and a few other items.

Do not recommend if clumsy. Possibly that might include homes with kids?

@michelehu I'll get another later of it now it's sealed

@michelehu this is a better picture. I drop my phone all the time and it's still going. As are the TV remotes that come off the sofa almost daily. Great never having to worry about dirt, water, damage or having it replaced.

Flag look lovely at first and if you keep them immaculately clean. However after 10 years of a previous owners not keeping them immaculate and ufh the pointing has gone in parts, a couple are rocking and there are stains on them. Any sealant you use will not last indefinitely it has to be re applied so often.
Riven flags (not the flat ones) wreck your furniture as the surface isn’t level and chair legs work loose.
The children have banged heads, cut their knees and stubbed toes inside.

If you are going to have flags pay for the expensive ones not the Indian sandstone, preferably the york stone ones they are about £75 a square metre.

Flags are like wood worktops they require looking after and regular maintenance. If I could I’d rip mine up

Ours look more like outdoor paving slabs than that.

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if they are.

(it's a rental)

Thanks everyone. Our budget really is about £35-39 a square metre. Not sure any karndean I like is in that budget!

We've got flags, had them sealed and reseal them ourselves annually for about £40 and takes about 30 mins. Easy to keep clean and fit well with out old cottage. They were expensive, about £85per sq m.

My friend has karndean, looks great and certainly warmer than stone, however her daughters freinf wore high heels/stiletto type shoe and its punctured her floor.

Here's mine, natural limestone flag

When on holidays, I stay in a house with flagstones. They are easy to clean (which is good as its near the beach) but I honestly can't think of one other good thing to say about them.

They are the opposite of the look I like - and imo they are unsuited to small houses. I'd choose karndean any day! Saying that when I watch 'Escape to the country' I have admired flags in the old rambling cottage type properties they show.

Flooring is way expensive, so Im not sure youd get flagstones or karndean in budget, unless you're fitting it yourself (and even then youd be doing well). So you might be looking at porcelean tiles that look like stone flags vs lvt tiles.

I dont love lvt (karndean or any other brand) because it tends to look a bit plastic and any damage makes it look shite - a divot in a stone flagstone floor can be counted as character, but on a plastic floor not so much. Also because our new-to-us house has pale beige lvt with a grot and grime retaining orange peel effect, meant to look like tiles but actually looks like cheap lino.

BUT... do you like the perfect sleek flawless look, in which case something man-made is necessary?

I wanted real stone flooring but decided on LVT. I didnt like any of the Karndean or Amtico stone effect and ended up going with Polyflor which is mainly for commercial properties so incredibly hard-wearing. The tiles have not been fitted yet but I have high hopes.

These have been scrubbed with stone cleaner but the marks are extremely hard to remove. The first photo is where a sink and washer had leaked and marked the flags. The ingrained dirt has proved very hard to remove.
thesw are Indian sandstone which are one of the cheapest options.

Our Karndean parquet tiles were £69 a square metre around 4 years ago.