Which floor is better to make in an apartment: characteristics of materials. Ceramic tiles and porcelain tiles

When renovating an apartment, very little attention is paid to the floors; the main thing is that they are smooth, sound and durable. However, this element of the home has become more in demand in design. Lately you can find not only classic options finishing, but also quite original. So, what floors are best for an apartment?

Parquet is still in fashion. However, now it is no longer the same as it was before - in the shape of a laid Christmas tree. Now it is made in the form of special shields, which are covered with valuable types of wood. Unique piece parquet is the most expensive, but with its help you can create a real work of art on the floor. For such parquet, beech, maple, ash, oak, as well as exotic wood species are usually used.

When deciding which floors are best to install in an apartment, you can come to the conclusion that parquet is not only a very expensive option, but also capricious in terms of maintenance. Many people choose parquet boards. It is made in such a way that it allows itself to be updated several times, which is an important factor. It can be used to cover all rooms, even loggias. Laying is carried out on a flat floor using the floating method, that is, without using glue. The boards have locking connections. In terms of maintenance, it is less capricious than parquet, and it is also cheaper.

If you are deciding what floors to install in your apartment, then it is worth considering some other options. For example, laminate. It perfectly conveys the texture and color of various types of wood, and can imitate stone, leather, and ceramic tiles. The most popular are those that imitate exotic dark woods or oak. In addition to natural natural colors, you can find examples of green, orange and blue shades.

Speaking about which floors are best to make in an apartment, it is worth saying that recently woven carpets - mats - have become increasingly popular. They are made from natural fibers cane, flax, sisal, hemp and jute. These coatings differ in texture, size and color. Their advantages are hypoallergenic, antistatic, massage effect, and do not attract dust. Such coatings do not tolerate dampness and require careful handling. Mats look very good in minimalist interiors.

If we talk about what kind of floors are better to make in an apartment so that it is easy to walk on them barefoot, then there is an answer - from cork. This coating is light, elastic, environmentally friendly, it does not rot, and feet do not slip on it. Cork dies, which are varnished, can have different designs and colors: light, dark, or with some kind of pattern.

If you decide to make the floor in new apartment, then it’s worth mentioning the most unusual coating - glass. Nobody says that the entire floor should be glass; a few small rectangular windows are quite enough. They can be filled with pebbles, colored glass, sand, and shells. You can make a transparent podium or several. Tempered glass is used for the floor.

It turns out that you can have different floors in the apartment.

Materials for decorative finishing residential premises must meet the following requirements:

In practice, all of the above requirements can be realized if you pay attention to:

1. material type;
2. wear resistance class;
3. coating manufacturer;
4. additional features.

Types of Home Flooring

In residential premises, the following types of coatings are used for finishing floors:

• are narrow MDF panels with protective and decorative coating. In recent decades, the material has become extremely popular. However, some experts dispute the advisability of its use in apartments. The process of laying laminate flooring is quite labor-intensive, and the material itself is more expensive than linoleum and carpet. Despite the fact that the coating is based on wood waste (shavings and sawdust), its thermal conductivity is higher than that of natural wood. Finally, the surface of many types of laminate flooring is very slippery;
• Parquet is one of oldest varieties floor coverings. Complex compositions from valuable rocks natural wood look like real works of art and last for decades. The other side of the coin is the high cost of the coating and the complexity of its maintenance. Without regular sanding and impregnation with varnish or special mastic, parquet loses its attractive appearance and collapses;
• Ceramic is the leader in wear resistance. The material offers an endless number of design options, is easy to clean from any type of contaminant, and does not provoke allergies or asthma. However, due to their high thermal conductivity, ceramic tiles are laid on the floor in kitchens, bathrooms, restrooms, on balconies and loggias.

Wear resistance class and coating manufacturers

The surface of floor coverings gradually wears off during use. As a result, the material loses its decorative properties and is destroyed.

Advice. It is easy to check a particular synthetic material (linoleum, laminate or carpet) for compliance with environmental standards. To do this, just smell it. Poor quality coatings emit a pungent chemical odor. Usually it does not weather even after several years of use.

Operating conditions and loads in industrial, office and residential premises vary significantly, so it is not possible to create a universal coating. However, calculating typical loads is quite simple. Based on these data, it is possible to vary the strength of the material depending on its purpose.

