If you have been quoted for both brands and you are stuck, here is the honest answer we give in Peterborough living rooms every week: Karndean and Amtico are both excellent luxury vinyl tiles, and for most homes across PE1–PE7 the right choice comes down to four things — the specific range, how it will be fitted, your subfloor, and your budget per square metre. Neither brand is "the cheap one" and neither is a mistake. The mistake is comparing a top-tier Amtico Signature quote against an entry-tier Karndean Knight Tile quote and thinking you are comparing the brands.
This 2026 comparison replaces the version we published earlier in the year. Since then the ranges have moved on, rigid-core and loose-lay formats have become a bigger part of what we fit, and more of the homes we visit — particularly the new builds at Hampton, Cardea, Paston Reserve and Great Haddon — have underfloor heating that changes the recommendation. Everything below reflects what our Peterborough LVT fitting team is actually measuring, quoting and laying this autumn.
The short answer for Peterborough homeowners
Choose Karndean when you want the widest choice of realistic wood and stone effects at a mid-premium price, when you want a click or loose-lay format that goes down quickly over a sound subfloor, or when you are covering a large open-plan ground floor and every pound per square metre counts. Choose Amtico when you want the thickest wear layer on the market for a hallway or kitchen that takes a beating, when you want bespoke laying patterns, borders and stripping strips, or when you are furnishing a period home in Longthorpe, Woodston or the city centre where the floor is the feature.
If your budget is genuinely tight, the honest advice is that a mid-range Moduleo or Quick-Step LVT at £30–£45 per m² supply and fit will often serve a bedroom or a rental better than stretching to either premium brand. We will tell you that on the home visit rather than sell you up.
Karndean vs Amtico prices in Peterborough — 2026 supply and fit
These are the working ranges we quote across Peterborough and the surrounding PE postcodes right now. They include professional fitting and standard subfloor preparation; they exclude major levelling, which we cover further down.
- Karndean Knight Tile, Van Gogh, Korlok and LooseLay: typically £45–£65 per m² supply and fit
- Karndean Da Vinci and Art Select: typically £60–£85 per m² supply and fit
- Amtico Spacia and Click Smart: typically £50–£70 per m² supply and fit
- Amtico Signature and Form: typically £65–£90 per m² supply and fit
- Herringbone, chevron or diagonal laying: add £4–£8 per m² to any of the above
- Subfloor levelling where needed: £5–£15 per m², most common in pre-war homes in PE1 and PE2
Notice the overlap. A Karndean Da Vinci floor and an Amtico Spacia floor often land within a few pounds per square metre of each other, which is why "which brand is cheaper?" is the wrong question. The better question is "which range, in which format, for this room?"
Where the two brands are genuinely the same
Both are waterproof by construction, both are suitable for kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms, both are compatible with water-based underfloor heating within the manufacturers' surface-temperature limits, and both carry long residential guarantees. Both sample beautifully and both have a deep catalogue of British-oak, grey-wash, limestone and slate effects. Fitted well on a properly prepared subfloor, a floor from either brand will still look right in fifteen years. Fitted badly, either will telegraph every ridge and lift at the seams within eighteen months — which is why the fitter matters more than the logo on the box.
Five differences that actually change the decision
1. Wear layer and how the ranges are tiered
Karndean's core glue-down collections — Knight Tile, Da Vinci and Van Gogh — use a 0.3mm wear layer, with Art Select, Korlok and LooseLay stepping up to 0.5mm. Amtico Spacia starts at 0.55mm, Form sits at 0.7mm and Signature carries a full 1.0mm wear layer. In plain terms, an entry Amtico range has a thicker wear layer than a mid Karndean range. For a bedroom in a three-bed semi in Werrington that difference is academic. For a narrow Victorian hallway in Millfield with a pushchair, a dog and a front door that opens straight onto the street, it is the single most important line on the spec sheet.
2. Design breadth versus design control
Karndean wins on sheer breadth: more wood tones, more plank widths, more stone formats, and the Korlok rigid-core range that covers most of the popular looks in a click format. Amtico wins on control: the Signature range is cut to order in Coventry, so stripping strips, borders, basketweave, flagstone and large-format parquet layouts are part of the system rather than an afterthought. If you have a specific picture in your head from an interiors account, Amtico is more likely to build it exactly; if you want to walk through forty oak options and pick by eye, Karndean has more to show you.
3. Fitting method: glue-down, click or loose-lay
This is where most Peterborough quotes go wrong. Karndean offers three genuinely different systems: fully bonded glue-down (Knight Tile, Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Art Select), rigid-core click (Korlok) and LooseLay, which uses a friction backing with minimal adhesive. Amtico's residential offer is predominantly glue-down (Spacia, Signature, Form) plus Click Smart. Glue-down gives the flattest, most permanent, most repairable floor and is what we recommend for kitchens, bathrooms and anywhere with underfloor heating. Click and loose-lay go down faster over a sound, level subfloor and are easier to lift for a landlord or a future extension. Our guide to click-lock versus glue-down LVT covers the trade-offs in detail.
