How to choose a laminate?

Laminate flooring in recent decades has become perhaps the most popular flooring. Laying it is easy, taking care of it is even easier, and the range is so large that you can create an interior in any style with minimal effort. But before starting the repair, you need to choose the right materials. And it’s best to start with the answer to the question of how to choose a laminate. About what types of laminate are, their advantages and disadvantages will be discussed in the article.

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Advantages and disadvantages of laminate flooring

Compared to other coatings, the laminate has many advantages:

1. Mounting floors can be any owner whose hands grow from the “right place”.
2. Laminate has excellent heat-insulating properties, that is, the apartment will always be warm.
3. This type of coating with proper care lasts a very long time.
4. As a rule, the laminate is made of neutral materials that do not harm the environment and the residents of the apartment.
5. Among other things, the laminate allows you to give free rein to imagination and create something interesting and unusual from an ordinary apartment.

Important! The disadvantages include the fact that the laminate does not like water. But this same property can also be transferred to the category of merits - there will be less temptation to wash floors with plenty of water, as is usually done in apartments where linoleum is laid.

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What is it made of?

Before you go to the store, it is better to learn something about what you are going to buy. To choose the laminate correctly, you need to understand how it works. This material always consists of several layers:

• overlay, it is the top layer - a transparent acrylic film;
• decorative layer - the one where the drawing;
• the middle layer is the thickest, affects the heat-shielding properties;
• the bottom layer is the substrate, which serves to protect the middle.

Overlay

The acrylic resin from which the top layer is made allows the material not to be erased from mechanical influences. Mechanical damage to the floor occurs even in an apartment where everyone walks in soft slippers. In addition, the overlay protects the decorative layer from burning out, which is especially important for sunny apartments. It also has antistatic properties - in a word, this layer has a lot of functions, despite the fact that it is quite thin - only about a millimeter.

Decorative layer

The decorative layer does not affect the strength and durability, but it depends on it how your apartment will look. It is most often made of paper with a pattern “under the parquet”, “under the marble”, etc. Here you have to choose the laminate on your own, based on your preferences and the planned interior style.

Middle layer

The properties of the middle layer mainly determine the quality of the laminate. Strength, wear resistance, and environmental friendliness directly depend on it. The middle layer is a fiberboard or chipboard plate.

Important! If you see the word “moisture resistant” on the label, this means that the plate is not made from wood chips, but from special plastic, or plastic is added to the chips. The thickness of the middle layer is about 10 mm.

bottom layer

The bottom layer is needed so that the base is not exposed to unnecessary influences. In addition, it has soundproofing properties, which is especially important for modern apartments with their “cardboard” walls.

It is made of paper impregnated with resin, foamed polyethylene is used to improve the soundproofing properties, sometimes cork, polystyrene, and aluminum foil.

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Laminate. Classes - how to choose?

Manufacturers and serious trading companies use the so-called eighteen-stage taber test to determine the quality of the laminate. As a result of such checks, it is determined:

• what mechanical stresses this or that type of laminate can withstand;
• what substances can destroy it;
• Does the material release harmful substances under the influence of detergents or light?

This is a rather lengthy procedure, which is hardly necessary for anyone who wants to buy a laminate for their apartment. If you started a repair and want to remodel the floors, you only need to know the classes of the laminate. There are six of them.

Important! Sometimes you can see the marking “34” - this means that before you are heavy-duty laminate with increased wear resistance.

The class designation consists of two digits, the first of which indicates for which premises this material is intended.

1. Two means that the laminate is intended for residential premises.
2. Three marks the laminate for public buildings.

Important! The number “3” does not mean at all that the laminate cannot be used in apartments. Just for public buildings, the material should be thicker and stronger.

The second digit is 1, 2 or 3. From it you can find out the thickness of the laminate and how resistant it is to wear and mechanical stress.

Laminate for public buildings

Laminates of classes belong to this category:

• 33;
• 32;
• 31.

What to give preference, what to choose a laminate? - We determine the properties of each option:

1. The strongest laminate has a class of 33. It is it that is laid in rooms where there are usually a lot of people. It is durable to abrasion, to mechanical stresses and must last at least twenty years. Such material can be used in an apartment, the whole question is whether this is necessary. As a rule, such a laminate is more expensive than everyone else.
2. Laminates of 32 and 32 classes are also intended primarily for public buildings, but they are used most often where there is no large concentration of people and traffic intensity. These are quite worthy materials that can serve several decades, but their wear resistance is slightly lower than that of 33.

Residential Laminates

Thinking how to choose a good laminate for an apartment, first decide in which room you are going to pave the floors. As a rule, for the repair of apartments, a laminate is chosen, the marking of which begins with the number “2”. It is less durable than material for public buildings, but significantly cheaper.

You can find on sale laminates of classes:

• 23;
• 22;
• 21.
  