The wear resistance class is indicated by a two-digit number. The first digit indicates the type of room:

• 2 - residential;
• 3 - office;
• 4 - production.

The second number indicates the intensity of the load from 1 (low) to 4 (very high).

Thus, material of wear resistance class 21 is suitable for a pantry or bedroom in an apartment, and 44 is suitable for an industrial workshop in which equipment and all kinds of mechanisms move quite intensively.

Advice. The division into wear resistance classes is conditional. Industrial and office coatings can also be used at home. In practice, a reasonable safety margin should be provided. Many manufacturers have stopped producing materials for floor finishing 21-24 classes, since their use in apartments is impractical. Laying coatings for industrial use in residential areas also does not make sense, but due to the excessive safety factor. It should be remembered that increasing the wear resistance class increases the cost of the material.

On Russian territory wide use received floor coverings produced by domestic and European companies. Products of foreign companies are leaders in the premium segment. Goods Russian manufacturers practical and cheap, but do not cover the elite segments of the market.

What flooring is best for the kitchen and bathroom?

In the kitchen, droplets of grease often fall onto the floor, and in the bathroom the coating is used in conditions of high humidity. Parquet, carpet and ordinary brands of laminate quickly collapse under this kind of load.

Ceramic tiles are suitable for the kitchen and bathroom. It does not deteriorate from constant contact with water and frequent cleaning using abrasives. detergents and hard brushes. Linoleum has similar properties, but removing old grease stains from it is quite difficult.

Some manufacturers produce special waterproof brands of laminated parquet. They can also be used in bathrooms and kitchens. However, only the outer surface of the material is covered with waterproof protection. The joints between the panels must be carefully coated with glue, otherwise the laminate will deform and become unusable.

Systems are often installed in bathrooms and kitchens. Such equipment is quite affordable, reliable and practical. However, some types of coatings, primarily parquet, become deformed due to prolonged heating. The thermal conductivity of other materials is so low that placement under them heating elements doesn't make sense.

For sharing with warm floors Ceramic tiles are great. When choosing laminate, linoleum and carpet, you should pay attention to the special markings and manufacturer’s recommendations.

Flooring for residential premises should be environmentally friendly, practical and affordable. You need to be especially careful when choosing materials for the kitchen and bathroom or when used together with underfloor heating systems. The durability of the coating is indicated by the wear resistance class. Defective or low-quality products can be easily recognized by their pungent chemical smell.

How to choose linoleum for an apartment - video

In a private home, your hands are free. There are far fewer restrictions here than in an apartment high-rise. You can combine different kinds floors in a private house. For example, cover the floor of the second floor with parquet, and finish the first floor with tiles.

Create, invent, try. If you want to install a water-based heated floor, go ahead, there is no risk of flooding your neighbors in this situation. You decide for yourself what types of flooring to choose for your private home.

In multi-storey new buildings, reinforced concrete floor slabs serve as the basis for the floors. In private two- and three-story houses this is not such a strict rule. But the popularity of the technology is obvious.

Overlapping from reinforced concrete slabs has a number of advantages. First of all, it is durability. Reinforced concrete, often pre-treated stressed reinforcement, provides reliability of the overlap. Thanks to the air-filled cylindrical voids of the slab, it provides a comfortable level of thermal and sound permeability. With careful installation, the floor and ceiling come out smooth and suitable for final processing.

Such ceilings are installed using a crane. The slabs are laid on load-bearing walls or reinforced concrete frame columns. Poured over the ceilings cement-sand screed. Ceiling seams are puttied.

The advantage of this type of floors is that they serve as a universal basis for final finishing of any type. The variety is very great:

• from laying linoleum to typesetting parquet subfloor lying on the joists;
• from painting the ceiling with water-based emulsion to stretch ceiling with designer lamps.

Pure concrete floors are rarely installed in private homes. An exception may be a painted concrete screed in the basement. There are no strict requirements for coating, especially if you do not install waterproofing.

Wooden floors in a private house

The tree is the most traditional material floor covering. Wooden floors are warm, environmentally friendly, and familiar. Disadvantages include possible creaks, a decrease in the height of the room when laying materials on logs.

