# Anyone Got Karndean (or similar) flooring



## gorgeous (Jan 14, 2009)

We are looking to change our downstairs living areas carpets to something more practical. We have 4 cats, 1 dog, 3 kids and quite a few visitors. So we want something very hard wearing and easy to keep clean We did think a wooden floor but someone mentioned this to me. They said I just need to hoover and mop. That I like. But does it look good?


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## totallypets (Dec 30, 2011)

It looks amazing, lots of people don't realise it isn't real wood floor. It's easy to clean and incredibly practical. Unfortunately we never got to put the top sealer on due to the flooring going down the day before the removal van arrived and so the ground floor is no longer as shiny as it was previously. Upstairs where we don't tend to wear shoes and were the animals don't go is still like new despite no sealer. Ours was the Karndean Art Select range in Spring Oak which has beveled edges and what the call a hand scraped look - highly recommended.


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## gorgeous (Jan 14, 2009)

That sounds good. Thank you for taking the time to reply. My husband being a tight wad is concerned about the cost.


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## totallypets (Dec 30, 2011)

It was quite expensive, but I trawled the internet and got the best price I could for it. Fortunately we have a family friend who is a fitter and so fitting was a bit cheaper than from a shop as he did it on the weekend.


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## Jansheff (Jan 31, 2011)

Don't touch Karndean with a barge pole. We had the slate look in the kitchen, laid down by a professional fitter. Within a year the top layer had started to wear off with white patches showing through. We tried to claim under the warranty but because the fitter had not been back and treated it every however many months with their own brand cleaner/sealer/mop they refused to honour the warranty. I'm convinced we got a bad batch of tiles because we spend most of the time in the kitchen in our slippers, but the representative denied any responsibility and if you do a bit of googling you'll find other people who have had the same experience. Looked an utter mess within 2 years, looks awful now (about 10 years on) but we can't afford to replace it, because we have a large kitchen and the files also run into a separate pantry, back porch and cellar head. can post photos if you want. Load of rubbish. I gather Amtico is supposed to be better.


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## plantsman (Feb 6, 2014)

I looked at it last autumn for my kitchen but the requirement to have it re-finished every year put me right off. I went for a very tough vinyl remnent in the end (Rhinofloor) which fitted cost me £260 - about the cost of the annual maintenance of Kerndean and it's competitors. 20 year warranty on the Rhinofloor too! Can't fault the supplier/fitters - John Doe in Diss if anyone's looking in Norfolk/Suffolk. I have no connection to either company, just an impressed and happy customer!


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## Jobeth (May 23, 2010)

I have Amtico flooring in my kitchen and in my bathroom and like it. I've had it 2 years now with no problems.


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## staffgirl (May 1, 2013)

I have Karndean in both my bathrooms. It looks fabulous, and as long as you look after it, it looks as good as the day it was fitted. But, I decided not to put it elsewhere in the house in areas of heavy wear because my dogs slip on it! Might just be unlucky, but when they come into the bathrooms to supervise washing etc (I know, they're funny like that!) their paws slip and they walk gingerly around. I'm still looking for what to use downstairs. Good luck with your decision.


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## staffgirl (May 1, 2013)

plantsman said:


> I looked at it last autumn for my kitchen but the requirement to have it re-finished every year put me right off. I went for a very tough vinyl remnent in the end (Rhinofloor) which fitted cost me £260 - about the cost of the annual maintenance of Kerndean and it's competitors. 20 year warranty on the Rhinofloor too! Can't fault the supplier/fitters - John Doe in Diss if anyone's looking in Norfolk/Suffolk. I have no connection to either company, just an impressed and happy customer!


Ooh that sounds interesting. Do the dogs skid on it? I had thought about a vinyl type thing as figured it'd have more grip.


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## totallypets (Dec 30, 2011)

Jansheff said:


> Don't touch Karndean with a barge pole. We had the slate look in the kitchen, laid down by a professional fitter. Within a year the top layer had started to wear off with white patches showing through. We tried to claim under the warranty but because the fitter had not been back and treated it every however many months with their own brand cleaner/sealer/mop they refused to honour the warranty. I'm convinced we got a bad batch of tiles because we spend most of the time in the kitchen in our slippers, but the representative denied any responsibility and if you do a bit of googling you'll find other people who have had the same experience. Looked an utter mess within 2 years, looks awful now (about 10 years on) but we can't afford to replace it. can post photos if you want. Load of rubbish. *I gather Amtico is supposed to be better*.


I was told by a couple of different people they were made in the same factory and no difference in quality between them. It's a shame you've had a bad experience, ours has been down for 5 years and there is no wearing through anywhere despite it being a very busy household, only scratches that could have been prevented if we had put the sealer on originally.

I didn't know there was meant to be an on going cleaner/sealer program. The only thing I can suggest is that we were told it would be relatively easy to heat the flooring with a hairdryer to remove the odd plank that had been damaged and replace just one piece. If it is a few of your tiles rather than the whole floor maybe your fitter could do something like that.


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## Ang2 (Jun 15, 2012)

I am shortly about to lay a porcelain floor that looks like a wood floor. They are actually tiles with the wood effect. £50sm. Is this the same?


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## DoodlesRule (Jul 7, 2011)

Jobeth said:


> I have Amtico flooring in my kitchen and in my bathroom and like it. I've had it 2 years now with no problems.


^^ this

I initially had Amtico just downstairs, last year got rid of carpets upstairs too. Love it and would never go back to fitted carpets


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## plantsman (Feb 6, 2014)

staffgirl said:


> Ooh that sounds interesting. Do the dogs skid on it? I had thought about a vinyl type thing as figured it'd have more grip.


I've only had a dog since January but she does slip a bit if in a hurry to get to food! Some of the vinyls have more texture than mine though so they would be better. I'm finding that the longer it's down the less slippy it is generally.

My friends have 3 collies and lots of vinyl flooring and have no problems with it at all - been down for many years apparently.


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## gorgeous (Jan 14, 2009)

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply. You have all been very helpful and given me lots of unanswered questions for when we go and have a look tomorrow!


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