Kitchen Floor - Karndean / LVT do you love it?

[GatherlyGal]

We really wanted parquet wood floor in new kitchen but the hall way needs doing too and the quotes are just crazy for the floor we like.

Options are tiles (can't of UFH without buggering up the levels as there's an extension with UFH) or karndean-type stuff.

We had Karndean about 3 houses ago and never liked how fake it looked. Partly they didn't do a great job laying it.

Do you have it? Do you like it?

We've got LVT, it was from Howdens and we have underfloor heating. It's in our kitchen diner extension.

We also have 100 year old parquet in the hall which was varnished and refurbed 3 years ago, same time as the LVT was laid.

The LVT has stood up to traffic and pet claws and boots better than the parquet has.

I don't mind the 'fake' look, it is what it is. It was well laid.

We had Karndean in old house that lasted 30 years before starting to look a bit duff.

I love ours - is Quickstep. Looks brand new after being laid (by ourselves) about 8 years ago. No marks on it! Have a dog, it's perfect. I think it looks really effective and quality if you choose well.

I have karndean I kitchen hall and diner. It's only a few weeks old but we also had it in our old house which held up well.

I agree you can tell it isn't real wood but I still think it looks great and definitely more hard wearing than our real wood living room floor. The pros for us definitely make up for it but most of these are related to owning a dog, e.g no annoying clicky claw sounds dogs make on wood or laminate, doesn't matter if he drips his water everywhere, doesn't get claw scratches etc.

If you are anywhere near Worcestershire you can go to their showroom and see the full range. They are really good at helping you choose too.

We have Amtico throughout downstairs, bar one carpet in front room. Beautifully laid. Doesn't look like real wood, but looks lovely anyway. Several dogs in the house and it it seems to be bombproof - down a good few years now, and looks the same as the day it was finished.

Harvey Maria! We love it !

This is promising!

Glad so many have it and like it. It is warmer than tiles and of course much more practical than wood.

Might try and find a good showroom

I was in a similar boat - wanted wood parquet everywhere but too expensive - and looked at a lot of samples of various alternatives. I just couldn't bring myself to love the LVT (Karndean / Amtico) as it looked like plastic to me.

I've gone for a waterproof laminate instead - Quickstep Impressive Ultra range with an underlay that reduces the noise from walking on it. I don't have a dog though, and might feel differently if I did.

We have LVT all through our downstairs hall, snug and kitchen diner. Ours has been in 2 years so not stood the test of time yet but no marks or scratches. Stands up well to the kids dragging toys, furniture about and just the general going on of life. Easy to clean, doesnt feel particularly cold like tiles do.

We have the Karndean parquet in their Spanish cherry colour in our hall, bathrooms and kitchen. It looks splendid and gets SO many compliments from delivery people when I answer the door 😂

Ours shrunk in a sunny patch - big gaps in it now. That was karndean art select

That's not good. Is it under warranty? We will have sunny patch so that's a worry.

The trade off as I understand it is:

Real wood parquet/ floorboards: expensive and looks amazing, requires maintenance

Amtico: cheaper than wood, more realistic than Karndean, can mark if you really try

Karndean: cheaper than Amtico, less realistic/more shiny than Amtico, bombproof.

We want for Amtico parquet, looks absolutely great, you can tell it's not wood if you really look but doesn't matter.

We have polyflor expona beveline in ours and we have a large glass roof. Some fading, but no other issues.

The only difference between Amtico and Karndean if you have the same depth of wear layer imho is price. Polyflor do a lot of commercial flooring which has to be robust.

Karndean flooring being fitted next week in hall and lounge as soon as it’s laid furniture being moved back into rooms in order to have kitchen screeded to have Karndean fitted there also….anyone else done this I thought lvt had to have time to bond????