For most people Karndean Flooring is a beautiful designer floor and you would be right, however people also associate Karndean Flooring as an individual type of flooring. This is definitely not the case!
Karndean is a brand of Luxury Vinyl Tiles flooring product, there are hundreds of brands that sell luxury vinyl tiles, the well known brands like Amtico, Polyflor, Marley, Project-Floors and obviously Karndean.
Karndean claims to be the manufacturer, however this is not the case as almost all luxury vinyl tiles in the UK are made in China, Taiwan etc. and are renamed and taken to the UK. Thus, Karndean spends over £1 million every year establishing their brand so that people are aware of the products they sell. This is why Karndean is more expensive, as a lot of what you are paying for is brand awareness, which has been built into the cost of the product.
If you are reading this article and you are interested in buying Karndean, think again, this is good advice for you, go to Google or any other search engine and search for luxury vinyl tile (LVT), you will find suppliers that sell LVT. very similar to Karndean for a fraction of the price. You can still create borders and features on these floors, the only difference is, you guessed it: the brand name. Like when you go to the supermarket and they have branded and unbranded peas, they both look the same when you remove the packaging and they taste the same, because they are the same thing! this is the same with Karndean and LVT, if you market it well and make it look good it sells better – typical marketing assessment. However, save yourself a small fortune and find a cheaper priced LVT, chances are they are still top quality, just cheaper due to the company selling them having a low marketing budget.
The quality of an LVT is measured on the wear layer, most have a wear layer of between 0.3mm and 0.7mm, the thicker the wear layer the better the quality, however a 0.3mm wear layer is a domestic wear layer and is suitable for all domestic areas, 0.5mm and higher wear layer can be used for commercial installations.
Now that I’ve explained that Karndean is luxury vinyl tile, let’s discuss the possibilities and benefits of this type of flooring compared to other flooring products:
1. Sustainable – Unlike ceramic tile or solid wood, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) won’t split, chip, crack or splinter and will withstand most things dropped on it. Most LVTs come with warranties ranging from 8 to 20 years.
2 Realistic – They are designed to replicate natural products and are designed to a very high realistic standard.
3 Designated – Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) are one of the most custom designer looking flooring available, using borders and strips you can create a floor that is perfectly suited to your interior needs.
4 easily maintained – Cleaning LVT is a breeze, unlike natural hardwood floors you won’t need to sand and seal every couple of years, you can simply mop the floor with hot water and some LVT routine cleaning solution.
5 Raincoat – To some extent, luxury vinyl tiles can withstand water much better than a laminate or wood floor, they can be mopped and cleaned much easier.
6 Quiet and warm underfoot. – unlike ceramic or stone tile or laminate flooring, luxury vinyl tile is quiet and warm underfoot.
These are just a few of the benefits of using luxury vinyl tile over natural flooring products. So when you hear about Karndean, remember that it’s an LVT and always look for a luxury vinyl tile first so you can see the price comparison. Luxury vinyl tiles like Karndean are a great product to use as they have more benefits than any other type of floor covering; however, in order for them to look good and function as they should, you must also prepare the floor according to the installation instructions provided by the manufacturer. As a perfect subfloor is one of the most important aspects of the job.