Are you considering having luxury vinyl flooring installed in your home? Karndean is a popular choice, and whether you already have your mind set on this option, or would like to weigh up different possibilities, we’ll have you covered with our comprehensive cost guide for Karndean flooring.
This article is ideal for those who are either planning to have this type of flooring installed, or are considering doing so at a later date.
On average, it will cost around £1100, between supply and labour costs to have Karndean flooring installed in a standard sized living room. However, the price will vary depending on the type of Karndean flooring and the size of the floor.
If you go with Opus flooring, the full Karndean flooring installation cost will land around £350 to £470 for an 8m2 floor, £850 to £1090 for a 16m2 floor, or £1500 to £1750 for a 30m2 room.
For the Da Vinci option, its installation would be approximately £370 to £500 for an 8m2 floor, £900 to £1150 for a 16m2 floor, or £1590 to £2070 for a 30m2 floor.
In the case of Karndean Korlok flooring, to have this option fitted would cost roughly £430 to £550 for an 8m2 floor, £1010 to £1250 for a 16m2 floor, or £1800 to £2250 for a 30m2 floor.
To have a Michelangelo floor installed would set you back between £470 to £530 for an 8m2 floor, £1090 to £1220 for a 16m2 floor, or £1950 to £2190 for a 30m2 floor.
As for a Palio Clic floor, you can expect a total installation cost of £370 to £490 for an 8m2 floor, £880 to £1140 for a 16m2 floor, and in the case of a Palio Clic Karndean floor installation in a 30m2 room, it will set you back about £1560 to £2040.
The labour cost will end up around £100 to £200 per day. This equates to an average of £150 for a small eight square metre room, £450 for a medium floor, or £750 for a large, 25-30m2 floor.
As for the supply costs only (so excluding the labour cost), the recommended retail price (RRP) of Opus flooring is approximately £35 per m2 with a starting cost of £25 per m2.
Da Vinci flooring has a starting cost of £28 per m2 and an RRP of around £44 per m2.
The starting cost of Korlok flooring is £35 per square metre, and its RRP is about £50 per m2.
When it comes to Karndean Michelangelo flooring, its RRP is around £44 per m2, though it can be commonly be found online for £30 to £35 per m2.
As for Palio Clic, it starts at £27 per m2, though it is usually sold for around £28 to £32 per m2.
The total cost of installing Karndean flooring will vary based on various factors. This includes ease of access, the state of the installation area and the location of your property.
Flooring fitters, and contractors in general charge different hourly and daily rates throughout the UK. For instance, if you’re based in London, you can expect to pay a higher labour cost than you would in most parts of the country.
The southeast of England, in general, tends to have higher contractor rates than the national average. In contrast, the opposite is largely true in the north of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. In most cases, you’ll be looking at a labour cost of about £17 to £20 an hour although many floor fitters charge per square metre.
Cost of Installing Karndean Flooring:
| Type of Karndean Flooring | Floor Size | Total Installation Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Opus | 8m2 | £350 to £470 |
| 16m2 | £850 to £1090 | |
| 30m2 | £1500 to £1750 | |
| Da Vinci | 8m2 | £370 to £500 |
| 16m2 | £900 to £1150 | |
| 30m2 | £1590 to £2070 | |
| Korlok | 8m2 | £430 to £550 |
| 16m2 | £1010 to £1250 | |
| 30m2 | £1800 to £2250 | |
| Michelangelo | 8m2 | £470 to £530 |
| 16m2 | £1090 to £1220 | |
| 30m2 | £1950 to £2190 | |
| Palio Clic | 8m2 | £370 to £490 |
| 16m2 | £800 to £1140 | |
| 30m2 | £1560 to £2040 |
Even if you decide that Karndean flooring is the right brand for you, there are still various ranges to choose from, including Opus, Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. Each has its own pros & cons, so make sure to consider what they have to offer before choosing the right option for you.
When it comes to the installation, the range chosen will not play a major role in determining how easy or difficult the process will be, though it will matter whether you order customised planks or not.
If you have any additional queries, you can contact Karndean Flooring UK via their website. Let’s now take a closer look at each of these flooring types to help you narrow down your choices.
First up, we have the Opus range. Its thick 5.5cm surface covering gives it decades of durability and makes it resistant to wear and tear. Karndean Opus floors are large with a brilliant, eye-catching design.
There are options in this range for anywhere in the home that will offer a vibrant, modern look, with the ability to provide a room with a whole new lease of life.