Wooden floors are usually laid on concrete screed. Options for covering iron I-beams are exotic. On top of the rough floor, a finished wooden floor is constructed from tongue-and-groove boards. It is possible to lay parquet, both type-setting and panel parquet. A recently fashionable option is flooring from a cork.

Wood-effect floors are popular. This is a laminate flooring made of pressed cardboard with glued decorative film. Patterns on the laminate can also look like parquet. This is a very popular combination, primarily due to the attractive price-quality ratio. Installing laminate flooring is easier than installing traditional plank wood flooring.

Warm floors allowed!

A private house is better than an apartment house in that it is not prohibited to install heated floors. Even on water based. The main thing is to take into account their presence in the project. IN apartment building You will never be allowed to implement such an idea without creating autonomous heating.

The cheapest heated floor to operate - with water coolant, heated gas boiler. The disadvantages of this option include its greater thickness compared to the electric one. This eats up some of the height of the room. Moreover, if you do not install a heated floor in all rooms, but, for example, only in the bathroom, then in it it will be 10-15 cm higher than in others. And you will have to either accept this or raise the level of flooring in other rooms on the floor.

Warm floor heating from electrical network thinner than water. It is easier to arrange, more convenient to regulate, and turns on and off faster. When designing, it is necessary to take into account the availability of a power supply with a power reserve.

The finishing coating for heated floors is varied. You can choose laminate or tile. But it is not recommended to choose parquet, since it usually drys out.

There are technologies that involve the use of special foil instead of an electrical cable. This ensures a minimum thickness of the heated floor, which almost does not eat up the height of the room and allows you to level the level of the coating using a threshold. This option is a little more expensive than cable, but it provides better floor evenness.

Self-leveling floor coverings

Floors that contain a polymer are traditionally called poured floors. There are options when the polymer is mixed with traditional cement and sand. And there are entirely polymer materials.

Mixed types of poured floors include the so-called self-leveling ones. In addition to cement and sand, their composition includes a small amount of polymer plasticizer, which increases the fluidity of the solution. This allows the coating to form a perfectly horizontal surface without leveling, which is very convenient. I poured the self-leveling mixture in a more or less even layer over the entire room - and rest. The coating will spread itself and form a smooth surface without blemishes. Such floors are becoming increasingly popular.

There are several types of polymer bulk mixtures:

• highly filled floor, which is especially durable;
• epoxy coating - resistant to mechanical and chemical influences;
• polyurethane flooring is very elastic, but does not tolerate contact with chemicals;
• methyl methacrylate from acrylic resins - hardens in just a couple of hours.

Polymer self-leveling floors are usually made in industrial or public buildings. They are very technologically advanced and allow you to fill huge rooms with an even, mirror-like layer without seams. It is very beautiful, especially if there is a large enough open space.

In a private city or country house large open spaces are rare, and self-leveling floors do not look so impressive. A smooth, mirror-like surface subjectively looks slippery and cold. Therefore, self-leveling floors are used relatively rarely in private housing construction.

Floor tiles: advantages and disadvantages

Tiled floors in private homes are done quite often. This is bathroom flooring and toilet rooms, kitchens, hallways. They are quite appropriate here. The Italian tradition of having tile and stone floors in bedrooms is not for our climate.

The advantages of tiles include the following qualities:

• Moisture resistance. The material can be used in rooms with any level of humidity. Right down to the laundries.
• Hygiene. The tiled floor is easy to clean, including using chemicals. Dirt does not linger on it, is not absorbed into the seams, and does not penetrate into the tiles.

The disadvantages of floor tiles often include the feeling of cold that occurs when a person stands on it barefoot, especially when getting out of a hot bath. If a terry rug does not solve the problem, install a warm floor under tiled covering. This is possible in a private home.

Is it worth laying carpet?

Advantages of the material as a finishing coating for floors in a private home:

• Tactile pleasantness. It is good to walk on carpet barefoot.
• High thermal insulation ability. Even material lying on a cold screed creates a feeling of warmth.
• Huge selection. There are a lot of carpets available in different colors, patterns, textures, and base compositions.

The coating also has disadvantages:

• Carpet easily collects dust and dirt. They get clogged between the fibers and are difficult to remove with a vacuum cleaner. But the material does not like moisture, which makes wet cleaning difficult.
• The carpet is fading. Under straight lines sun rays it loses its color and becomes dull.
• Wine and coffee stains are difficult to remove from the coating. Traces of coffee or wine will most likely remain. Or there will be traces of their removal.

