Karndean vs Amtico - aargh

KRB2725

My parents have Karndean, it's been down around 3 years, still looks as good as new. They have had no issues with it lifting, sees very well stuck down!

Marktheshark

Kardean was made in the USA and Australia.
Last year production was moved to what they will only describe as "the North Asian continent" .
The old gear was good and stayed down, most fitters wont touch the new stuff.
It trades on its household name and reputation it had when it was made elsewhere.

There is also a brand known as cavalio LVT which again is contract quality material and they do some nice deep ridged textured LVT wood effect stuff and again a fraction of the price of the household "everyone knows it" domestic grade materials.

paddypaws101

Artytarty.....fitters use a hot air tool to lift the tiles and they do seem to come up fairly easily.
You will probably find that if you use a good floor stripper and then re-dress the floor it will come up nice and shiny again. I use the Amtico products but maybe Karndean do similar products.

Angelina-M

Hi guys.
Hope its ok to bring this thread back to the top but I would love some advice on different LVT's.

We have been to our local shop and got a price for our open plan downstairs which is 67 sq/m. Amtico is coming in at just over £5000 which is way above our budget.

I'm looking at the above suggestions and the Polyflor tiles look to have some nice designs but are they really a third of the price?

Our floor consists of three rooms that were knocked into one and they have just been fibre concreted to make them all the same height and to fill in the gulleys left by removing walls. So they still need screeding etc. We definitely don't want to 'diy' and the shop we have been talking to have kind of scared us into making sure we get the job done by professionals as its such a large area and if done badly it will all be on show.

This has made me think we really need to go a a bricks and mortar shop rather than online so if it does go wrong we have somewhere to go to complain if that makes sense.

Am I expecting too much? 67 square metres is a big area so should I be expecting prices around 5k for it fitted?

Many thanks for any suggestions.

frankie

I've had Karndean and Camaro. IMO Camaro is just as good as Karndean and is a bit cheaper. My fitter now prefers to fit Camaro as he said Karndean is not as well specified as it once was and it can be slightly out of spec so on a big area it does not fit square.

lavenderlady

frankie wrote: »

I've had Karndean and Camaro. IMO Camaro is just as good as Karndean and is a bit cheaper. My fitter now prefers to fit Camaro as he said Karndean is not as well specified as it once was and it can be slightly out of spec so on a big area it does not fit square.

Ive read a few times on the internet that Karndeans quallity is no longer what it was. Ive found a local company who fit Amtico and Polyfloor in commercial settings so im going to speak to them today

PBRochdale

Actually, the LVT tiles from Polyflor are made in the Far East - Taiwan and China.
Only the safety flooring and PVC flooring is made on site.
I should know - I worked there.

Silvertabby

We have Karndean in the kitchen, bathroom and en-suite and are very pleased with it. It's now a few years old and isn't showing any sign of wear.

I wouldn't have it in the living area though - we've gone for engineered oak there.

Davesnave

I had Karndean laid in the kitchen/diner two years ago, and I'm very happy with it. I've just had more laid in the living room, rather than change brand and end up with a bitty solution.

My supplier said they had problems some time ago with Karndean fading in strong sunshine, but I didn't feel this would be an issue in the rooms where it was to be laid.

Out in the conservatory, I'll probably go for a different brand, just in case. It might be Amtico. Another member of my family has had that in theirs for over 20 years, and it still looks good.

I believe there are at least half a dozen brands out there which will look reasonably convincing and wear well. The Karndean I had fitted originally was a good match for the doors and cills in my house, and it had the edge from the samples I considered then.

J_B

We are seriously considering Polyflor planks for our current project.