Karndean is one of the ranges we are asked about most, and the first question is almost always what it costs. We are not going to publish a price list, because a floor price that ignores your subfloor, your room shapes and how the planks need laying is a number that changes the moment anyone measures up. What is useful is knowing what actually drives the cost, so you can judge a quote properly and see where the money goes.
1. The range you choose
Karndean is not one product. It spans several collections at genuinely different price points, and the gap between the entry ranges and the premium ones is substantial. The differences are real rather than cosmetic: wear layer thickness, the quality of the print film, plank dimensions and the amount of texture and bevel detail. A busy family hallway and a spare bedroom do not need the same specification, and being sold the top range for a room nobody walks through is a waste of money.
2. How much preparation the floor needs
This is the item that most often separates two quotes for the same product, and it is the one people are least prepared for. LVT is thin and it telegraphs whatever sits underneath it. A floor that is uneven, has old adhesive residue, or is a suspended timber floor with movement will need work before anything is laid, whether that is levelling compound, plywood overlay or lifting what is already down.
A quote that skips this is not cheaper. It is just deferring the problem to the point where the floor fails and there is no easy fix.
3. The laying pattern
A straight plank lay is the quickest. Herringbone, chevron and parquet patterns take considerably longer, generate more cutting and waste, and often need design strips or borders which are priced separately. The pattern can easily add more to the fitting than the material difference between two ranges. It is worth deciding early rather than after you have budgeted.
4. Room shape, not just room size
Square rooms are efficient. Rooms with bays, alcoves, kitchen islands, radiator pipes and awkward thresholds all generate cutting and waste, so two rooms of identical floor area can differ noticeably in both material and labour. This is why a measure matters more than a square metre calculation done from a floor plan.
5. Preparation work you may not have thought about
Doors often need trimming once a new floor goes down. Old flooring has to be lifted and disposed of. Furniture has to be moved and put back. Underfloor heating needs the right approach and a gradual bring-up afterwards. None of these are hidden extras when they are discussed at the measure, but they are unwelcome surprises when they are not.
We include furniture moving and disposal of your old flooring as part of the job rather than pricing them separately.
What we would suggest
Get the floor measured properly before comparing prices. Two quotes are only comparable if they cover the same preparation, and in our experience that is where they usually differ rather than in the product itself. Ask what happens if the subfloor turns out to need work once the old flooring is lifted, because that is the moment a fixed price either holds or does not.
You can see the Karndean range and the rest of our LVT collections at our showrooms in Netherfield, Wollaton, Duffield and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. We offer a free, no-obligation home measure, and the quote you get from it is the quote you pay.
If you are weighing up rooms, our guide to Karndean in kitchens and bathrooms covers where it works well and where we would steer you elsewhere.