When purchasing carpet, pay attention to the fact that the label mentions the treatment with sanitary and fire-fighting compounds. This material will not harbor ticks and will not blaze like a match in a fire.

Carpet is appropriate in dust-free, little-trafficked rooms. For example, in bedrooms. Maybe in children's rooms. You should not use carpet to cover floors in corridors where people wear dirty shoes, and in kitchens where there is a high risk of contamination from spilled liquids, including greasy ones. Excellent in terms of price-quality ratio, easy to install, carpet enjoys deserved popularity in budget projects private houses.

Features of earthen floors

Nowadays this type of flooring in a private home is very rare. The technology for its creation is quite complex and requires considerable financial costs. However, this is precisely the gender chosen by fanatical supporters of barefooting.

They believe that walking barefoot on the ground is very beneficial. When walking barefoot, points on the soles of the feet are activated, connected to literally everything internal organs person, which improves health. Chinese sages claimed that walking barefoot relieves stress and fills a person with the energy of the Earth. All of these can be arguments in favor of installing a clay or earthen floor in the house.

Floors in a house with and without a basement

Long gone are the days when it was prohibited to build a basement in a country house. If you are already building your own house, then there is little reason to refuse basement. It can accommodate a laundry room, pantry, and boiler room.

The presence of a basement in the house simplifies the situation with ensuring thermal comfort of the flooring of the first floor. If there is even an unheated but ventilated room under the ceiling, the thermal conditions of the ground floor floor are much more favorable than when arranging the floor on the ground.

If you have already dug a basement, use a cement-sand screed for the floor. At least for waterproofing. You never know what groundwater will suddenly rise and flood your basement. Lay the simplest linoleum on top of the screed - and don’t worry about anything.

If the ceilings of the basement and first floor are made of reinforced concrete slabs, then the floors of the upper and lower floors can be made of any material. Ceramic or porcelain tiles can be used in bathrooms, toilets and kitchens. Lay laminate flooring in hallways, living rooms, bedrooms and offices. In the utility rooms of the basement, prime and paint the self-leveling cement-sand screed.

If there is no basement, the comfort of walking on the floor of the first floor should be taken care of separately. The problem can be solved by creating wooden flooring along the joists. Thermal insulation is laid in the gaps between the joists. For this purpose, natural and synthetic materials are used.

You should take care of the choice of flooring at the design stage of a private house. This way you will ensure comfort during its operation for many years to come. Everything is at your disposal modern options- self-leveling screeds, laminate flooring and even heated floors.

We are looking for an answer: how to make a warm floor in a private house on a wooden floor

A beautiful floor is immediately transformative. appearance apartments and decorates the interior. Manufacturers offer consumers wide choose floor coverings made from different materials having different appearance and performance characteristics. The most popular are linoleum, laminate, parquet, and ceramic tiles. There are other less commonly used materials. Depending on the design of the house and personal preferences, everyone chooses their own flooring. It’s up to you to decide how to cover the floor in your apartment, and we will tell you the advantages and disadvantages of each type of flooring.

When choosing flooring, everyone is guided by their own criteria. For some, it is important that the material is natural, and they prefer wooden floors or parquet. Someone values ​​practicality and an affordable price and chooses linoleum, and ceramic tiles in the bathroom and kitchen. Well, for someone modern look and a wide assortment of laminate flooring seduces. When solving the problem of how to make a floor in an apartment, you will, of course, be faced with choosing a floor covering. Let's look at the most popular ones.

Parquet

Parquet floors never go out of style. However, modern parquet bears little resemblance to similar material known in the last century. Today, piece parquet is rarely used. You don't have to lay each plank in a herringbone or checkerboard pattern; the manufacturers have done it for you. Buyers are offered large billboards with a design laid out on them. For the manufacture of such shields are used valuable species tree.

Block parquet allows with my own hands create the floor of your dreams

However, if you want to create own design floor, then you should take piece parquet. It is made from oak, maple, beech, ash and other durable woods. There are computer programs that allow you to create your own design from parquet planks. In the same program you can calculate the number of slats needed for each color.

