Got a load of samples of various flooring, vinyl, laminate, engineered and wood, basically trying to get some idea of what is good, what i like the look of etc.

Got some Egger Emotion laminate that i think is ok,i think it looks nicer than the wood samples i have, but the only laminate brand i know is Quickstep because they sponsor a cycling team, Sponsorship does work!

Is Egger ok? who makes decent laminates that i should also consider?

Also got some Karndean and amtico samples, i only have a small kitchen and bathroom area to cover, probably 10m2 in total, can anyone give any guidance as to the cost of fitting as i get the impression neither is really a DIY fit.

Deadly Darcy is a flooring expert just wait for his input is my advice

@junkyard, i know just waiting for him to be along.

not many woods or engineered are good in a bathroom
and laminates i would avoid in wet environs
amtico is better than karndean in the long lasting stakes but more expensive
try with your fingernail to lift the wear surface from the karndean it just pulls off
like paper

I e-mailed him 😀

he has nothing better to do on a fine summers day – still bloody il so stuck in GRUMBLES

Fitting laminate floor is about the easiest diy job there is. Engineered wood isn’t much harder.

Bloody dragged me in from the paddling pool for this JY 😀

I’d avoid putting anything woody in the bathroom, as trout says (who also knows his onions where flooring is concerned). But the kitchen will be fine (but go engineered rather than solid). How about a nice wood in the kitchen and a nice natural stone in the bathroom? Stone and timber compliment one another really well (IMO) and there’s no real reason to “run” one room into the other is there?

As for Karndean and Amtico, sorry, troutie knows more about those than I do (which is diddly squat anyway and I hate them both) but I’d counsel getting someone in to fit those as generally floor level needs to be bang on, which will need someone who knows what he’s doing.

What’s your sub-floor at the moment?

Fitting laminate floor is about the easiest diy job there is. Engineered wood isn’t much harder.

Aye ’tis a doddle. It’s a small wonder people make a living out of it. 🙂

should have been a bit clearer, house needs alot of work, so wood/woodalike for the living room and vinyl for the kitchen/bathroom.

as for tile or stone they are options

as for sub floor, i think, i haven’t ripped the carpets up properly yet, just enough to get an idea of what is there. Living room has victorian floorboards at one end and it looks like the back has concrete but as there is an extension at the back i don’t know how much is concrete and where the floorboards end.

As for sanding floorboards, no, just no. They look too messy from where the central heating has been fitted.

The layout of the house has downstairs bathroom so living room feeds into kitchen into bathroom,

Fitting laminate floor is about the easiest diy job there is. Engineered wood isn’t much harder.

having looked at videos and read the instructions i would agree, but i guess there is a difference between fitting and fitting well.

Amtico has a 1mm wear layer, which is more than any other floor, but will still damage quite easily if something sharp and heavy hits it. Also 1mm lasts for years in a commercial environment so way ott for the home

I have solid wood in a kitchen which perhaps isn’t ideal but as its on the whole ground floor, works well. I hate laminate floors, they are cheap and nasty. So my recommendation is wood or engineered wood plus porcelain in the wet areas. Lot of nice ones from £20 plus a metre.

Also both amtico and oar dean are both plastic, which is easy to clean, but in my opinion, still a copy of the real thing.

Aye ’tis a doddle. It’s a small wonder people make a living out of it.

There aren’t many jobs that doesn’t apply to. Most people just lack confidence and/or time.

having looked at videos and read the instructions i would agree, but i guess there is a difference between fitting and fitting well.

The main reason I diy stuff, part form being tight, is that I know I can do it to the standard I want. You can spend more time and give more thought when you diy. When you’re on the clock other priorities rightly apply.

The main reason I diy stuff, part form being tight, is that I know I can do it to the standard I want. You can spend more time and give more thought when you diy

one other reason, kit. putting up a shelf basically means a drill, but some jobs mean more kit to do well.

A simple comparison, bike wheels, not hard to do really, but using the frame or improvising a jig is pain, far easier if you have a wheel jig, but they cost money and for a job your not likely to do often sometimes it makes more sense to get someone else to do it.

On this score, to lay a wood/woodalike floor what is the minimum tool kit to do the job well?

I am also wary of the skirting boards. ideal world, remove lay floor replace; real world old house not so sure. What is the best way of removing the skirting that is likely to result in the least damage to plaster.

Karndean needs to be laid on 4-6mm feather-edged board, otherwise it invalidates the warranty.

As above: avoid wood or wood effect in bathrooms.

There aren’t many jobs that doesn’t apply to

I know, hence my complete and continuing amazement that people are willing to pay me to do it to the same standard they could manage, if only they had the confidence and time. 🙂

(mind you, i don’t get involved with laminates)