-GB-Carpy wrote:
Hi everyone
snip
Anyone got any more experience with either of these types of floors?

Yes.
We put a cheap as chips laminate in the kitchen of the flat above our
shop and it's suffered 5 years of serious abuse.

We also fitted Kahars "oak london" oven the entire floor area of our
kitchen/diner/lounge/hall/study/lav+occasional shower room last summer.
(House not the flat)

It's all open plan and looks superb. Also laid as one with no joins
anywhere on UFH so far no expansion problems on a 45M sq area.

The downside to any wood surface is it's much more expensive than
laminate, and if you have a dog or dogs, their claws are excellent at
giving a "distressed" finish even to something like oak. (Small dogs are
fine though)

On a virgin floor the slightest mark/dent etc has you thinking you'd
have been better off with indestructible laminate until the dogs died
and the kids left home, but once you understand it's all part of the
natural aging of the wood you stop worrying about it and appreciate it
even more.

Having the "satin matt" lacquered finish, I certainly wouldn't go for
anything more shiny as it would almost certainly show up "scratches"
even more. (Might be tempted to go for oiled if we did it again, but the
laquer does make a pretty scratch proof surface.

As others said, wood, once you start letting it work rather than being a
show piece is un-mistakeable as a quality floor that stands out as such.


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