In my third year as a distributor rep (2021), I had a client—a nice guy doing a full master bath remodel—who wanted Karndean. He’d seen the Van Gogh collection online, loved the herringbone pattern, and was convinced it was the waterproof miracle. I was excited to make the sale. I spec’d the floor, he loved it, and a week later I visited the job site. That’s when I saw the Schlueter trim.
This is the story of that $2,100 mistake, and the three things I now check before I let anyone put Karndean—or any luxury vinyl tile—in a bathroom.
What the client thought he wanted (and what I thought I knew)
The client had done his homework. He had his materials list: Karndean Van Gogh (the 22mil wear layer, glue-down), a bag of Karndean adhesive, Schlueter Reno-TK strips for the shower curb, and a glass door from a local Glass Doctor franchise. He had a pizza stone he wanted to keep in the prep area.
His core concern? “Is this gonna be a problem in a wet area?” I told him the standard line: “Karndean is a luxury vinyl product, it’s extremely water-resistant, and with proper installation you won’t have an issue.” I meant it—at the time.
But here’s where the trouble started. I didn't dig into the details of “proper installation.” And I definitely didn't ask about the Schlueter.
Surface problem: The trim didn't match
The week of installation, I showed up to check progress. The tile was laid beautifully. The herringbone pattern was perfect. But the transition from the bathroom floor to the shower curb—a 2-inch height change—was a metal Schlueter strip.
It looked like a forklift ramp next to a piece of art.
The client said, “The installer said this is what you use for tile. It’ll work. But it doesn’t look right.” He was right. It clashed. But more importantly, it was a red flag. Metal Schlueter strips in wet areas aren’t ideal for LVT, but that’s secondary. The real problem was the functional issue that strip was trying to solve: a height change that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.
Deeper cause: The “level” assumption
The installer used the Schlueter because the subfloor under the shower curb was higher than the main bathroom floor. The LVT couldn’t transition smoothly. But why?
Because the original plan had a 1/2-inch cement board under the curb tile. The Karndean, at 4mm thick plus adhesive, was 4.5mm. The difference was minimal—until you add the mortar bed for the curb. The installer tried to compensate with the metal strip.
This is the hidden cost of mixing products from different material categories (LVT vs. tile) without planning the substrate transitions. It's not Karndean's fault. It's a spec'ing error. I should have known: when you’re combining LVT and ceramic tile in the same wet area, you need to plan the finished floor height from the start.
I have mixed feelings about Karndean in bathrooms now. On one hand, I’ve seen it work beautifully in hundreds of bathrooms. On the other, this one mistake—a height mismatch—cost the client $400 in extra labor and a 1-week delay.
The real cost of that mistake
Let me be specific about the cost, because I think it matters.
- Labor: The installer had to pull up three rows of tile (about 12 sq ft) to adjust the underlayment. $350.
- Material: Replacement Karndean (the original planks were cut wrong). $175.
- Schlueter trim: The metal strip itself was $12. But the fix required a custom transition piece—$85.
- Delay: The client couldn't move his shower door installation (Glass Doctor) back, so they had to reschedule. $200 fee.
- My commission: I lost the sale on the follow‑up order. My mistake cost me $350 in commission.
Total: $822. For a $3,200 order. I documented this in my error log. That's when I learned: never assume the installer knows the material.
What I check now: Three questions before any bathroom LVT job
Based on that disaster, and four more lesser mistakes since, here's my pre-check:
- What is the finished floor height, in millimeters, of every adjacent surface? I walk the job with a tape measure. I don't trust plans. I check the threshold, the shower curb, the floor drain.
- What is the transition material? If it's Schlueter, I ask why. If the answer is “because it's what we use,” that's a red flag. There are Karndean-specific transition strips (like the Karndean LVT flooring transition options) that match the profile. Use them.
- Is the client's expectation about “waterproof” vs. “water-resistant” clear? I ask: “If a glass of water spills on the grout line, how long can it sit before you worry?” Most people don’t know that LVT grout—even color-matched urethane grout—isn't a water barrier. I tell them: 2 hours is fine. Overnight is a problem. Karndean itself is water-resistant, but the installation system (subfloor, adhesive, seams) is not waterproof. That's the truth.
But what about the pizza stone?
You might be wondering why I mentioned the pizza stone. It's a small thing, but it’s the kind of detail that catches people out. The client wanted to store a pizza stone in the prep area. He was worried about the LVT being damaged by hot pans. It’s a legit concern.
Karndean LVT is rated for radiant floor heating, but it's not rated for direct contact with hot objects. A pizza stone, even at 200°F after sitting for 10 minutes, can deform the tile. I told him: “Use a trivet or a silicone mat. The floor will be fine, but don't drop the pizza stone on it.”
We found a nice tile‑matching silicone mat. Problem solved. That part cost $15. It was a win.
Small client, big lesson
Looking back, this was a $3,200 job. Not huge. The client was a homeowner, not a developer. A lot of dealers might've shrugged off the Schlueter issue: “It's metal, it's fine.”
But I didn't. Because I've learned that the small jobs are where you build your reputation. When I was starting out in 2017, I made mistakes on $200 orders from startups. The vendors who treated those $200 orders seriously are the ones I still use for $20,000 orders. And the ones who dismissed me? I remember their names.
Today, I have a checklist. I catch errors before they happen. Since implementing that checklist in Q3 2022, I've prevented 12 similar issues. That's roughly $9,000 in saved redo costs.
So if you're considering Karndean for your bathroom: do it. It looks great, it performs well. But plan your transitions. Check your heights. And be honest about water resistance. That's the difference between a successful job and a $822 lesson.
