Karndean Flooring Buying Guide

Our expert team hold the Platinum Retailer status for our wide range of Karndean flooring in Dorset and Hampshire. If you’re looking for a dependable floor that will give you years of trouble-free longevity usage, Karndean flooring is the ideal choice. Our affordable prices ensure our customers get the highest standard of quality, while also not breaking the bank!

Find out more today about Karndean flooring by contacting our team today, or visiting one of our stores!

Find the perfect Karndean Floor for your home!

Karndean Flooring is the innovative flooring solution for homeowners and business owners across the UK. Established in 1973, Karndean is one of the world’s most renowned and respected luxury flooring companies, they supply reliable and natural vinyl floors that have changed the industry. Carpet Barn is one of the leading flooring suppliers in Poole, Eastleigh, Ferndown, Christchurch and Salisbury. Our extensive Karndean flooring range includes a variety of different patterns, styles and colours.

What is Karndean flooring?

Their Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) mix flexibility with effortless style, and are available in natural wood and stone. We’re approved Karndean fitters, which means you’re guaranteed a professional and high-quality installation of your new flooring. The benefits of Karndean flooring include added warmth to your home, reduced sound travel, easy personalisation choices, and it’s an elegant imitation of natural materials with more durability.

Why should you invest in Karndean flooring?

Karndean flooring is a high-quality and realistic alternative to laminate flooring, while being easier to maintain than real wood or stone floors. It offers warmth underfoot and the flexibility to be fitted alongside underfloor heating.

Which Karndean flooring should go where?

To help you choose the right flooring for each area of your home, we break down the best Karndean options below.

Karndean for bathrooms

Although Karndean isn’t suitable for wet rooms, it makes an ideal flooring choice for standard bathrooms. Non-porous and water resistant, it’s a great option for rooms with higher than average moisture levels. Unlike laminate, it’s not prone to peeling or curling, and it’s also compatible with underfloor heating – great if you’d like an added level of cosiness when you step out of the shower.

With many different stone and marble-effect designs to choose from, you can enjoy a beautifully luxurious finish without any of the downsides!

Karndean for kitchens

We offer a wide range of Karndean flooring designs to suit traditional, classic, and contemporary kitchens. As well as looking great, Karndean flooring is non-porous and easy to clean – perfect for spills! Dropped your favourite coffee mug? Don’t worry – it’s less likely to shatter on Karndean than stone floors.

Is Karndean suitable for stairs?

Absolutely! The front edge of each step will just need to be finished off with compatible stair nosings. If you’d like to find out more about using Karndean on your staircase, we can offer further advice.

Karndean vs other floor types

Below, we weigh up the pros and cons of fitting Karndean over other popular floor types.

Karndean vs wood

Karndean offers the finish of wood, with its unique grain and knot details, but without the practical difficulties and maintenance requirements. To keep real wood looking like new, regular sanding, staining and lacquering is needed. Karndean is simple to keep clean and doesn’t require any of the maintenance that real wood does.

Real wood can also expand, shrink or warp in reaction to moisture and temperature changes. Karndean, on the other hand, is water resistant and retains its shape, regardless of atmospheric changes.

Karndean vs tiles

Stone and ceramic tiles, like natural wood, can be hard to manage. Also, weight is often a concern, especially in upstairs rooms. Karndean is lighter, more flexible and, in general, much easier to install. Another thing that puts people off stone is that it doesn’t offer any sort of warmth. In the morning or during colder months, the feel of tiles underfoot can be off-putting. Karndean flooring is much warmer and more pleasant underfoot, and is also compatible with underfloor heating.

Another important consideration is that stone and ceramic tiles get quite slippery when wet, while Karndean flooring is textured and suitable for use in areas which get wet, such as bathrooms or kitchens.

Karndean vs laminate flooring

Laminate flooring can sometimes look manufactured and unrealistic compared to real wood floors. Karndean is a popular choice for homeowners as it replicates the look and feel of real word or stone, thanks to advanced manufacturing techniques.

Unlike other man-made flooring, which can curl or shrink, Karndean floors maintain their shape throughout their lifetime. Laminate flooring can also start to peel if water gets inside whereas Karndean is designed to be water resistant, making it perfect for use in kitchens and bathrooms.

Why choose Karndean if you’re a pet owner?

Not only is Karndean flooring easy to keep clean – perfect for muddy paws and little accidents – but it’s also scratch and scuff resistant. Karndean’s surface protection system, K Guard + (which is a feature of all Karndean products) provides a hygienic and durable finish that will keep your floors protected against boisterous paws and scratchy claws.

It’s still recommended that your pets’ nails are kept at a reasonable length, to help to protect your floors from deeper scratches. Some of Karndean’s more textured products provide even greater durability and extra traction for paws.

Another bonus of Karndean flooring is that it’s softer and quieter underfoot than natural wood and stone floors, meaning it will help to absorb sound and reduce the tap-tapping of pet claws as they scamper around!

Looking after your Karndean flooring

Looking after Karndean flooring could not be simpler. After fitting, your floor fitter will advise when the adhesive will be dry and you can walk on your new floors. Remove all loose debris from the floor using a soft brush and ensure all dry adhesive is removed using Karndean Remove and a non-abrasive scouring pad.

For regular cleaning, we recommend that you use a pH-neutral cleaner such as Karndean Clean, which has been specially formulated to protect Karndean flooring and keep it looking fantastic.

Cleaning products which contain bleach may cause damage to your Karndean flooring, so should be avoided.

Get in touch

Interested in Karndean flooring for your home? Browse our full range or pop in store today! For more information, contact our team today - we'll be more than happy to offer the advice you need.

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