Karndean 'looselay' LVT.

Bendy_House

Hello all.

Mil is choosing her flooring for her new hoosie. The place has UFH, and is around 15 years old. Currently has carpet, so just about any type of flooring can go down.

Her preferred finish happens to be on Karndean's 'looselay' range, but two fitters she's contacted for quotes both claim they've had issues with them, and hardly ever fit it now.

These two fitters are experienced folk, and one put down a fully-glued floor in sis-in-law's house a good few years ago, so we are not concerned about their ability or quality of their work. However, being a bit clued up about such things, I found their reasoning annoying. For instance, one said they'd fitted the stuff in a local pub, but had to come back to stick them down when they started to lift. That's 'annoying', because as pros I think they should have made the judgement that it may have needed a low-tack adhesive in the first place, say if the subfloor wasn't very flat and level ('looselay' can also be low-tack glued). And, if gluing it down did actually sort the problem, they - hey - job done!

The other one's excuse was worse; he said that 'damp formed underneath it which caused it to lift'. My 'gut' to that would be to wonder why damp formed, and how would gluing it have prevented this? If there's damp, there's damp...

Anyhoo, that's my gripe fully aired

What I would really like to ask is, does anyone have experience of Karn's L-L?

And, in the ~£50m2 range, what is the 'best' flooring out there to go for? Could be LVT or laminate or whatevs. (Do I take it that 'thick' wood or MDF-backed flooring shouldn't be placed on UFH as it'll insulate too much? Ie, anything over, ooh, 8mm?)

Her preferred finish was 'Rustic' LLP104 https://www.karndean.com/en-gb/floors/products/rustic-timber-llp104 so a mid-dark oak with a nice grain texture.

Thanks.

Doozergirl

My friend had loose-lay provided by her friends that are flooring contractors.  She's replaced it with laminate.  

Our carpenter laid some loose-lay that a client purchased very recently - guess what.  

I have no personal experience, but anecdotally, loose lay doesn't seem to be going down all that well! 

It doesn't need to be thin flooring to be suitable for UFH, it just needs to be hard, really.   Putting carpet down is like covering a radiator with a blanket. 

I've given my positive thoughts on LVT over and again, so I won't bother this time.  If she hasn't got a house full of dirty lunatics like I do, then engineered wood will also work well and people who don't believe that certain LVTs can be mistaken for wood will be happy.   👍

Bendy_House

Thanks Doozer.

So, no looselay - unless you glue it down.  

Yes, I've seen some of your comments re LVT, so very pleased you replied to this. Could I trouble you - are there any manufacturers in particular I should definitely check out?

Thanks.

Doozergirl

Bendy_House said:

Thanks Doozer.

So, no looselay - unless you glue it down.  

Yes, I've seen some of your comments re LVT, so very pleased you replied to this. Could I trouble you - are there any manufacturers in particular I should definitely check out?

Thanks.

I think it's about what you like.  

If you can find a really decent, independent flooring shop you'll find a really decent choice.   My H found a random place near Dudley that seemed to sell every brand of flooring and that's where I found my ideal one (and then bought it online 😬)

Check out Stories Flooring, online.

benson1980

This was my experience of looselay. I got shot down a bit for not being a professional fitter and inference from some that this was the root cause of the problems in one room where I didn't glue it, but I think my main point was even the product instructions recommend gluing it down in large/high traffic areas, so read into that what you will:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6276271/karndean-looselay-loose-lay-flooring

It was fine/looked really good, in the areas where I did glue it down.

FTB_Help

Just had Luvanto Lvt laid at mine (glue down), so far very happy with it, and get loads of compliments.
 Per sqm it was about £25ish so much cheaper than the bigger brands such as kardean and amtico

Bendy_House

Fab - thanks all.

Benson, did the looselay have any other benefit - did its extra thickness add a slight element of softness to it?  Sis-in-law had Forbo Allura (very good quality stuff) glued down on her suspended concrete floor - looks great, but, man, it's solid...

Cheers, FTB - I'll check that out.

neilmcl

FTB_Help said:

Just had Luvanto Lvt laid at mine (glue down), so far very happy with it, and get loads of compliments.
 Per sqm it was about £25ish so much cheaper than the bigger brands such as kardean and amtico

That's all well and good but we are discussing loose lay product.

neilmcl

From what I've read loose lay is OK for a domestic situation but even then it's recommended that it's glued down in high traffic areas and thresholds. I'm not sure this is the right stuff to be sticking in a commercial premises such as a pub, so no wonder your fitter found issues with the tiles lifting.

If I was doing a fairly straight forward room at home I wouldn't hesitate in using it purely for it's ease of fitting and the fact you don't have to take up skirting etc to get a good finish.

FTB_Help

neilmcl said:

FTB_Help said:

Just had Luvanto Lvt laid at mine (glue down), so far very happy with it, and get loads of compliments.
 Per sqm it was about £25ish so much cheaper than the bigger brands such as kardean and amtico

That's all well and good but we are discussing loose lay product.

Luvanto does loose lay too
My comment is to let op know there are much cheaper brands out there (that are just as good) than the big named ones

benson1980

Bendy_House said:

Fab - thanks all.

Benson, did the looselay have any other benefit - did its extra thickness add a slight element of softness to it?  Sis-in-law had Forbo Allura (very good quality stuff) glued down on her suspended concrete floor - looks great, but, man, it's solid...

Cheers, FTB - I'll check that out.

It was perhaps a little softer underfoot. It was obviously a fair bit thicker than the other samples we got. We just liked the pattern, and it just so happened to be looselay. In our next house we had polyflor already installed and tbh you wouldn’t notice the difference really in the feel underfoot, so I wouldn’t buy it for that reason.