Parquet is quite an expensive pleasure, but such floors look representative and solid. However, it should be taken into account that parquet flooring requires special care. This is especially true for piece parquet.

Parquet board

This type of flooring is cheaper than parquet, but is also made from natural wood. This material is easier both to install and to maintain. The parquet board is a wide single-strip board. It is manufactured with several rows of dies in finishing layer. Models are available with a selected chamfer. Parquet boards are produced different shades, which will help you receive individual design floor in your apartment.

Structure parquet board

Parquet boards can be scraped, which makes it possible to renew them many times. Parquet boards are laid like a floating floor, that is, using locks and without gluing.

Laminate

This material is created to imitate, as a rule, surfaces made of natural wood. It consists of several layers. Upper layer- This is paper coated with a special composition with an image printed on it.

Laminate structure

Available in 3 classes:

• domestic;
• commercial;
• semi-commercial.

The surface of this material can have not only different patterns, but also different textures:

• brilliant;
• matte;
• smooth;
• raised.

Most often, this material in its appearance conveys the texture and color of natural wood. However, there is laminate for tiles, stone and even leather. For lovers original designs Manufacturers produce models with multi-colored slats.

Laminate has an affordable price and, due to its ease of installation, allows you to get beautiful floors in short term. The commercial laminate line offers models with fairly high moisture resistance, but in general this material is not intended for rooms with high humidity and is afraid of water. To increase its service life, laminate flooring should be protected from excess moisture and heavy mechanical stress.

Wood

This floor is environmentally friendly, has classic look and fits well into any interior. This material is natural and warm in itself, it is pleasant to walk on barefoot, which attracts many users. Wooden floors are easy to insulate and installation is not difficult. This is usually a multi-layer structure:

• waterproofing;
• rough floor;
• insulation;
• finishing floor

Boards for wooden floors can be made from both budget species (pine, spruce, alder) and more expensive ones (oak, larch, mahogany, wenge).

Wooden floor - warm and comfortable

At proper care such a floor will last at least 30 years.

Linoleum

This is the most common flooring in the residential sector today. Consumers are attracted by the low price and big choice this material. The offered linoleum differs not only in color and applied pattern, but also in surface texture. This is a coating that can be chosen to suit any design.

Modern linoleum is made from high quality polymer materials and is absolutely harmless to human health. Available with or without polyurethane foam.

Laying linoleum does not require special skills

Linoleum is not afraid of moisture. It is easy to install and has a fairly durable coating. At proper preparation the base of the floor and the choice of high-quality material, such a coating will serve for many years. A floor covered with linoleum does not require special care.

Ceramic tile

It's practically irreplaceable material for arranging floors in the bathroom, toilet, kitchen and hallway. Manufacturers offer a wide selection of ceramic tiles and porcelain tiles, which have not only different designs, but also different sizes, shape, surface texture.

This is an environmentally friendly material that is made from natural materials. The tiled floor is durable and not afraid of moisture. When installed properly, such floors have a neat beautiful view and are durable.

Tiles on the bathroom floor are not only beautiful, but also practical

It is important that floors covered with ceramic tiles are very easy to care for.

Cork

This natural coating for flooring, which has the only drawback - it is quite expensive. These floors are durable, warm, and pleasant to walk on barefoot. Cork floors are easy to install and durable. Gently springing underfoot, they thereby reduce the load on the spine, which is extremely beneficial for the human body.

Construction stores offer cork covering different colors and with different patterns.

Self-leveling floors

This the new kind coatings are gaining more and more admirers. Applicable as rough coating for the floor materials described above, and as a finished floor. Particularly popular are self-leveling floors with 3D patterns, which have a realistic three-dimensional image on their surface.

3d floors look very realistic

To give the self-leveling floor additional strength and decorative effect it is covered with a layer of polymer or special varnish. Polymer floors are resistant to aggressive substances and mechanical stress. They are easy to care for and durable.

Non-standard approach

Sometimes creating a complete interior composition requires the use of unusual floor materials.

Mats

These are original carpets woven from natural fibers of reed, jute, flax or hemp. Such floors are used to create designs in the minimalist style or for folk interiors. Mats may have different shape, sizes and colors. They are antistatic and have a massage effect on the foot.

Floor covering "Mat"

As a rule, a self-leveling floor is made under such a coating.

