You can get very good fake laminate now but personally I don't think it ever looks or feel as good as real wood. With engineered wood there's lots of upsides, the main ones being they can go over underfloor heating and have very little movement or warping with changes in temperature (unlike solid wood planks). The range and choices can be very confusing however. When I was picking ours for upstairs I had a very helpful local flooring specialist explain it to me so I'll try and detail it for you too should you choose to go down this route! The wear layer is the thickness of real wood on the top of the substrate of laminated cheaper wood. Cheaper options have 2-3mm wear layers, whilst others (usually more expensive) have 4-7mm. The advantage of thicker layers is of course the number of times you can have the floors sanded and re-finished. Realistically a thicker 6mm layer should last at least a 100 years and numerous sandings (it would be very easy to accidentally go through a 2mm top layer accidentally if sanding). Finish options tend to be lacquer/varnish or oil. Lacquer/varnish sits on the surface of the wood, it is harder wearing than oil but will scratch and in order to re-finish you have to sand everything back. Oil absorbs into the wood and is usually applied in several coats to build up protection. If you scratch it, or a busy area gets worn you can lightly sand it and just re-apply oil to that individual area. You can also buy unfinished engineered boards meaning you can stain and oil/varnish it yourself however you like but of course means much more work. Both lacquer and oil come in the usual range of gloss, semi gloss, satin and matt. Matt is popular now as it looks the most natural and changes the look of the wood the least. Colours - you can get a myriad of colours from two main finishes - stained or smoked. Stain is only absorbed in the top layers of wood so if you scratch it deeply the natural wood colour will show through. Same goes if you sand and re-finish it. Smoking is a slow process but basically the smoke gets all the way into the wood. This means even if you sand or scratch it the colour shouldn't change. You can get 'semi smoked' which just means its been left to smoke for less time resulting in a lighter finish. You can get 'brushed' finishes which is where the boards are literally brushed with stiff bristles that remove the softer wood grains resulting in a more textured feel. Similarly 'hand scraped' gives a soft undulation to the surface as if 'scraped' by hand tools as very old floorboards were. Bevelled or micro-beveled edges are what you'd expect and result in a 'v' between boards when they meet. They will still butt up neatly but does help give the boards more definition and in my opinion makes them look much more authentic (one of the big tell tail signs of laminate is the lack of v grooves). Only downside is that dirt can gather in these so the micro-bevel option can be the best of both worlds. Wood species is entirely a personal choice but do speak to supplies to check what you have in mind is suitable for the location in question. Different types of wood vary greatly in hardness, colour, environmental credentials and of course price! Finally (at last!) you get different grades or qualities of wood. 'Prime' or 'select' is often used to describe the best grades with the least filled knot holes or large variations within the wood. You then go down to 'natural' which will have some featuring but not much with 'rustic' having the most character and knot holes. None of these are necessarily bad choices. A prime standard would look silly in a very old tudor property whilst a 'rustic' finish in a sleek modern build could equally look strange. Anyway. Sorry for the mammoth post, I just know I was getting quite frustrated trying to not only understand all the options but also get a feeling for what was right for me. Hopefully this help you avoid the same problems!

I have a similar product which had a different laying system put in about 9 years ago and it is great. Dogs mud etc As this product is no longer available in UK I am now putting Amtico down in another room. My main problem has been that the floor is concrete with no foundations or damp proof course due to age of property. I don't get damp but the vinyl tiles will seal even a small amount so I am having to have a DPC painted on first. Hence the other system previously it was not entirely sealed like Amtico and Karndean. So it is the laying that is costing me even more than usual and that is not cheap. I have found little difference in price between Amtico Spacia and Karndean at the better quality end of their range. So it is colour match that has driven my decision. What I have been confused with is Karndean guarantee. Some say 15 years for domestic use but a very reputable supplier tells me it is now 35 years across the range. Amtico is clear for the cheaper Spacia range it is 25 years. I know both products will tolerate hard wear as they are in use in so many shops & restaurents.

Sheet vinyl is much better than it used to be. I think it would be a good fill in, but you can’t lay it on floorboards as the movement will create holes and tears. The floor needs to be boarded. Laminate is another idea, and some of them look really good, but it is thicker so may create a step. Maybe cheap carpet is a good temporary measure as Sarah suggests.

We had our bedroom floor done 3 years, it’s about 27sqm. It only cost c1k but we didn’t need sound insulation. The guy was an antique furniture restorer who started refurbishing floors as a sideline and i suspect he seriously undercharged us..We also didn’t need much in terms of repair work, all boards were sound and only 1 had been replaced at some point in its lifetime, you may also find holes where central heating has been installed or gaps under skirting etc i think you need to consider whether you’d be happy with all the dents as pine is such a soft wood. We hung new curtains days after the floor being done and the ladder (sat on a towel) created dents. We put furniture pads under everything but have had no need to move the furniture since but i suspect it has big dents everywhere! It's fine for us jn a bedroom but not sure if i could cope in a living space