The time has passed when the circle of floor coveringslimited to parquet, linoleum and painted boards. What should you choose today for your bathroom, kitchen, hallway, living room and bedroom? Modern materials are real design solutions. Taking into account their technical features is not an easy task, especially since they can be completely different for each room. We asked Timur Abdrakhmanov, founder and managing director of the designer renovation service Quadrim, about which type of finishing floor covering is preferable depending on the purpose of the room.
How to choose
- It is not enough to know the characteristics of the material, because many coatings have similar characteristics. It is worth starting with general selection criteria - they can become significant limiting factors.
- Location of the room. For example, if the apartment is on the first floor, and in the basement dampness, then you have to choose only moisture-resistant materials.
- Stacking technology. The thickness of different materials, especially after laying, is significantly different, which can create obstacles and discomfort when moving from room to room. To avoid this, it is necessary to do an equalizing screed.
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- The price of the material. Artistic parquet and natural stone are not the most accessible materials, therefore, when choosing them, the price should be considered before the aesthetic effect. This material is suitable, for example, if you really need to emphasize your social status.
- State of overlappings. It is not always possible to make a concrete screed in an apartment with wooden ceilings, before you need to calculate the load in order to avoid emergency situations. And the majority of modern finishing floor coverings require an even basis.
- Composition of inhabitants. If a large family with children and pets lives in the apartment, you will have to choose something durable and easy to clean.
Now let's see how the finishing dependsfrom the features of each room. This way we will get a priority set of technical and operational characteristics of the material, which will help us make the best choice. Related articles Bedroom — coziness and comfort The peculiarity of the room is that it is a place for rest, where you want silence, the opportunity to walk barefoot, enjoy the kind of coziness that does not depend on fashion, but on personal taste. Laminate is preferred for the bedroom, as a more durable and rich in texture finish. But the laminate is cold, so you will have to compensate for this disadvantage with a heating system or cover the floor with a thick carpet. More comfortable solutions are “warm” floor coverings, such as carpet, natural wood, parquet, parquet board. The advantage here is for the parquet board: it is cheaper than parquet, but is not inferior to it in appearance. This is a natural material with good heat-insulating properties, easy to care for and durable.
Children's room - safety and practicalityThese are the qualities of floor coverings that parents pay the most attention to. The top 5 natural materials on the modern construction market are: cork, carpets made of natural fibers, wooden parquet, bamboo parquet, and natural linoleum. Cork is in first place for a reason. It is highly durable, water-resistant, does not creak, and dampens noise. It is especially valuable that it is antistatic, hypoallergenic, and bactericidal, and does not collect dust. It provides excellent tactile sensations (soft, warm), and due to its elasticity, it reduces the load on a child’s fragile spine.
Corridor and hallway - wear resistance HereIt is important to combine two criteria. Firstly, wear resistance, as these rooms take the brunt of the elements from the street. Secondly, this is where guests evaluate your home, and the hallway should represent it with dignity. The best coverings are considered to be porcelain stoneware and ceramic tiles. Both materials are resistant to moisture, easy to clean from any dirt, even from traces of rubber shoes, durable. At the same time, they are aesthetically pleasing and provide great opportunities for interior decoration. Porcelain stoneware is even more durable than tiles, and has great opportunities for creating a unique design, because it perfectly imitates the texture of any natural stone and wood.
Kitchen and bathroom - confrontation with aggressiveenvironment These premises have increased requirements for many characteristics, but priorities here can be very individual. Let's evaluate the main characteristics of floor coverings that can withstand aggressive environments.
Since the floor in the bathroom is primarily importantfirst of all, moisture resistance, laminate will not work. A floor in the bathroom made of natural stone will not be very comfortable, because it is difficult to maintain and does not retain heat well. Therefore, the best option for this room is tiles or porcelain stoneware. Additional advantages of a tiled bathroom floor: many variations of the pattern, from plain to patterns. There are also many ways to lay it - diagonally, parallel, staggered, herringbone.
Additional benefits of a bathroom floor made ofporcelain stoneware: combines the advantages of natural stone and tiles, so it is exceptionally strong and durable. It can be imitated to look like any material, even metal and fabric. Natural stone is suitable for a luxury kitchen. It is luxurious, unique and not just aesthetically pleasing - for decades the floor in your kitchen will look as if it was just made. True, to maintain this condition, care and polishing from time to time are required.
Ceramic tiles for the kitchen are good in every way,except that you will have to put up with the loss of dishes that fell on the floor. They will inevitably break. Porcelain stoneware is more careful in this regard. And in terms of the rest of the characteristics, it is the best material for the kitchen. Laminate is inferior to its counterparts in a number of characteristics, but in fact it is bought quite often. In a kitchen where beet juice and fat from frying pans are not spilled on the floor, where pipes do not leak, and neighbors do not flood you with streams of water from above, this flooring will serve faithfully for many years.
