Ideal floor: which coating to choose

Recommendation points

• Types of living quarters
• Types of flooring
• Batten
• Linoleum
• Carpet
• Laminate
• Parquet and parquet board
• Porcelain stoneware and ceramic or tile
• Self-leveling floors
• Cork floors
• Marmoleum

The repair is coming to an end, only the replacement of the floor covering remains. If you pay little attention to this stage, then the result will be banal – linoleum, tiles or carpet. But knowledge of alternative solutions and their competent application can give a unique, and in some cases better result.

The final stage of repair in any house or apartment is the replacement of the floor covering. Currently, the construction market offers a large number of different options. What is better and what is worse, what, in principle, are the options – the questions are not as simple as they might seem at first glance. For example, it would seem that it is quite clear that in the bedroom and in the hallway there should be different floors, these rooms have too different purposes. Only ignorance of the possible options, pros and cons of various types of flooring ultimately leads to the fact that linoleum is simply put in all rooms, and 90% of people who want to excel in something, in the hallway – linoleum, and in the bedroom – carpet, while forgetting that the laminate is the same as the linoleum, and the cork is more environmentally friendly and ergonomic than the carpet. Or another example. Everyone knows that self-leveling floors are industrial floors, and very few that there is a type of self-leveling floor that is ideal for a variety of living spaces. Thus, without setting the goal of finding out which floors are better and which are worse, let’s figure out which flooring options can be used in various types of rooms and which are not worth it, starting with traditional ones and ending with exotic, rarely used options..

Types of living quarters

We will not consider utility rooms, such as sheds, verandas, boiler rooms. Our task is the premises inside the house. These are living rooms and living quarters for household purposes – toilet / bathroom, kitchen, etc. You can determine the characteristics of each of these premises:

1. Living rooms. It can be divided into the following types:
   • Living room, hall, dining room – is characterized by high traffic, it is here that most of the time is spent. Requires hard-wearing flooring to blend in with existing interiors.
   • Bedroom – requires a floor of increased ergonomics and environmental friendliness.
   • Children’s room – combines the necessary qualities of living rooms and bedrooms. Requires wear-resistant, environmentally friendly, ergonomic and injury-free material.
2. Toilet / bathroom. The floor should be of increased moisture resistance and wear resistance, easy to clean.
3. Kitchen. Like the toilet floor, it must be moisture-resistant, wear-resistant, easy to clean from dirt, and at the same time oil-and-grease resistant. We must not forget that a lot of time is also spent in the kitchen, therefore ergonomics is also important..
4. The hallway is the main source of dirt. The sand brought on the shoes acts on the flooring like sandpaper, so the main requirements for the floor covering will be increased wear resistance, moisture resistance and easy cleaning from dirt.
5. Balconies and loggias. It makes sense to consider only glazed versions of these rooms. Otherwise, precipitation and temperature drops will quickly render any coating unusable, except, perhaps, tiles or stone. For closed unheated balconies / loggias, durability and resistance to temperature changes are important. Heated balconies and loggias, in fact, are an extension of the room.

In addition to the listed characteristics characteristic of different types of premises, there are requirements common to all. The floor should be easy to install – technologically advanced and preferably inexpensive. Before figuring out what kind of floor coverings are used in different types of premises, our site suggests considering what floor coverings exist, what are the pros and cons they have.

Types of flooring

In total, today there are the following types of flooring:

• batten
• linoleum
• carpet
• laminate
• parquet and parquet board
• porcelain stoneware and ceramic tiles
• Self-leveling floors
• cork floors
• marmoleum

Let’s consider each of them in more detail, and then, on the basis of their pros and cons, we will conclude that it is advisable to use them in certain premises..

Batten

Made of solid coniferous wood. Mounted on floor joists. Must be painted with either abrasion-resistant floor paint or varnish with possible pre-toning. In the latter case, a surface similar to parquet or parquet board is obtained..

Pros:

• durability – high wear resistance is achieved due to the decorative coating that can be easily renewed after erasure;
• high environmental friendliness;
• high ergonomics;
• plank floor is easy to clean.

Minuses:

• complex installation – replacing floors from a floorboard requires special skills;
• limited design solutions.

