Today there are many types of floor coverings. Each type of flooring has a number of advantages and disadvantages depending on the area of application, more on that below.
What to look for when choosing modern flooring
The first thing to consider is the technical characteristics of the room, humidity, temperature, degree of pollution, frequency of cleaning, the need for disinfection, etc. The second is to pay attention to strength. For places with huge traffic, you should choose types that are more resistant to stress, take into account the environmental performance of the material. Coatings are either natural or artificial.
The main modern floor coverings:
- Laminate;
- Parquet board;
- Parquet;
- Ceramic tile;
- Vinyl laminate;
- Marmoleum;
- Cork floors;
- Bulk, polymer or decorative 3D floor;
To create an interior, the external characteristics of flooring play a role of great importance. If you plan to install a system of underfloor heating, then you need to pay attention to materials that conduct heat well, do not deform and do not emit harmful substances when heated.
Popular modern apartment flooring
Modern materials for flooring in apartments have different properties, characteristics, differ in color and pattern - carpet, linoleum, polyurethane (plastic or synthetic coating), self-leveling floors, wooden, sisal, vinyl laminate, NDF-based option, moisture-resistant vinyl laminate , cork flooring (eco-floors).
Sisal is considered the most environmentally friendly carpet, it is made of natural materials and is pleasant to the touch, collects the least dust.
Carpets can be made of natural and artificial materials, with various piles and a textile or rubber backing. The disadvantages of this coating include the accumulation of a lot of dust and dirt in its structure, so you can’t do without a powerful vacuum cleaner.
Synthetic carpet is not always safe for health, it has a number of disadvantages:
- The material is not recommended for people prone to allergies;
- Collects the greatest amount of dust, and therefore requires frequent high-quality cleaning;
- In the most used areas, the long pile is quickly crushed.
One of the newest developments of designers are self-leveling 3D floors. They are created from several layers, which makes it possible to make them exclusive. This coating can highlight the following advantages: the ability to match any style, perfectly flat surface, durability, heat resistance, environmentally friendly material, do not absorb odors, not slippery, which makes it possible to use them in the bathroom and in living quarters.
For rooms with high humidity, vinyl laminate is well suited. Its disadvantage is the presence of particles containing chlorine, which leads to minimal evaporation, thereby causing harm to health. The advantages of this coating include environmental friendliness (the cheapest environmentally friendly, waterproof and moisture-resistant natural coating), factors such as high moisture resistance and wear resistance, pleasant to the touch, easy to clean, long service life, affordable price category (you can cover a large space inexpensively) .
So, the properties of this coating include:
- Excellent sound insulation;
- Ecological purity of the material;
- resistance to deformation;
- Good depreciation;
- Non-slippery coating;
- High price;
- The ability to break when poor-quality styling.
Cork has excellent qualities, although these finishing and floor coverings are still little known. Use this safe cork composition for both floors and walls. The main advantage of this material is its naturalness, it is not dangerous, environmentally friendly, safe, it is produced from oak bark using new parquet board technologies. Cork is great for children's rooms to isolate from extraneous sounds.
What methods of laying modern flooring are
The first step is the need to prepare the foundation. Gypsum or cement screed must be smooth. Then plywood sheets are laid, which are pre-cut into 50x50 cm squares.
It is worth noting that the colors of parquet or plywood fibers should be in different directions.
Massive boards and planks are attached to a pre-prepared base using a special parquet adhesive. The thorn-groove connection is fixed with a hammer and a chipper. Laying parquet is a job that requires professionalism. Natural wood flooring is produced for production, both in processed and unprocessed form.
This is a lengthy process, it requires high-quality execution:
- After unpacking, the planks must be kept at room temperature for a couple of days.
- Special glue is applied evenly on the back surface of the plank.
- With the help of a hammer and a chipper, the bar spike is driven into the groove.
- With the help of the same tools, the transverse sides of the slats are knocked out.
- Then the massive board is fixed with bolts, alternately screwing them on the sides.
Always leave a gap of 1.5 mm between the planks, if deformations suddenly begin due to temperature changes, as well as air humidity. It is necessary to maintain a constant air temperature (not higher than 24 ᵒС) and humidity indicators (not higher than 60%).
The advantage of laminate in environmental friendliness
Laminate is a popular flooring, in this regard, many people have a question about the environmental friendliness of this material. At the heart of the laminate is a slab of wood shavings, so it is more than 90% natural. Bonding of wood elements is carried out using natural resins (sometimes varnish is used). In the production of the top coating of the laminate, melamine or acrylic resin is usually used. Melamine itself does not have the necessary viscosity, so it has to be mixed with formaldehyde. And formaldehyde is a toxic substance, and therefore dangerous, and esters are harmful to health (if the percentage of the norm is exceeded). But it is harmful only at elevated concentrations, but only at temperatures that are significantly higher than room temperature.
Advantages of laminate laying technology:
- Laminate lays well on almost any base, the main condition is the evenness of the base;
- The coating is easily isolated from moisture;
- Provides heat and noise insulation with the help of special substrates.
The laminate coating is divided into several safety classes, depending on the degree of concentration of formaldehyde resin in the laminate. Most often you can find a laminate with a class no higher than E1. It is this material that is considered absolutely harmless to humans, since the proportion of formaldehyde resin in its composition is minimal. But classes E2 and E3 have a high degree of concentration. Laminate of this class is not recommended to lay at home. There is a laminate with E0 emission class, it is even more environmentally friendly. It contains almost no toxic substance, but the price of this coating is much higher.
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