Among the design styles available in this range are stone effect and wood effect. Opus floors have a starting price of £25 per m2, though the average cost is around £30 to £40 per m2.
Opus is one of, if not the most popular type of Karndean flooring. Alongside Palio Clic, it is one of the cheaper Karndean ranges.
✔ Largest Karndean tiles
✔ Various plank sizes to choose from
✔ Choice of smooth or textured surfaces
✔ Various effects/patterns
✔ One of the less expensive options
✖ Some of the Opus products are quite a bit dearer than the average price range given
The Da Vinci collection consists of a wide range of ceramic and traditional stone effect tiles as well as slim bevelled edged planks. These feature a light finish, giving them a look of old and new. You’ll find designs available in this range with a coarser and more homely look than you might get with other brands.
Da Vinci flooring has a starting price of £28 per m2. Its RRP is about £44 per m2. These floors are low-maintenance, like Karndean floors in general. It’s best to dust a Da Vinci floor daily and mop it once a week.
✔ Wide selection of tiles and planks
✔ Mixes modern and old-fashioned aesthetics
✔ Coarse and rustic appearance
✖ One of the more costly ranges
Should you decide to go with Korlok flooring, you can benefit from tiles and planks featuring K-Core and 5G locking technologies. K-core is a waterproofing layer used within rigid core products.
The 5G locking mechanism enables an easy and fast installation. The uniquely designed acoustic backing of the Korlok range gives these products premium sound insulation qualities.
Karndean Korlok is also perfect for situations where there is an uneven subfloor or if preserving an existing hard floor needs to be taken into account. As you can see, Karndean floors have many advantages that other types of Karndean floors don’t.
In addition, no separate underlay is necessary due to the pre-attached backing of these floors. However, Korlok products are susceptible to sunlight damage in the long-run (one of the few notable disadvantages of Karndean flooring in general), and there are no stone effect designs in this range.
Further, with a starting price of £35 per m2 and an RRP of roughly £50 per m2, it is one, if not the most expensive type of Karndean flooring.
✔ K-core technology
✔ 5G locking mechanism for fast fitting
✔ Provides fantastic sound insulation
✔ No separate underlay needed
✖ Expensive range of Karndean floor
✖ May suffer damage due to sunlight exposure
This product range contains many floors with a natural stone effect as well as mosaic and metallic effect options. Michelangelo floors are perfect if you’re looking for a stylish, striking appearance. These floors are popular and highly-rated with an iconic aesthetic.
Most of the floors in this range come with light colour tones. The Michelangelo collection is also tactile with a durable wear layer of 0.5mm. While Michelangelo floors have an RRP of about £44 per m2, it is easy to find products in this range for about £30 to £35 per m2.
✔ Scope of mosaic, metallic and stone effect floors
✔ Iconic and stylish appearance
✔ Long-lasting
✖ Not really suited for DIY installation
✖ Not the cheapest Karndean range
Last but not least, we have the Palio Clic range of stone and exotic wood effect floors. The luxurious floors contained in this range are stable and designed to last.
Palio Clic floors have a very realistic appearance, closely resembling the materials they are based on. Palio Clic floors may be fitted over underfloor heating, they are low maintenance and provide a snug underfoot.
The patented click-locking system of this range makes for a fast and straightforward installation with no need to use adhesive. It is, therefore, one of the easiest types of Karndean flooring to install. These floors are also water-resistant.
With a starting price of £27 per m2 and an average cost of about £28 to £32 per m2, Palio Clic is one of the cheapest ranges offered by Karndean.
✔ Relatively cheap
✔ Various stone and wood effect floors
✔ Luxurious, stable and long-lasting floors
✔ Very realistic
✔ Low maintenance
✔ Click-locking system
✖ May not have the effect you’re looking for (e.g. metallic)
In this section, we will provide a broad overview of what installing Karndean flooring entails. There are many different methods for installing Karndean flooring, including glue-down, LooseLay, and rigid core 5G. Karndean provides a more detailed breakdown on the website of each method.
Firstly, you’ll need to choose the right Karndean floor for you. In the previous section, we looked at the various features and pros & cons of each range. If you have a preferred range, check out the floor products offered in each before carefully deciding on the right floor for your home.
Then you’ll need to hire an appropriate professional for the job, assuming that you don’t choose to take a DIY approach (see the next section). Ideally, you should ask your friends and family for any recommendations that they may have, or you could try asking different flooring fitters and companies for quotes.
When choosing a flooring fitter, you’ll want someone with plenty of experience. It’s best to find some online reviews or see any references that they might have to ensure that you make a good choice.