Linoleum

It is produced in the form of rolls with a width of 1 to 6 m and a thickness of 1.5 to 5 mm or in the form of linoleum tiles. Glued on a flat surface with a special mastic.

By material of manufacture, it is divided into:

• polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – the most common type of linoleum;
• rubber;
• nitrocellulose;
• alkyd.

Pros:

• easy installation, low requirements for the quality of the base;
• sufficient durability – high wear resistance (refers to linoleum from the above average price range), all types are not afraid of water;
• easy to clean – antistatic surface repels dust and dirt;
• wide range of colors and textures.

Minuses:

• low environmental friendliness;
• low ergonomics – cold artificial surface.

Carpet

Essentially a relative of ordinary carpets. It is made of synthetic or natural materials with increased wear-resistant and dirt-repellent properties. Available in rolls or tiles. It is glued on a flat surface with a special mastic.

Pros:

• easy installation, low requirements for the quality of the base;
• high environmental friendliness – for natural carpets;
• high ergonomics and injury safety;
• a large selection of colors.

Minuses:

• low durability – we wear out quickly, low moisture resistance;
• low environmental friendliness – true in relation to synthetic options;
• difficulty in cleaning.

Laminate

The MDF panel is impregnated with special resins, covered with a layer of paper with patterns of various materials and pressed at a high temperature, while the top layer is varnished. According to the degree of strength, it is divided into classes. For home, laminate of class 21, 22 or 23 is used, and for an office, hallway or kitchen it is better to choose from class 31, 32 or 33.

Pros:

• easy installation – panels are connected by glue or glueless method. With glue, you get a more durable surface, but non-separable, with a glueless floor, it turns out to be easily disassembled, which allows, for example, to replace any floorboard if necessary. Requires covering the floor with a special leveling underlay;
• easy to clean – has an antistatic coating;
• a wide variety of colors and textures – imitates coatings of any kind.

Minuses:

• low durability – only high-grade laminates are wear-resistant, but they are already much more expensive, low moisture resistance;
• low environmental friendliness – the use of resins, impregnations and varnishes;
• low ergonomics – the artificial surface imposes its disadvantages.

Parquet and parquet board

Parquet is essentially akin to laminate and floating cork floors. A 3-5 mm decorative layer of valuable wood is glued to wooden panels. Installed in the same way as laminate by gluing or glued to the base.

Parquet is made from individual planks, laid in the form of a mosaic directly on the base using a special mastic.

Pros:

• easy installation, low requirements for the quality of the base;
• durability – high wear resistance is provided by a veneer layer of 3-5 mm;
• high environmental friendliness – practically the most environmentally friendly material – wood;
• high ergonomics – a warm natural wood covering is always pleasant to the touch;
• easy to clean.

Minuses:

• the design is limited only by the type of natural wood.

Porcelain stoneware and ceramic or tile

A very common floor material. Ceramic plates are laid with tile adhesive on a concrete screed.

Pros:

• durable – high wear resistance, high moisture resistance;
• high environmental friendliness – porcelain stoneware and tiles – natural materials;
• easy to clean.

Minuses:

• installation requires special skills;
• low ergonomics and high risk of injury.

Self-leveling floors

There are the following types of self-leveling floors:

• polyurethane floors
• epoxy floors
• cement-acrylic floors
• methyl methacrylate floors

More environmentally friendly – cement-acrylic floors, however, floors based on epoxy resin have a much wider choice of design solutions. Methyl methacrylate are the most expensive, therefore they are rarely used.

Pros:

• durability – resistance to abrasion, resistance to aggressive media, such as oil, gasoline, solvents, acids and alkalis;
• high environmental friendliness – the hydrophobic surface absolutely does not absorb moisture, as a result of which harmful microorganisms that love a humid environment do not take root on it;
• easy in any kind of cleaning – thanks to their hydrophobic and antistatic surface;
• the ability to apply any pattern – used mainly in epoxy floors.

Minuses:

• high demands on the quality of the base. The substrate must be clean, dry and, most importantly, even;
• low ergonomics – hard cold surface.

Cork floors

Are veneer plates or pressed cork bark chips.

