Real wood vs Karndean flooring

RupertTheCat

I put down karndean in my hall and real wood in the living room several years ago, and I wish I'd used karndean in the living room. It looks great in the hall and has been a lot more hard wearing than the wood, and it's also warmer and nicer to walk on.

I do like the wood but I've now chucked rugs on it as it's got all sorts of furniture dents and scratches on it.

suestew

artichoke wrote: »

If cost is an issue have you looked at buying solid oak floor boards direct from a wood yard?

We bought ours direct from the saw mill and paid less that £28 sq m so cheaper than many laminates...

art

No we haven't, although by reviews I have read downstairs would need engineered as it's concrete floors and an old house so may get moisture or damp which may ruin real wood.

RupertTheCat wrote: »

I put down karndean in my hall and real wood in the living room several years ago, and I wish I'd used karndean in the living room. It looks great in the hall and has been a lot more hard wearing than the wood, and it's also warmer and nicer to walk on.

I do like the wood but I've now chucked rugs on it as it's got all sorts of furniture dents and scratches on it.

I suppose you really don't know how you will feel about the type until you actually start living with it. I don't mind the floor looking a bit bashed up to be honest, adds to the character :-) Plus you can always sand it down

AlexMac

We did loads of research and ended up with beautiful engineered wood- which we are delighted with. 'Brushed, Oiled, Rustic Oak' ie slightly textured grain rather than planed flat finish, with matt oil rather than lacquered finish so it looks like real wood not shiny laminate, and wider than average boards (about 9-10 inches, so nothing like those little cheaper blocks) and looks great. We went for thicker engineered wood with the potential to be sanded down a few times in the unlikely event we need to, so with underlay it adds up to about 25mm- an inch.

Relatively easy to lay, on top of a cushioned waterproof membrane (just in case your sub-floor has any residual damp- if it's perfect with a new-ish integral membrane, you can use cheaper underlay). Cost about £40 psq M plus a few hundred quid to lay, so about a grand for a big room, and apart from looking great (ten times classier than plastic) its easy to maintain and looks perfect, six months on.

I'd recommend out supplier if you are near S London, and altho' our fitter was OK, the supplier's own fit would have been better-

As regards your upstairs, I assume you have original floorboards so you could get away with sanding? We'll probably go for thinner engineered wood however- a slightly cheaper verison of that downstairs