Karndean/Amtico - anyone got it?

laneontour

I have just had Karndean Davinci and Amtico Spacia quoted for the same job. The prices are almost identical. The Karndean Da Vinci range has a 0.7mm wear layer vs 0.5mm for Amtico's Spacia. The Karndean is 3mm overall thickness vs Amtico's 2.5mm overall thickness. I've been told it's Amtico's polyurethane top layer that Karndean cannot replicate and it's that layer that makes Amtico so robust. Obviosuly the virgin PVC underlayers also save marks from heavy furniture. I'm struggling a little to decide on which way to go but I guess when I sell the place, it will sound better to say it's Amtico flooring!

Steve_xx

I fitted Karndean Da Vince to a works canteen some years ago. I can assure you that it is absolutely brilliant.

owned_by_2_Siamese

OK - little while since I asked the question! But now in new house with - Karndean in the kitchen/utility/garden room. It does look really good, and so far I'm pleased with it. It took the guys three full days to lay with the boarding first (the floor area is pretty big) The floor was cleaned then sealed with DIM GLO (?) beware its 6 hours before you can walk on it..... Thanks for all the postings ! Maybe I'll let you know in a year or two if it still looks good!

daverock

Does anyone know of any cleaning products that can be used instead of the Karndean brand? This seems quite expensive stuff & I'm sure someone must manufacture a less expensive type!

asitis

What are the prospects for laying Karndean tiles on top of thermo-plastic floor tiles of 60's vintage, if something like a belt sander were used to prepare their surfaces first? The tiles are flat to the eye.

Facing having to move everything to tear up the kitchen floor, which is probably laid on some hard bitumen or similar, and then laying a new concrete screed etc., is not an option I want at my age. Ceramics on top are too thick causing door problems.

Background:- A bungalow built 1965-ish with concrete floors having a covering of thermo-plastic 9 inch square tiles, in the kitchen, that are well laid and flat. The colour has since been hidden twice using thin plastic stick-on tiles that eventually curl up due to their hard surface layer shrinking more than the rest of the tile!

In the loo, 20 or more years ago, I laid 2 inch square ceramic mosaic tiles on same plastic using some sort of adhesive and they still look perfect today. Nothing loose. No cracks.

I want to do something without moving the sink unit by tiling closely round it. The present covering over the tiles will easily come off and I can clean the surface before sanding.

Anyone had a success that lasted after doing this? Any Karndean brand recommended? Would appreciate someones experience.

daniel.carter

If i were you i would pull up any loose tiles, latex the complete area with a self levelling compound (Arditex Yellow bag ) amonia bassed not acrylic look here http://www.styleflooring.com/shopproducts.asp?keyword=latex This compund will go over any old tiles laid on concrete even if the subfloors damp.

You first mix 1/2 bottle of liquid to 1/2 a bag of powder in a bucket with a mixing drill. Once mixed pour the some of the mixed latex on the floor and apply with a screed/plasteres trowel and work the trowel like a plasterer would do. You can use a spiked roller to roll out any trowel marks when you have applied the latex.

This will dry within hours and ready to receive any floor covering. Amtico is a fantastic product that carrys a 20 year wear layer guarantee www.styleflooring.com can supply and deliver the latex spiked rollers and amtico flooring straight to your door, great site they even have an online flash cad drawing tool that calculates the area m2 or border of any areas.

Woby_Tide

daniel.carter wrote: »

If i were you i would pull up any loose tiles, latex the complete area with a self levelling compound (Arditex Yellow bag ) amonia bassed not acrylic look here http://www.styleflooring.com/shopproducts.asp?keyword=latex This compund will go over any old tiles laid on concrete even if the subfloors damp.

You first mix 1/2 bottle of liquid to 1/2 a bag of powder in a bucket with a mixing drill. Once mixed pour the some of the mixed latex on the floor and apply with a screed/plasteres trowel and work the trowel like a plasterer would do. You can use a spiked roller to roll out any trowel marks when you have applied the latex.

This will dry within hours and ready to receive any floor covering. Amtico is a fantastic product that carrys a 20 year wear layer guarantee www.styleflooring.com can supply and deliver the latex spiked rollers and amtico flooring straight to your door, great site they even have an online flash cad drawing tool that calculates the area m2 or border of any areas.

anything else you want to add about your experience with styleflooring

http://www.whois.ws/whois-com/ip-address/styleflooring.com/

Banana-Man

Had smoky black Amtico tiles laid in our kitchen and conservatory. Kitchen looks great as it doesn't show water marks as the ceramic tiles we have in our bathrooms do.

Unfortunately, as soon as the sun hits the conservatory floor you can see LOTS of scratches. The scratches range from an inch to around 8in in length, are very thin and white when in direct sunlight. All visitors notice them at once. We first noticed these scratches a few days after installation before we had used the room or put any furniture in it. The floor had been hoovered with a Dyson "all floors". I think the small hard plastic wheels on the base of the Dyson probably caused the scratches. However, I don't think is good enough. We chose Amtico becuase of the claims that it is scratch resistant. On another forum a dog owner claimed no scratches. Must be great, right? Don't be fooled, Amtico is easilty scratched you just can't see it in the shade.

In summary, don't install Amtico anywhere the sun will reflect off it unless you have a high threshold for imperfections.

Amtico customer servcies are also very aggressive, you know...."reply from lawyer no. 593, we do not accept any responsibility, you must have walked mud through the conservatory".

The only good thing I got out of them was an admission that they "do not claim that our tiles are scratch proof". Not half!

georgemac_2

We have both. Karndean Da Vinci in the kitchen/Utility for at least 5 years and always use the cleaner/stripper as recommended - brilliant flooring.

Have Amtico in our bathroom, was very expensive compared to Karndean but is excellent quality - this was bought from John Lewis - fitter we got was excellent.

Would use both again, without hesitiation.

SilverSurfer08

We also had Amtico fitted in our kitchen and bathroom bought from John Lewis.

It looked superb but after about a month a small gap opened up between the tiles.

John Lewis sent the fitter back who replaced some tiles and sealed between the others. However, the sealer is now coming lose.

Has anyone else had this problem and what can be done about it? We are concerned that the gaps may allow moisture to soak into the underfloor, especially in the bathroom.

Any suggestions?

SilverSurfer08.