Karndean versus engineered oak floor

bigg2001

Hello

Looking for advice around flooring - have had someone out today to go through engineered oak samples for my kitchen/family room and he has suggested we consider Karndean as an alternative to the wood - any thoughts or experience out there??

The room will be a kitchen / dining room / lounge-area so will have heavy use and will need to be hard-wearing - we have 2 children who are relatively destructive! And solid oak flooring in the hall which the kitchen will lead off from...

Thoughts please??

Thundercat_2

We've currently got engineered oak in our hallway (previous owners installed it) and it's OK but there are dents and scuffs where people have walked on it in high heels etc, or put sharp heavy objects on it. (I dread to think what damage my two young boys would do to it if they played on it!)

In our previous house we had Karndean in the hallway and I now think that I'll choose it again for the majority of the downstairs in our new house. It was so hardwearing and always looked beautiful. It only requires minimal maintenance to keep it looking great and doesn't absorb stains or water like oak would. I'd say it would be perfect for a kitchen and isn't as cold or hard as tiles.

Happy floor shopping!!:D

missile

I would suggest you go to a shop and view flooring in a larger area. Small samples are no good.

Karndean is hard wearing, it is used in many shops. Personally I don't like it.

Engineered oak flooring will mark if you are careless. General wear adds to the character of a wooden floor but if you walk in high heels or drag furniture accross the floor it will soon be ruined.

discountmummy

Karndean requires a totally level base before fitting otherwise the warranty is invalid so you may need to factor in a cost to skim the whole of the floor. Ive had a floating engineered oak wood floor fitted and love it.