Rough wood effect and color schemes

Nowadays, wooden floors are very fashionable, creating a visual effect rough wood or aged surface. Such a floor only seems rough and uncouth; in fact, processing wood in this style requires great skill. These boards feel smooth and carefully processed to the touch.

Today, color contrast is fashionable. The most popular floor colors are very dark, black and almost white, very light colors.

Warm floor

Manufacturers of flooring are constantly working to make them comfortable and convenient for people. A comfortable floor must be warm and pleasant to move on it not only in shoes, but also barefoot.

Warm floors solve the problem of heating a home and make it comfortable for the human body. Using the "Warm Floor" system, you can make the flooring comfortable not only in the room, but also in the corridor, bathroom and on a glazed balcony or loggia.

Warm water floor - comfort and convenience!

There are 3 types of heated floors:

• cable;
• film;
• aquatic.

Warm floors can be installed under almost any covering, and allow you to hide pipe connections, wiring and remove radiators from the room.

Insulation and floor repair

The floor should not only be beautiful, but also be warm. Warm floors preserve the health of those living in the house, and also give them coziness and comfort. A properly insulated floor will prevent the formation of condensation and freezing of corners, and protect the house from mold.

Traditionally, several methods of floor insulation are used:

1. Laying stone, mineral or glass wool under the main floor. When creating an insulating “pie,” vapor barrier and waterproofing materials are additionally used.
2. Use of polystyrene foam for insulation. Additionally, a vapor barrier is installed. Seams and joints are covered with putty or mastic.
3. Spraying liquid polyurethane foam, which creates a monolithic coating. This insulating layer has excellent thermal insulation properties.
4. The use of thermal insulation materials based on foamed polyethylene or wood fiber boards.
5. Insulation with special thick linoleum.

You shouldn't skimp on floor repairs. Both during arrangement and during repairs, it is important to follow the stages and sequence of work. By purchasing quality materials and following the installation technology, you will get a strong, beautiful and durable floor covering in your home.

Owners of new city apartments with rough finishing and real estate in which there is work to be done major renovation, will not be able to avoid laying the flooring. The interior design of premises and their operating conditions, as well as comfort in the home, depend on it. Analysis of operational and technical characteristics offered materials.

Main types of flooring

When considering modern flooring for an apartment, property owners choose between the following materials:

• linoleum;
• ceramic tiles and porcelain stoneware;
• laminate;
• piece or artistic parquet;
• cork floor;

All flooring materials in the apartment are distinguished by a variety of designs, long service life, simple care. Differences - in installation methods, complexity preparatory work, cost and practical characteristics.

Laminate or linoleum?

With a limited budget, the choice of the best flooring for an apartment is traditionally made between linoleum and laminate. Linoleum – classic solution, this material is characterized by ease of installation, long service life and a variety of assortments. Manufacturers offer flooring for rooms with any traffic intensity. The design of the collections is impressively diverse: the linoleum pattern can be anything - abstract, wood or tile, metal or parquet, natural stone or pebbles. The main advantage of the material is its ease of installation; the work can be done independently, without the involvement of specialists.


Laminate is a trend of the last decade; this material is presented in different price categories, can be used in “warm floor” systems and is distinguished by a variety of collections. Manufacturers offer waterproof laminate for bathrooms and kitchens made from PVC. Laying the flooring is done using simple tools, but requires a level base and care during the work. It is imperative to use a substrate that compensates for minor defects in the base and improves sound insulation.
When choosing what to make the floor from - linoleum or laminate, you need to evaluate the quality of the base.

An uneven screed will cause the laminate locks to begin to break, and cracks will appear into which water will enter. An ideal base and a competent choice of laminate according to abrasion class are the best solution for budget renovation. Linoleum is indispensable when there is no way to improve the quality of the screed. The foam base of this flooring can compensate for minor imperfections in the subfloor.

Which floor is better to make in an apartment: parquet, parquet board or cork?

When deciding what to put on the floor in the apartment, fans are environmentally pure materials choose between block parquet, cork flooring and parquet boards. For luxury city apartments, these floor coverings can compete with artistic parquet, which differs exquisite design and high cost.