For hallway and kitchen

Visitors in the hall is the most. These are the owners of the apartment, and the guests, who later disperse into different rooms, and random visitors like plumbers, electricians or doctors. People come into the hallway in street shoes. Therefore, the laminate should be stronger than in rooms with more gentle conditions.

Important! For the hallway, a laminate labeled “23” is most suitable.

As for the kitchen, there are also enough harmful effects in this room, so the most durable of “apartment laminates” will be very useful.

Important! Material of the same class is suitable for bathroom and toilet, as well as for walk-through rooms.

Deuces and units

Laminate classes 22 or 21 are not suitable for all rooms. He, of course, is cheaper than others, however, the trouble with him will be immeasurably greater, and he does not last long.

Where to use it? - There are options:

1. It can be laid down, for example, in a nursery - in a few years the child will grow up, he will not like the funny picture with bunnies or soccer balls, and the floor will still have to be repositioned.
2. Laminate of this class is suitable for the living room, especially if repairs have become part of your life and you like to often change the interior. This is the cheapest laminate, so changing it is not a pity.

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Is thickness and density important?

Having wondered how to choose a quality laminate, pay attention to two more criteria:

• thickness
• density.

They are important not only in order to provide good sound insulation or to make the floor warm. The strength of this material depends on the thickness.

Important! The thickness of the laminate, which you can find in construction stores, ranges from 6 to 12 mm. And the choice is simple - the thicker the better.

Density can sometimes be roughly estimated by marking the board. This applies to the middle, that is, the main layer. Marking depends on the manufacturer:

• NDF - European and American manufacturers;
• MDF - Russian manufacturers.

The plate with the NDF marking has a higher density, respectively - higher strength and wear resistance.

On the package most often is the density of the material, expressed in numbers. If the laminate is of high quality, it will be more than 850 kg / m3

Important! The density of the laminate, if it is not indicated on the label, can be calculated by yourself. Weight is indicated on the package. It is necessary to divide it by volume - that is, it is necessary to multiply the area of ​​all boards by thickness.

Other designations

On the label you can find other signs. For example, such:

• HPL;
• CPL
• DPL

What do they mean? - A manufacturing method that also affects the final properties of the material:

1. The laminate with the HPL marking is made under high pressure - first the top layer is pressed with a decorative one, then all this is glued to the base, attached to the substrate and pressed again, all together. This is a very high-quality, but also very expensive material.
2. CPL marking means that the laminate was made using a belt press at a lower pressure than the previous one. This is the most popular material when price harmonizes with quality.
3. The cheapest laminates are labeled DPL. In the manufacture of this material, all layers are pressed simultaneously. Since the prime cost is usually low, the price in stores is acceptable, so a laminate with such a mark is in great demand, despite the fact that it is inferior in quality to the first two.

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Glue or castle?

When buying a laminate, it is necessary to take into account such a criterion as the method of installation of the panels. There are two of them:

• glue;
• castle.

Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. When gluing, the panels are glued to the ends. With a lock - on each panel there are fasteners.

Advantages of adhesive technology

Advantages of the adhesive installation method are undeniable:

• wear resistance;
• durability;
• cheapness;
• lack of exposure to moisture.

Minuses

But there are a number of disadvantages:

• such panels are difficult to mount on their own; specialist assistance is needed;
• for the “warm floor” system such panels are not suitable;
• if one panel fails, the floor will have to be completely shifted.

Pluses of locks

The advantages of the castle method.

• You can replace any panel.
• such a laminate can be laid quickly and easily.
• Installation Assistant is optional.

Minuses

The disadvantages of such panels are that:

• they cost more than glues;
• moisture may get into the joints;
• panels serve less than those with adhesive bonding.

Important! In addition, before choosing a castle-type laminate, pay attention to the fact that the fasteners can also be different.

• lok;
• click.

In the first case, the panels are driven one into the other, in the second - at the ends there are special fasteners that snap into place. Lok type laminate is usually cheaper.

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To laminate served for a long time

The main enemies of the laminate are dirt and water. Unfortunately, dirt is constantly being brought into apartments. Therefore, care should be regular. What will it include? - You do not have to carry out any extremely complex events:

1. The first remedy that will save your floors is a door mat. It must be cleaned regularly.
2. Not all types of laminate tolerate moisture well. Therefore, if you can not afford to install a moisture-resistant laminate and you have chosen a relatively cheap one, forget about mopping.In this case, a vacuum cleaner will help you out, just take care of a special nozzle.
3. If you have a moisture-resistant laminate - you should not wash it with washing powder either. In the hardware store you can easily find a tool specifically designed for this type of coating, and instructions for use are always on the packaging.

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Stock footage

Now you not only have an idea of ​​what classes of laminate are and how to choose it correctly, but also know how to care for it in order to preserve the original properties of the coating. We hope that you not only managed to buy an inexpensive and high-quality laminate, but you were able to do it yourself with your own hands, which means you received double moral pleasure from the appearance of your house.