Help! Kitchen floor choices, choices....

RX-78

We are finally nearing the end of our kitchen extension - the extension bit is made, the old kitchen came out, walls are plastered and sparky's laid the cable:T

We've already got the new kitchen (Howdens, gloss white units with wild walnut worktop) delivered but unfortunately our kitchen fitter cant fit it for another 4 weeks:eek: which is just as well as we cant decide on the floor!

We've agreed on not going for laminate - we had problem with some of the laminate starting to lift due to splashed water (I'm a messy cook).

So far we thought of these with its pros & cons;

Vynal - cheap, easy to clean and wears well. Only thing is it looks cheap, especially with glossy kitchen

Stones (Travertine/limestone) - attractive and cheaper end is not too expensive but materials can vary. Also corrosive to acid and needs stone cleaning product.

Slate - relatively cheap and attractive but has the same problem as the stones. Also dark in colour (we have quite a dark kitchen).

Rubber tiles - Easy to clean, good quality ones are attractive. But as expensive as the more expensive stones!

Real wood - probably no go for us, expensive and not the best for spillers like me.....

So we are totally confused! Help please:A

keystone

RX-78 wrote: »

.........with wild walnut worktop........

What does it look like when its calmed down?

Vynal - cheap, easy to clean and wears well. Only thing is it looks cheap, especially with glossy kitchen

Depends on what you choose. You are correct - cheap looks cheap but the quality sheet doesn't. Rather than sheet vinyl have a look at Amtico and Karndean ranges. Karndean is the cheaper of the two and IMHO is as good a quality

Stones (Travertine/limestone) - attractive and cheaper end is not too expensive but materials can vary. Also corrosive to acid and needs stone cleaning product.

Cheaper end of scale is cheap because its tat. Don't skimp on quality for natural stone. Is your floor substrate OK for laying stone tiles? You haven't mentioned ceramics which are cheaper than stone but again the floor needs to be properly prepped.

Slate - relatively cheap and attractive but has the same problem as the stones. Also dark in colour (we have quite a dark kitchen).

Do you want to cook in the Black Hole of Calcutta?

Rubber tiles - Easy to clean, good quality ones are attractive. But as expensive as the more expensive stones!

Real wood - probably no go for us, expensive and not the best for spillers like me.....

As in all things you get what you pay for.

Hope this helps

Cheers

RX-78

Thanks keystone! I do remember seeing amtico/karndean in the forum before but never given it a proper thought - might go and audition it tomorrow.

You are right about the stones - you get what you pay for. We do really like the idea of the stone but worried we cant maintain it properly. We did think of porcelin but heard it can be very slipperly and appear cold (especially with a glossy kitchen). We can probably afford upto £30/m2 (our kitchen is roughly 12m2 I think), and we'll get a quote for the tiler (right word?) soon. - our budget is £600 inc laying. Is that reasonable?

keystone

An average tilers cost is iro £ 25/m2 and remember that stone / porc will cost more per m2 to lay. That should include addy and grout but will not include floor prep (SLC on concrete or strengthening plus ply for timber) nor a decoupling membrane if its needed.

What is your current floor?

I think your £600 including the tiles might just be the bare minimum TBH.

Cheers

RX-78

Thanks, thats a great info! Our floor is a bare concrete now, we did have a old vynal but as we are extending the kitchen we had the units taken out and new floor laid in the extension part (its a part garage conversion) just yesterday:p.

Do I need the underlay if we are going for stone/porcelin/vynal?

keystone

If its new concrete then it will have a high moisture content compared with aged concrete with different prep requirements - consult yout tiler.

Your tiler may want to use a self levelling compound on the concrete.

A decoupling membrane won't be need for concrete - its for wooden floors so that horizontal movement of the timber won't affect the tiling.

Karndean is a special vinyl and comes in either tiles or planks so can replicate virtually any surface you like - ceramics, stone, wood but its hard wering and if laid properly looks great. Its DIYable but with care. I wouldn't recommend DIYing Amtico though because they have issues with warranty if not laid by one of their trained fitters - its also a b......er to cut compared with Karndean.

HTH

Cheers

RX-78

Thanks again for the detailed answer! I'll see the tiler on sunday so we'll see what he says.

Hope we can afford something nice......

bigg2001

We are trying to decide on whether to go with Karndean or engineered oak flooring!

We have had a quote and just want a sense-check as to whether this is realistic....

They will be removing existing stone floor, screeing the floor and supplying and fitting wood/karndean for about £1800 - size is about 28m squared. Reasonable or not??

Am swaying towards Karndean as due to the cost am worried if one of the water appliances leaks but like the idea of wood!!??

devildog

Amtico can be just as expensive, if not more so that solid wood flooring. Also with Amtico and Karndean they do claim that it is vitually scratch resistant-my household and sisters have managed to scratch ours(one has karndean/one amtico)

SuzieSue

I was going to have Karndean in my kitchen but decided against it because I was worried it would scratch. So I've decided to only have Karnean in the bedrooms and stairs and landings. I wouldn't go for wood because of leaks. In the end I decided to go for porcelain tiles in the kitchen.

£68 per sqm all in for Karndean is about right especially as they are removing the existing stone.

RX-78

We've been to our local shop to get some idea - they told me Karndean's knight tiles are on par with Amtico's spacio range in price. They quoted £45/m2 for both of these range fitted. And the more expensive range (da vinci from karndean) will be more like £80/m2:eek:

I'm starting to wonder if I would be better of going for real stone now....