Parquet and cork panels are an expensive covering for the flooring of a room, the choice of which should be taken seriously. special attention. Block parquet is made from hardwood the best varieties. Its service life exceeds 50 years, the material is not afraid of high loads, and sanding can restore its ideal appearance during scheduled repairs. The disadvantages of the material include its cost and the need to involve specialists in installation.

Cork flooring is available in two types - tiles and panels with a lock. For self-installation The question: which flooring is better is rhetorical. Cork veneer tiles must be glued onto perfect surface, and then cover it, like parquet, with varnish. The interlocking cork covering is laid according to the laminate principle and this work can be done without the involvement of craftsmen.

The competition between parquet and cork is parquet boards - a compromise solution not only in price, but also in quality. Panels of this material resemble laminate and have lock connection and are easy to install. Unlike parquet or solid board The thickness of expensive wood is only 4-6 mm, which reduces the cost of the material. The basis of the parquet board is timber made of coniferous species, glued perpendicularly onto thin pine veneer. This design guarantees the strength and durability of the floor covering and meets strict environmental standards.


When deciding what is better to lay on the floor - parquet or parquet boards, tiles or cork panels, you need to be guided by your budget. All materials are environmentally friendly, with individual texture and long service life. Parquet and cork tiles are suitable for exclusive interiors, parquet boards and cork panels are the best solution in a classic style.

Moisture-resistant floor in a city apartment

When analyzing which flooring to choose for a kitchen or bathroom, you need to take into account the likelihood of puddles forming on the floor. A spilled pot, a malfunctioning dishwasher, or a loose water heater hose can cause puddles to form on the floor. Water is the main enemy of wood, laminate, and cork. It is for this reason that there are reliable moisture-resistant flooring materials– ceramic and clinker tiles, porcelain stoneware, self-leveling floors.

Ceramic tile distinguished by a variety of assortments and affordable price. This optimal choice For small rooms with high humidity. This material competes with clinker tiles and porcelain stoneware. They are highly resistant to abrasion, strength, and frost resistance. When deciding what is best for covering the floor in a garage, the choice is clinker tiles, since they do not absorb machine oil. In a city apartment you can use any option, thanks to impressive variety collections.

Competing with the tile material is self-leveling flooring, which is characterized by durability, strength, and water resistance. Material suppliers offer exclusive solutions for any interior. The only disadvantage of self-leveling floors is the high cost and the need to attract qualified specialists.

Choosing flooring for different rooms

When choosing floor coverings in an apartment, it is difficult to determine what is best for all rooms. All rooms differ in traffic intensity, air humidity, and environmental requirements. It is not difficult to answer a fairly simple question - which is better for covering the floor in the kitchen - ceramic tiles or parquet - but choosing between linoleum and laminate in the living room is problematic. It is necessary to take into account the quality of the subfloor and the qualifications of the craftsman.

Depending on the purpose of the rooms, you should choose between the following materials:

• hallway - semi-commercial linoleum, laminate of 23 or 31 classes, cork flooring of 23 classes, ceramic tiles or porcelain tiles;
• bathroom and toilet - ceramic tiles, porcelain stoneware, PVC laminate, self-leveling floors;
• kitchen - ceramic or clinker tiles, porcelain stoneware, PVC laminate;
• living room - class 22 or 23 laminate, cork, parquet, parquet board, linoleum;
• children's room - grade 23 cork, parquet boards, parquet;
• bedroom - laminate, thin parquet boards, parquet;
• balcony or loggia - linoleum, ceramic tiles, porcelain stoneware.

For bedrooms and children's rooms, the environmental friendliness of the materials used is important; the bathroom and kitchen are demanding on the moisture resistance of the coating. Abrasion-resistant materials are used in the hallway of a city apartment.

Property owners often wonder: what is best to use for underfloor heating? These heating systems are popular best choice for them there will be ceramic tiles, clinker or laminate. When using parquet or parquet boards in rooms with heated floors, you should avoid collections made of hornbeam, cedar or maple and give preference to teak or merbau. In this case, the flooring will last as long as possible, and its exterior will remain impeccable.

Vinyl flooring: features and benefits

If someone thinks parquet is an expensive pleasure, then they will probably see a vinyl floor covering a worthy alternative. Many people attribute to him positive features, which characterize wood flooring and linoleum. At the same time, there are no bad sides that competitors have. The owners of an apartment or private house have the opportunity to decorate any interior by choosing best solution using vinyl covering.

