Cushion floor type vinyl

whitesatin

We are about to cover our kitchen and utility room floors following a flood there. I have my heart set on a black and white checked style of flooring but can't find any quality tiles in a definite black and definite white. There are plenty shades of grey, dark and very light but that's not the effect I am after.

We have a budget of about £1000 but this includes lifting the tiles in the utility room (unaffected by the flood but as it runs through the kitchen we want uniformity) and it also includes laying plywood before the new flooring is put down. We could afford more if necessary but would rather not.

The only flooring I have seen that fits the bill design and colourwise, is a cushion floor sheet vinyl with a 12 year guarantee but I have heard that this type of flooring can easily be damaged, e.g. by high heels and or falling knives. Not that I intend to have either happen but we do have grandchildren who like to play with their toys on the kitchen floor.

I understand that you can get different qualities of sheet vinyl but just wanted to ask if anyone has had positive/negative experience of this type of flooring.

System

Amitco is like vinyl but much thicker and a very good quality. You can get it in strips or squares depending on the style of room. I believe it is also scratch resistant but don't quote me on that. The inlaws have their whole downstairs and kitchen done in amtico and it looks great and they've had no troubles with it

chrisw

Ours has been down 20 odd years and survived 2 children and 2 dogs. There are only about 2 nicks in the whole floor, both caused when replacing heavy appliances so I can't really complain.

Plus its warmer than tiles for children to play on and a bit more forgiving if something is dropped on it.

Annie1960

I've just had amtico fitting in living areas downstairs. Before I had it done, the shop told me it was much stronger and more scratch resistant than wood. About 30 seconds after they fitted it, they told me it's prone to scratching easily. Owing to other work in the house I've not really used it much yet.

They made much of the amtico warrranty, but now that I have it, this does not cover scratches.

Also be aware there are 2 grades of amtico, signature and spacia.

I had planned to get amtico in the kitchen as well, but in view of their comments I will be getting old-fashioned sheet vinyl. I had this before and it lasts for years. The modern stuff has some slip resistance.