When I planned my kitchen I knew exactly what I wanted. I’d known for five years which units were to be fitted. The appliances posed few difficulties and the tiles waved at me as I walked into the showroom. The only problem was the floor.

“What you want” my friend said “is a laminate floor. Come and see mine.” I went. Fortunately, I took Rosie, the elder of our two Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs, with me. The floor looked beautiful. Rosie went to greet my friend’s cat (actually, he was approaching from behind and she was trying to get away, but I promised I wouldn’t tell you that) and she skidded and met the French windows rather sooner than she expected. She ended up spread-eagled on the floor and had difficulty getting to her feet again. The cat looked contemptuous. Laminate flooring was crossed off the list of possibilities.

Amtico have been producing flooring for nearly forty years, but they’re very coy about telling you exactly what it is. “It’s sumptuous” they say, or “atmospheric”, but they’re reluctant to tell you what it’s made of. It’s nowhere on the website at www.amtico.com or in the brochure. Finally I emailed them. They ignored me. If I had to guess I’d say that it’s a very heavy-duty vinyl.

Amtico can be laid on floorboards, but as mine were a mixture of old and new I was advised to put a skim of 12mm marine plywood onto the floorboards to give a perfectly level surface.

Once fitted you are advised to strip and treat the floor. This removes the factory-applied surface and you then apply a liquid finish over the whole area. This took me about an hour and a half including drying time and included about fifteen minutes of actual work. It’s not particularly difficult or skilful – you simply need to be particularly careful to keep everything clean if you are to achieve a good finish. This needs to be done every six months and is one of the conditions for the 20 year guarantee for a floor in a residential property. When the floor was laid it looked excellent. Once it had been treated it looked stunning. A pack of cleaner, stripper and finisher came as part of the initial purchase of the floor and should last for two treatments.

Regular maintenance is minimal – it gets a mopping when it looks dirty. Stains wipe off and none has yet left a mark. After six months of hammer from two humans and two large dogs who have the delicacy of a herd of elephants there isn’t a single scratch or mark on the floor. It’s still a delight to the eye and comfortable and quiet underfoot. I’m told that it’s non-allergenic too, although I’ve no means of checking that.

At about £1000 you might think it’s very expensive, but a wooden floor which looks like this one would have cost considerably more and would have been harder to maintain. Our last vinyl-on-a-roll floor (in a smaller kitchen) cost £200 and really should have been replaced after two years, so it cost me roughly £2 a week. This floor is guaranteed for twenty years which works out at less than £1 a week. I reckon I’ve got a very good deal.