The structure of vinyl flooring and its advantages

The production technology involves the inclusion of polyvinyl chloride, chemically inactive fillers, crushed quartz and some other components in the material. A decent appearance and proper shape are achieved by pressing high temperatures. Synthetic components should not cause concern that during operation they can serve as a source of toxic substances, thereby posing a potential threat to the health of inhabitants.

If you look at the cross-sectional plane of the vinyl coating, you can distinguish the following layers:

1. At the very bottom there is a layer of polyvinyl chloride. It is adjacent to the base of the floor. The polymer strengthens the vinyl flooring.
2. Above is a reinforcing layer of fiber made from woven glass threads. Thanks to it, any kind of factors acting from the inside and outside are not able to change the shape of the product.
3. The so-called interlayer, which consists of quartz and sand, also strengthens the structure.
4. Decorative film. The topmost layer is also represented by a polymer – polyurethane. First of all, it is entrusted with the task of preventing the destruction of the product in the event of moisture, mechanical stress or ultraviolet rays. Sometimes there are modules with a convex surface or a surface on which the sole does not slide. On the other hand, decorative film is designed to create the impression that the floor is covered with stone, wood, leather, etc.

Advantages and disadvantages of vinyl covering

Advantages of vinyl covering:

1. From all the huge variegated variety, you can choose the color or pattern of the coating in accordance with your design tastes.
2. Many of those for whom vinyl flooring serves long time, for sure, were convinced of its practicality. The original appearance remains almost unchanged, the surface is not scratched, and no dents are formed when light objects fall on the floor.
3. Vinyl is comfortable in humid environments. Therefore, they can safely cover the floor in the bathroom or kitchen.
4. To restore a well-groomed appearance, there is no need to use chemicals. It is enough to wipe it with a cloth soaked in plain water.
5. The structure appears monolithic in appearance; the seams on the floor are almost invisible - the elements fit so tightly to each other.
6. Almost every owner can handle the installation of vinyl, just like this repair, with minimal professional skills.
7. Even if you walk barefoot on vinyl flooring in winter, your feet will not feel cold.
8. Finishing your floor with vinyl will cost less than some other options.

Disadvantages of vinyl flooring:

1. High requirements for the subfloor - it must be smooth and clean. Otherwise, the vinyl coating will wear out or deteriorate before the operating period allotted to it by the manufacturer.
2. Toxins spread only when the material catches fire due to the carelessness of the owners.
3. The old vinyl covering, taken to a landfill after dismantling, will lie there for decades without decomposing into simple components.
4. If, for example, in a bathroom, you put a rubber mat on a vinyl floor, then after some time a stain will form under it - the polymer reacts with prolonged contact with rubber by discoloration or paleness.

Vinyl flooring sizes

Rectangular tiles 600 mm long and 300 mm wide. In addition to regular vinyl tiles, there is a quartz-vinyl version on sale. In the latter case, the floor covering is more resistant to chemicals and mechanical loads, an excellent electrical insulator. Quartz-vinyl tiles have proven themselves well in those rooms that will be frequently visited by people.

Roll coating. Each such roll contains fabric from 15 to 20 meters long and 2 meters wide. It is advisable to use in large rooms.

Laminated modules, each of which is a slab, elongated up to 920 mm in length and 100 mm or 180 mm wide. A ball of fiberglass or felt, in direct contact with the base of the floor, plays the role of a shock-absorbing substrate, softening sudden mechanical loads when walking. The smallest thickness is 1.5 mm. The pattern of the front side gives the vinyl covering a resemblance to a wood structure or makes it externally difficult to distinguish from real bamboo.

Methods for installing vinyl floor coverings

Actually, from the name “adhesive” the essence of installation is clear - with the help of glue, the application of which is usually done using a spatula. It is convenient to apply pressure to the base of the floor using a roller.

Locking modules require the orientation of two plates to be connected in such a way that the tongue of the first one fits into the groove of the other. The end result is a truly secure connection, like a lock. This method The good thing is that during installation no additional fixing agents are required.

Self-adhesive vinyl tiles have an adhesive layer on the back side under an easily removable film. The film is needed to prevent the adhesive from drying out. It is removed immediately before laying the tiles on the subfloor. Press the laid tiles by rolling a rubber roller.