karndean vs laminate

bargainlover2006 · 19 December 2006 at 8:03PM

I am just wondering if anyone has used flooring from karndean (https://www.karndean.com). I did request some samples and I liked what I received. I have not seen this product used over a large aea so do not know whether the end result in stunning. I currently have laminate and feel that it is cold and just looks fake.

Any ideas? i would appreciate it.

colbee · 19 December 2006 at 9:00PM

Hi, Can't say I have ever heard of Karndean The link you provided didn't work for me but I got it via the address bar.
The product sounds ok according to karndean but it might be good idea to try googling it to see if there is more info available.
To see large area coverage you have to visit their showroom in the Cotswolds. They don't give prices - you have to telephone, so it might be however much they can get away with. Without some idea of a price comparison it's really a case of shooting in the dark. They also suggest it is not a diy proposition, and it seems the product is fixed with adhesive - you might find this appealing or appalling depending on your point of view.

startrekker · 19 December 2006 at 9:12PM

Karndean definitley. I sell both and the Karndean is a winner by a long chalk. Nip into your nearest supplier and have a look. Retails from about £40 sq mtr for the Knight tile or Knight Plank range depending on what you want and where you live. Nice floor and you can choose how you want it to look, within reason and cost

kitchpoo · 19 December 2006 at 9:19PM

Karndean is a great product, but there are a number of equal rivals, polyfloor being the main one. What you have to remember is that they have a really long life wear - up to 20 years and some are guarenteed for 15 years.

What you have to weigh up is if fashion will change and that your 'investment' in the flooring will be lost in taste.

I speak from experience, having just moved to a house with Axminster carpets of a 1970's vintage, they are not worn but are patterned heavily and certainly not to any current fashion and unlikely to ever be - hence we want to change them. You could find yourself in a similar situation with Karndean in 5-10 years. Karndean also requires the screed to be very level so you may have to factor in a screed latex layer as well.

tawnyowls · 19 December 2006 at 9:33PM

Yes, I've used and sold it. Fantastic stuff - very water-resistant, also very difficult to scratch, and very easy to look after (ignore the stuff on the website; do the initial treatment, and then just mop with a solution of any sort of floor cleaner). It looks fabulous, and after 7 years, mine still looked brand new. We even had a WM leak, which would have destroyed laminate. We just took up the bubbled Karndean, dried them out, trimmed them down slightly, and re-stuck.

Link to another thread where I mentioned it previously: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=131704&highlight=karndean

susieb1967 · 19 December 2006 at 11:00PM

Hi
I initially had laminate in the front room which was very hard wearing and for the amount it cost I wasnt bothered that the kids dragged toys across it. I then decided to have Karndean in the hall and front room, this is a fairly big area and has nice borders- it certainly has the wow factor BUT i went for the knight tile range which is the cheapest on the recommendation of three fitters, who reckoned that it was more than adequately hard wearing for domestic use. However my DH managed to scratch it by stupidly dragging something on it (this wouldnt have been a problem on the laminate), it isn't massively noticable but MY eyes are drawn to it!! For this reason I am always saying to the kids 'MIND THE FLOOR!!!!' when they are dragging stuff/playing with heavy toys which gets on my nerves as much as theirs! It also shows scuff marks quite easily and would never have been bothered about giving these a good old scrub on the laminate but am a little more wary on the karndean. I have also had a little of the vinyl chipped off (no one has owned up yet) again not hugely noticable but then not as hard wearing as I was led to believe. Also my settee was on castors and I found this caused an indentation on the floor so I had to put them in castor cups and now I cant move the settee easily to clean underneath!!
You have to get it professionally fitted although was told that it can be done by a competant DIYer but having watched it being done I wouldnt recommend this! Apparently there are courses to show you how to do it but dont know how much they are and if it would economically be worth it Vs getting pro to do it.
My sister went for the next karndean up in price ( is it the Monet?) and hers is in the hallway (lots of traffic also) and I feel it looks like it would take a lot more knocks. So if your budget will allow i would go for a better quality than the knight tile.
Karndean is as easy to keep clean as laminate but it does need more maintenance in that you will have to take the sealer off every now and then and reapply the varnish stuff, it is easy to do, just a fag moving all your furniture. I have had mine down a year and not had to do mine yet, though i think I may do it in the new year to see if I can get rid of the scratch.
In a nutshell if you have kids or tarmac on your drive ( the stones brought in on your shoes can scratch it like hell) and dont want to spend your time being paranoid that it will end up wrecked I would get laminate or the higher quality karndean. But dont tell my husband I said all this!!!:o
hope this helps

sue.b_2 · 20 December 2006 at 9:51AM

I have Karndean in the kitchen and dining room and laminate in the hall and office. The Karndean is the cheaper version, Knight, and shows no sign of wear after three years. The wear surface of the laminate has been damaged by the wheels of an operator's chair in the office but it took five or six years.

Karndean recommend stripping and re-doing the protective coating every six months, I think, but I do it about once a year in the main traffic areas and a lot less often (like never) under furniture.

My neighbours have Amtico which costs a lot more than Karndean and looks the same.

maryjane01 · 20 December 2006 at 11:13AM

I have just had amtico put in in our new bathroom so I can't say how it lives up to wear and tear, but it looks fantastic. The actual product was £55 a square meter but fitting a 7 square meter room came to about £750 through John Lewis (it was going to be over £900 through another local retailer). That included 6ml ply underlay, but we removed the old flooring ourselves as this was going to cost extra.

tawnyowls · 21 December 2006 at 5:41PM

susieb1967 wrote:

Hi
Ii went for the knight tile range which is the cheapest on the recommendation of three fitters, who reckoned that it was more than adequately hard wearing for domestic use. However my DH managed to scratch it by stupidly dragging something on it (this wouldnt have been a problem on the laminate), it isn't massively noticable but MY eyes are drawn to it!! For this reason I am always saying to the kids 'MIND THE FLOOR!!!!' when they are dragging stuff/playing with heavy toys which gets on my nerves as much as theirs! It also shows scuff marks quite easily and would never have been bothered about giving these a good old scrub on the laminate but am a little more wary on the karndean. I have also had a little of the vinyl chipped off (no one has owned up yet) again not hugely noticable but then not as hard wearing as I was led to believe. Also my settee was on castors and I found this caused an indentation on the floor so I had to put them in castor cups and now I cant move the settee easily to clean underneath!!
You have to get it professionally fitted although was told that it can be done by a competant DIYer but having watched it being done I wouldnt recommend this! Apparently there are courses to show you how to do it but dont know how much they are and if it would economically be worth it Vs getting pro to do it.
My sister went for the next karndean up in price ( is it the Monet?) and hers is in the hallway (lots of traffic also) and I feel it looks like it would take a lot more knocks. So if your budget will allow i would go for a better quality than the knight tile.

I'm amazed at this. My two floors were both Knight-tile, and never showed any scratches. I even used to demonstrate it by dragging a steak knife down it. I think you should strip it and put the protector back onto it. If the scratch is still bad, you could take up the damaged tiles and replace them (hope you kept some!). There shouldn't be any problem scrubbing it - I always used to use the green nylon scrubby sponges on any subborn marks.

I would agree it's not a DIY job - my OH had to go on a 2-day, very intensive course to learn how to fit it properly, and it's not guaranteed unless it's laid by a Karndean-qualified fitter.

silvercar · 21 December 2006 at 6:24PM

We had marmoleum (stocked in John Lewis & elsewhere), very similar to Karndean. On the day we moved out, looks as good as the day it was installed 13 years previously.
As it does last a long time, choose a pattern that doesn't date.

karndean vs laminate

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