10 tips on choosing laminate

Popular vote - which brand offers the best laminate for your home?
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Quick step

Haro

Tarkett

Kaindl

Pergo

Alloc

Total votes: 6

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The class of laminate determines its basic characteristics: abrasion, moisture resistance, impact resistance and sound insulation. There are categories 21, 22 and 23, 31, 32 and 33 on sale. Unscrupulous firms assign class 34 to their product, but rest assured it does not exist.

Application according to European standards (Directive EN13329):

Class	Load indicator	Field of use	Abrasion coefficient
21	light	bedrooms, home library	900
22	average	living room, nursery, bathroom, balcony	1 800
23	tall	kitchen, hallway	2 500
31	light industrial	conference rooms	2 500
32	medium industrial	offices, office reception	4 000
33	high industrial	shops, cafes	6 500

 

Conclusion: Despite this classification, we do not recommend buying laminate for homes and apartments below 31 classes. The higher this indicator, the longer the coverage will last. This is especially true of large families with children. In addition, manufacturers often neglect the established standards, because of which the characteristics of the laminate in reality may not correspond to the declared class.

One of the key criteria that is important to consider when choosing a laminate - the type of upper protective layer. It depends on the technology used in the manufacture of finishing materials. Kinds:

Direct pressing

Laminate, manufactured by this technology, comes with a ready-made top layer. It is cheap and is usually used for domestic purposes: used for laying in the hallway, kitchen, bathroom, living rooms of the house, etc.

High pressure (HPL)

The top layer of the laminate manufactured using this technology consists of kraft cardboard and a special protective coating. Its advantages are high strength, abrasion resistance and the ability to withstand even strong mechanical stress.

Conclusion: For home use suitable laminate produced by direct extrusion. However, keep in mind that its service life is 5-7 years, and the resistance to mechanical damage and other loads is minimal. If you have small children and pets, then stop the choice on the panels, made under high pressure, they will serve you about 10-12 years.

Despite the demand for laminate, manufacturers offer a limited selection of design panels. You can easily find a floor that imitates natural wood or parquet, but there will be difficulties with choosing a color. Beige and brown laminate is found in Chinese manufacturers, other shades are hard to find.

We recommend paying special attention not only to the color, but also to the external embossing of the material. The panels with embossed patterns look stylish in any interior, besides they are very practical, since they do not leave stains after washing. Smooth surface is found only in cheap and not very high quality brands of laminate.

Conclusion: the choice of design and color is determined only by your preferences and assortment offered by manufacturers.

To choose the right laminate, you need to pay attention to its thickness. On sale there are panels, the thickness of which varies from 5 to 12 mm. The thicker the laminate selected, the higher its strength, sound absorption and, accordingly, the cost.

Panels with a thickness of 8 to 12 mm are the best choice for your apartment if there are base defects (for example, unevenness). If you have a warm floor, then choose a thin laminate. Unlike thick panels, it instantly warms up and retains heat longer.

Conclusion: Ideally, the thickness of the laminated board should be 8 mm, a compromise solution - 7 mm, less is not recommended. However, it is much easier, cheaper and faster to prepare a quality base for laminate, rather than overpay for its thickness.

The substrate selected for the laminate determines the thermal and sound insulation performance of your future floor. Main types:

Corkboard

Perfectly keeps heat, it is not deformed over time and is not worn down. Choosing a cork substrate, pay attention to the material from which it is made. To prevent condensation from forming under the laminate, we recommend buying substrates made of rubberized cork or treated with bitumen.

Polyethylene foam

Resistant to high humidity, easy to install and use, has an affordable price. However, the substrate of polyethylene does not hold its shape and begins to sag with time. Another disadvantage is the low thermal insulation, but this problem is easily solved by putting a special foil or film over it.

Composite

High heat and sound insulation, ease of installation, moisture resistance. The membrane accumulating water that has fallen under the laminate is embedded in modern composite substrates. Over time, they are not deformed, so they can be installed in rooms with high traffic. The only disadvantage of composite substrates is the high cost, but rest assured that it pays off in full.