There are two types:

• adhesive – the cork layer is glued directly onto the prepared flat base with special glue. It can be both cork tiles and large sheets in rolls;
• floating – these are MDF sheets, with a glued layer of cork.

Pros:

• easy installation – more related to floating surfaces;
• durability – high water resistance (this applies more to adhesive coatings) and, thanks to volumetric memory, the surface quickly recovers after any deformation;
• high environmental friendliness – natural materials are used, cork prevents the development of harmful microorganisms, mold and mildew;
• high ergonomics – soft, springy and always warm surface significantly reduces the load on the spine and is great for walking barefoot and playing for children, excellent sound insulation;
• cork floors are easy to clean – they have a dirt-repellent antistatic surface;
• a wide variety of colors and textures, from the natural look of cork, to imitation of any type of surface – stone, wood, tiles, etc..

Minuses:

• difficulty in installing adhesive floors;
• high requirements for the quality of the base of adhesive floors;
• low moisture resistance of floating floors.

Marmoleum

It is made on the basis of natural woven or non-woven materials (for example, jute, hemp or linen fibers). The composition contains only natural ingredients, such as: linseed oil, pine resin, wood flour, lime powder and natural dyes. It can be in the form of rolls – in fact, natural linoleum, or in the form of panels like laminate.

Pros:

• easy installation, low requirements for the quality of the base;
• durability – have increased wear resistance due to the pattern made over the entire thickness, increased moisture resistance;
• high environmental friendliness;
• easy to clean.

Minuses:

• low ergonomics – a solid surface only becomes harder over time, which makes it quite traumatic.

Now let us bring together all the listed qualities of the specified floor coverings in relation to their use in different living quarters..

Name	Technolo- genius	Long- eternity	Ecolo- genius	Ergono- nature, trauma- safety	Easy to clean	Design	Minimum price, rub / m2	Output
Batten	Low.	High.	High.	Average.	High.	Low.	600	Suitable for all types of premises, but it is better not to use in places with high humidity: toilet / bathroom, kitchen, balcony, hallway.
Linoleum (medium and above)	High.	Average.	Low.	Low.	High.	High.	400	Versatile material. Not used in children’s rooms and bedrooms.
Carpet	Synthetic.	High.	Low.	Low.	High.	Low.	Average.	60	More suitable for office spaces.
Natur.	High.	1200	Suitable for bedroom and children’s room.
Laminate	High.	Average.	Average.	Low.	High.	High.	200	Suitable for almost all types of premises, including the entrance hall, kitchen and balconies, although for the kitchen and balconies it is necessary to use laminate of class 23 and higher, for the hallway – 32, 33, it is better not to use for the bathroom.
Parquet	Average.	High.	High.	High.	High.	Average.	600	Suitable for almost all types of premises, it is better not to use in the hallway and toilet / bathroom.
Parquet board	800
Porcelain stoneware	Low.	High.	High.	Low.	High.	Average.	300	Ideal for all types of utility rooms.
Ceramic tile	250
Self-leveling floors (epoxy floor with a pattern)	Low.	High.	High.	Low.	High.	High.	400	Suitable for all types of utility rooms. Application in the living / dining room with a 3D pattern will make the interior unique.
Cork covering	Gluing.	Low.	High.	High.	High.	High.	High.	600	Suitable for almost all types of premises. It is better not to use in the hallway and toilet / bathroom. An excellent alternative to carpet in bedrooms and children’s rooms.
Floating.	High.	1500
Marmoleum	High.	High.	High.	Low.	High.	High.	900	Suitable for almost all types of premises. In children’s rooms, because of the hard surface, it is better not to use.

It is clear that these conclusions are far from unambiguous, since they are given in isolation from the price. What to use in each case is always decided on an individual basis, commensurate with the purpose, price and quality of materials. The most important thing is that knowing about all the options and applying imagination, you can always achieve unique results. For example, tiles and laminate flooring work together very well. Therefore, using these two materials in one room, you can zone the living room and dining room. In children’s rooms, using, for example, cork and natural carpet, you can divide the play area and the relaxation area, and 3D self-leveling floors in the living room will become the envy of all your friends. Think, fantasize and the result will exceed all your expectations.