Once you’ve hired someone for the job, they’ll come by and measure the floor of the installation room. You could do this yourself, but you’ll need to ensure that the measurements are completely accurate. If a flooring fitter does the job for you, they should be able to give you a more precise cost estimate there and then.
Once the Karndean flooring arrives, you’ll need to give it 24 hours to acclimatise in the room in which it will be installed. The room temperature should be between 18°C and 26°C.
On the day of the installation, the flooring fitter will measure the area again to be sure that the previous measurements were correct. The installation process itself begins with fitting the first row. It’s essential that the fitter clicks the short edges of the floor together.
At this stage, the contractor will use a knife to create a straight edge. This will create a 5.5cm gap between the end of the row and the wall. How easily the floor will fit will depend on what range it’s from. For example, floors like that of Palio Clic and Korlok have fantastic clicking systems design for a fast installation. In some cases, an adhesive will be needed.
Karndean flooring adhesive should be used where bonding is required. As soon as the initial row has been fully secured, the installer can then add the remaining rows. This is achieved by clicking the tongue into the groove. It’s also essential that the pieces are aligned correctly.
Following the installation of each row, the flooring fitter will likely employ a mallet to smooth out the floor. This will hopefully prevent lifting. It is crucial that the room remains in the 18-26°C temperature range for at least 24 hours following the installation of Karndean flooring.
As soon as the floor is fully fitted and secured, the spacers will need to be removed. Then, the floor can be cleaned with a brush, and this will leave you with a fresh, new floor! There are of course various additional jobs which you may need to have undertaken.
For example, if floor screeding is required, it will probably cost around £800 to £1240, depending on the type of screed and the size of the room. Should you wish to have underfloor heating fitted, you will probably pay around £1500 to £2000 for an electric system or £4000 to £4500 for a wet system. This assumes that home renovation work is needed in an existing property.
In the case of a new build property, the cost estimates drop to approximately £1000 to £1500 for electric underfloor heating and £2500 to £3000 for a wet system. If you need to apply for planning permission, you’ll likely be charged around £150 to £250. A building regulations application/inspection might cost you between £200 and £250.
Undertaking this type of flooring installation is suitable for those with plenty of relevant experience. However, if you’re a DIY enthusiast who has not done something like this before, it is best to hire a professional, as fitting Karndean flooring can be a complex job.
In terms of planning permission, approval will only usually be required if you live in a listed building. If this is the case, or if you are unsure about anything, you should contact your local council.
As for the building regulations, for any type of floor, it will need to provide at least one of the following:
Various additional regulations can apply depending on other factors. There are also rules to consider when it comes to insulation. Installing a new floor is usually not notifiable work, but if you are unsure, again, you can always get in touch with the local council for clarity.
If building regulations approval is required, then an appropriate professional will need to sign off on the work.
The most obvious danger associated with a DIY installation is that it could simply go wrong. Make a mistake, and you’ll need the job to be done again by a professional.
This will mean you’d end up paying as much as you would’ve anyway but with plenty of time wasted, perhaps several days, depending on how big the floor is.
There are of course hazards associated with using any chemicals/products for installation work, especially as some products have dangerous ingredients that could do harm if accidentally ingested.
In general, though, safety risks are relatively low with installing a floor as compared to other types of house installation work (i.e. electrics or gas instalments).
As with any work, the installation of Karndean floors has its downsides. For one, it’s not going to be as easy to source these floors over choosing luxury vinyl flooring in general.
Beyond that, Karndean floors are undoubtedly expensive, they are prone to sun damage, and unless you have plenty of appropriate experience and know exactly what is involved, you’ll need to hire a professional for the job.
If planning permission or building regulations approval is required, but you get rejected, then you’ll need to look at the application again and make the relevant changes to your plans and apply again.
We have hundreds of homeowners each day checking the prices on YourJobCost before hiring a tradesperson. That way they've already got a good idea of how much they should be quoted.
It is preferable to sweep a Karndean floor once a day. Further, any spillage should be mopped up right away. You should also consider using a pH neutral vinyl flooring cleaner. It is vital that it be fragrance-free. You can purchase the Karndean floor cleaner product Karndean Clean to achieve this
This type of flooring is an example of luxury vinyl flooring. It is mostly made from pigments, limestone, and polyvinyl chloride.
On average, this would cost around £1100.
If well maintained, they should last for about 15-20 years, if not more.
Yes, there are various Karndean parquet floors available as part of the Art Select range.
