What flooring should I get for my kitchen?

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We recently had our kitchen and dining room knocked though into one larger room, kitchen/diner. Now need new flooring. We want the same to run right though so no to tiles as would bee too much in dining area as well. Carpet is a no go in the kitchen area. Would like real wood or engineered wood but worried about high ware areas, suitability of in kitchen and also I can’t stand creaky floors.

So what we want is wood that isn’t wood, is better than normal laminate, isn’t lino or tiles, looks classy but isn’t too expensive and will last.

Am I asking the impossible?

Karndean?
Amtico?

bamboo

Red. Your kitchen will look well fast.

Already got red oven, kettle and coffee maker. If I get a red floor that will be fast way beyond my ability.

Never be too fast…

I don’t know anything about wood floors, but I know they’ll be better than tiles, it’s amazing how far and how quickly a Pyrex bowl will distribute itself around your kitchen when dropped from a modest height 😳

Amtico do wood tiles that are plank shaped (ie long and thin) and you lay them staggered so it looks pretty good. They do quite a range of off-the-wall patterns, too, if you fancy something different

Amtico here.

Eye waveringly expensive but it lasts.

You can get it to look like wood

(This is weathered elm which we have)

or even stone:

Amtico here too. You’ll be fed up looking at it long long before it wears out (speaking from experience).

The main part of the cost is the fitting – most of that is in the prep. Just stick with a simple design that will date well. Karndean is pretty similar.

Ask the fitter for any left over “tiles” in case you ever have to lift / cut the floor to repair / access pipes etc.

I wouldnt put any wood in the kitchen – it does not like leaks!

Stone tiles with large rug in dining room.

Already got red oven, kettle and coffee maker. If I get a red floor that will be fast way beyond my ability

Not to mention it might make it difficult to find your oven and coffee maker 😀

Get that vinyl stuff that curves up the walls, like they have in hospitals. It’s a little more pricey because fitting is skilled but we have it in our utility room and it’s excellent for a wet dirty area, easy to clean and contains all the spills and dirt.

Get that vinyl stuff that curves up the walls, like they have in hospitals.

Handy for hosing out the room after a good night in 😉

Be careful if you’re considering bamboo. Mine scratches really easily, or at least any scratches in the varnish look really bad.

I’d probably go for fake wood amtico if I had the budget.

Amtico or Karndean is the way to go. They are not cheap and usually have to be installed by an approved fitter to get the warranty which can be up to 20 years.
Had a slate effect in the kitchen and it is really durable. It has survived a flood and a dropped pyrex dish straight from the oven. Much warmer that ceramic tiles too.
I have a solid wood floor in the living room but will replace it with Karndean when the time comes.

Atimco over Kardean any day, the effects are more realistic.

Also worth noting is Amtico do their Spacia range that is priced to compete with Karndean at around £30m.

I wouldn’t put wood flooring in a kitchen – it dents and scratches easily. You’ll be pretty hacked off the first time you drop a knife…

If you want the wood look, go for a top quality laminate.

I went for real wood – 12mm solid beach, but it has proved to be a bit of a pain as it needs constant re-oiling (which I didn’t do) and now needs sanding down, which I keep putting off as it will make such a mess in an open plan kitchen. Next time I’d go for a tougher laminate thing.

The main bit is ok, but the bit by the door is pretty trashed:

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Kitchen[/url] by brf[/url], on Flickr

HI i would recomend engineered oak. not the cheep crap from b&Q or wixes. Go to a floooring specilist and look for 21mm thick engineerd wide board finished with a quality oil suitable for kitches or a really high anti scratch lacquer.much better than any discusting laminate or kardeen which is really just plactic.
have a look at http://www.sydenhamshardwoods.co.uk/21mm-oak-oiled-engineered-flooring.aspx

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We’ve got Karndean in the kitchen, bathroom, downstairs loo and conservatory, it does everything we need.

Wood that isn’t wood = bamboo IMHO. We had our kitchen / diner floor from simply bamboo. Their strand woven range is much harder wearing than standard bamboo or oak flooring. We’ve had it fitted for 3 yrs so far and it still looks as good as new despite constantly being wet around the sink area, mopping, mud and oil and a fleet of match box cars / speed boats driving around it daily. It’s only fault is its not self-cleaning.

Mrs S.