4. Underfloor heating in new builds
The new-build estates around Peterborough — Hampton Vale, Hampton Gardens, Cardea, Stanground South and Great Haddon — increasingly come with wet underfloor heating on the ground floor. Both brands are approved for it, but the format matters: a fully bonded glue-down floor from either brand transfers heat more evenly than a floating click floor over an underlay. Where a developer has left a screed that is not fully dry, we moisture test before anything goes down, because neither brand's guarantee covers a floor laid on a damp slab. Our new-build flooring service handles that testing as standard.
5. Guarantees and what they actually cover
Most Karndean residential collections carry a lifetime guarantee against wear-through; Amtico's guarantees are tiered by range, with Signature carrying the longest. Both guarantees are conditional on approved adhesives, approved subfloor preparation and — crucially — professional installation. A supply-only purchase fitted by a general builder is the most common way we see a guarantee voided in Cambridgeshire, and it is the reason we recommend supply and fit for either brand — and why any fit-only job we take on starts with the same subfloor checks.
Room-by-room verdict for Peterborough homes
Open-plan kitchen-diner in a Hampton or Cardea new build
Karndean Korlok or Amtico Spacia glue-down, depending on whether the screed is fully cured. Over 40–60m² the £5–£15 per m² gap between the two adds up, so most families here land on Karndean for a wide-plank oak. If there is underfloor heating, glue-down from either brand.
Victorian hallway and front room in PE1 or PE2
Amtico Signature or Karndean Art Select. The hallway is the hardest-working floor in a terrace in Woodston, Fletton or the Gladstone area, and it is also where you want a herringbone or a border to suit the period. Budget for levelling, because original suspended timber floors in these streets are rarely flat; we lay a plywood overboard or a smoothing compound first, as described in our subfloor preparation guide.
Family bathroom or wet room
Either brand in glue-down format, never click, with a cove-formed or sealed perimeter. For a true walk-in shower area we would steer you towards a heat-welded safety vinyl instead — see our wet-room flooring service — and keep the LVT for the rest of the bathroom.
Bedrooms and a home office
Karndean Knight Tile or Van Gogh, or a mid-range Moduleo if the room is low-traffic. Spending Signature money in a spare bedroom in Bretton or Orton Goldhay is rarely the best use of the budget; put the difference into a better underlay upstairs or a proper stair carpet from our stair carpet fitting team.
Rental, HMO or a home you will sell within five years
Karndean LooseLay or Korlok. Both can be lifted and relaid, both hide the odd tenant scuff, and both keep a valuation-friendly "Karndean" name on the particulars without Signature pricing. Our landlord flooring service sets this up on a room-by-room basis for portfolio landlords across PE1 and PE3.
A simple decision framework
- Budget under £50 per m² fitted: Karndean Knight Tile, Korlok or LooseLay — or a mid-range Moduleo or Quick-Step if the room is low-traffic.
- Budget £50–£70 per m² fitted: Karndean Da Vinci or Van Gogh versus Amtico Spacia; choose by design, not brand.
- Budget £65 per m² and above: Amtico Signature for bespoke patterns and the thickest wear layer, or Karndean Art Select for the most convincing wood grain in a standard layout.
- Underfloor heating: glue-down from either brand; moisture-test the screed first.
- Uneven older subfloor: glue-down after levelling; avoid click formats that will flex over dips.
- Need to lift it later: Karndean LooseLay or Korlok, or Amtico Click Smart.
How we fit both brands in Peterborough
The fitting is the same discipline whichever box arrives: a calcium-carbide or hygrometer moisture test on concrete and screed, a full sweep for ridges and nail heads on timber, plywood overboarding or a smoothing compound where the tolerance is out, acclimatisation of the planks in the room for at least 24 hours, then a bonded lay with the manufacturer's own adhesive and a roller. Every floor gets a threshold or reducer strip that matches, and we recommend supply and fit so the manufacturer's guarantee stands. If you are still weighing up whether LVT is the right material at all, our carpet versus LVT comparison is the honest place to start.
The easiest way to settle Karndean versus Amtico is to see both on your own floor, in your own light, next to your own kitchen units. Our Peterborough team offers a free home visit across PE1–PE7 and the rest of Cambridgeshire, bringing full-size samples from both brands, measuring the room and moisture-testing the subfloor on the spot, so the quote you get is the price you pay. Call 01733 924009 Monday to Friday, or find out more about our flooring fitting in Peterborough and book your visit.