Conclusion: The choice depends only on your financial capabilities. We recommend choosing composite substrates, since their performance is much higher than that of other bases. Consider that some manufacturers offer laminate with an already integrated substrate. An excellent choice to save money and your installation time.

The type of connection laminate depends on the simplicity and speed of its installation. On sale there are panels connecting on a glue and castle method. The first option involves the use of glue, so it is used very rarely. We recommend to leave the choice on a laminated board with a lock connection (quick step), a huge advantage of which is the possibility of self-laying.

Castle connection is divided into 2 types:

Click	Lock
Collapsible locks at an angle of 45 °. Their advantage is extreme simplicity. Firstly, they do not need to be mounted on perfectly smooth bases: curvature and differential are possible. Secondly, their installation does not require special skills and can be done independently.	Locks latches, the advantage of which lies in their low cost in comparison with collapsible type. Keep in mind that laying laminate with a lock-connection is impossible on a curved base, so the floor must first be carefully leveled.

 

Conclusion: If you want to save on the installation of laminate and plan self-laying, then choose panels with collapsible locks. In cases where the installation will be carried out by a professional, and the floor in the apartment is perfectly flat, it is better to take an inexpensive laminate with a lock connection.

Almost every manufacturer assures that the laminate presented to them is an environmentally friendly material. In fact, it is not 100%. In the composition of the laminate, especially cheap, almost always there is formaldehyde, dangerous to human health.

The remaining components used in the production of this material are harmless. Chipboard (chipboard) consists of waste wood processing, and therefore the "naturalness" of the laminate is about 90%.

Conclusion: If it is important for you to choose a material that does not have a negative impact, then look for products labeled with E1 and E0. It has a high cost, but the content of formaldehyde in it is 3 and 6 times less than in products labeled with E2 and E3.

To choose the right laminated board, be guided by the appointment of rooms. In some, resistance to moisture is important, in others - strength, in the third - sound insulation.

Kitchen

We recommend choosing a moisture-resistant laminated board, additionally during installation you can trim the butt sections with mastic. A suitable material class is 33, since the load on the kitchen floor is quite high. Buy embossed laminate to avoid slipping.

Bathroom

Only waterproof material suitable for the manufacture of which PVC plates are used. They do not absorb moisture because they are made of pressed chips. Some companies offer a laminated board with a rubber strip that provides 100% water resistance.

Living room, bedroom and children

When choosing a laminated board for residential premises, we recommend that you consider not only the class of use, but also the sound absorption parameter. On sale you can meet panels with an additional sound-proofing layer which will become the excellent choice for a nursery.

Entrance hall

Due to the constantly accumulating dust and dirt here, the floor must be cleaned very often. For this reason, for the hall we recommend choosing a laminated board with high resistance to moisture. The recommended wear resistance class is 33.

Conclusion: When buying a laminate, always be guided by the type of room in which it will be used.

The size of the laminate panels determines the appearance of the coating and the complexity of the upcoming installation. The smaller the dimensions, the longer it will take to lay. Standard (typical) sizes do not exist, so we consider each parameter separately.

Width

On sale there are boards of various configurations. The width of the laminate varies from 9 to 33 cm, but the most common indicator is 19 cm. Such panels are easily and quickly mounted on any base.

Length

It must be considered to ensure optimum material consumption. The less waste, the more economical and better. Manufacturers offer panels whose length varies from 30 to 185 cm. The most common rates are from 126 to 138 cm.

Conclusion: We recommend to choose a laminate of running sizes. It is easy to transport, stack, and, if necessary, cut.

The average cost of laminate varies from 200 rubles. up to 1 800 rub. for 1 m². However, there are cheap panels on sale, the price of which is only 100-150 rubles. for 1 m². Such a laminate will last you relatively shortly, and you can not even count on averaged performance indicators.

As for manufacturers, the undisputed brand leaders include:

• Quick step
• Haro
• Tarkett,
• Kaindl,
• Pergo,

Each of these manufacturers issues a guarantee of 5 to 15 years for their products, depending on the class of laminate. We recommend checking with her for a specific time from the seller. Remember that the lack of a guarantee is one of the things that should make you afraid when buying.