Although laminate is the “youngest” finishing material for flooring, it has firmly occupied its niche in the market. Of course, advertising helps a lot in promoting a product, but this is not enough to gain the trust of the mass consumer. Here, an exceptionally successful combination of properties such as:
- Easy to install (Follow the link: Detailed instructions for laying laminate flooring yourself).
- Chic appearance.
- Impressive durability.
- Versatility.
Plus, laminate has a fairly reasonable price and just a huge selection of colors and textures. Read reviews about using laminate flooring from real consumers.
About company
Ideal is a German concern that has been present on the world market since 2010. At the moment it is one of the largest manufacturers of floor coverings. Its factories have the most modern equipment and highly qualified specialists, with the help of which the quality of Ideal products is at the highest level.
European brands
Among foreign brands of laminate, the following are popular among Russian consumers:
- moisture-resistant German laminate “Haro Tritty-75” without chamfer;
- moisture-resistant laminate “Kaindl Authentic”;
- moisture-resistant laminate “Kastamonu Floorpan Purple” without chamfer;
- German moisture-resistant laminate “Meister LC-100” without chamfer;
- German laminate under the WITEX brand.
Very high quality, which corresponds to European analogues, is also characterized by the Belarusian laminate “Fussboden Comfort” with a four-sided chamfer and high moisture resistance.
The domestic Quick-Step laminate has good quality and stable durability.
Peculiarities
Ideal laminate has a number of advantages:
- This material is made from coniferous trees and is environmentally friendly and completely safe for your health.
- The surface of the panels is treated with corundum, which helps extend the service life of the product and prevents abrasion.
- The 5G lock snaps easily into place; even a beginner can handle the installation of this flooring.
- In addition, all locks are treated with wax, so they are not afraid of moisture, the panels will not deform, even if you spill water on them.
- The service life of Ideal laminate is 30 years.
- The 3D texture will help to imitate as much as possible an expensive parquet flooring, while the strength of the Ideal laminate is higher than that of solid wood planks.
- The size of the plank of this coating is equal to the dimensions of the parquet board, so the similarity of these materials is quite high.
- A huge selection of colors will help you choose this coating for any interior.
Choice
When choosing a board, first of all you need to pay attention to the conditions under which it will be used. If we are talking about a city apartment, the best choice would be class 31.
You can lay boards of a higher class, but along with the class, the price also increases significantly.
It is better to buy laminate from well-known manufacturers, although it is more expensive. A reputable company guarantees that the tenons will fit accurately into the grooves during assembly, the boards will be environmentally friendly, etc.
The last parameter that influences the choice of color and design of the board. The laminate must fit into the interior.
Characteristics
Ideal laminate has strength classes 33 and 34, which can be classified as semi-commercial type flooring. A floor covered with this material can withstand good loads. Ideal laminate can be installed even in offices where there is not a large influx of people.
The thickness of the board ranges from 8 to 12 mm. This coating will provide good heat and sound insulation in your room. Typically, a package contains 8 or 12 planks with a total footage of 1.941 or 2.45 square meters. m respectively.
Additional symbols (laminate markings)
The laminate packaging is equipped with additional graphic symbols. This marking reveals additional qualities of the coating, informs about the maintenance procedure and operating features.
Basic designations:
| The outer layer is antistatic. This laminate will not attract dust |
| This coating does not require special care |
| The material is resistant to pinpoint impacts from hard objects. |
| "B1" - fire safety class. The lower the indicator, the better the protection. |
| The coating is resistant to short-term high-temperature exposure. |
| Hygienic laminate |
| UV resistance. This coating does not change color and retains its original qualities even when exposed to direct sunlight. |
| For cleaning, you can use household cleaning products. |
| This material has low wear resistance. It is recommended to use chairs equipped with soft rubber casters or pads. |
| This laminate is suitable for installing “warm floors”. |
How to choose?
The choice of Ideal laminate depends on several factors:
- Budget. Depending on how much you have, you can choose the material. For an unlimited budget, you can consider luxury designer collections. For more budget-friendly flooring, samples from the classic and standard series are suitable.
- Colors. It should be in harmony with the decor of the room. The floor can be made in the same color as the furniture or in contrast, but everything should be harmonious. You can choose a coating pattern that imitates wooden boards or unique artistic patterns.
- Thickness of planks. Not only the strength of the coating, but also its thermal conductivity depends on it. For rooms on the first floors of buildings, it is better to give preference to a 12 mm thick laminate, as it will retain maximum heat in your home.
Advantages
The popularity of laminate as a finishing material is explained by a number of its advantages.
- It's quite durable. With proper use it can last for decades.
- Resistant to temperature changes, fire resistant.
- Products from well-known brands are environmentally friendly. This characteristic can be judged by the presence of the E1 icon on the packaging. The icon means that the product has passed a special environmental test, and the formaldehyde content in the board is safe for children and pets.
- Laminate flooring is easy to install. Caring for it also does not require special knowledge. To clean the surface, simply wipe it with a damp cloth.
- Affordable for the average buyer.
- Looks good from an aesthetic point of view.
New collections and laminate decors from the New House store:
Kronooriginal MyArt K051, 1, 33 class, price: 999 rub.
Classen VisioGrande 44150 Beige Concrete, 1, 32 class, price: 899 rub.
Pergo Big Slab 2V Chevron L1240-04165 Olive brown oak, 4, 33 class, price: 1395 rub.
Pergo Big Slab 2V Chevron L1240-04163 Swedish golden oak, 4, 33 class, price: 1395 rub.
Currently, laminate is the most common coating chosen by most consumers. The method of its manufacture and the technologies used make it possible to create a pattern that imitates natural solid wood, parquet, tiles, marble and much more. This makes it possible to choose the necessary option for any interior.
Installation
Before you start laying the boards, you will have to do a good job with the base. It needs to be leveled. You can use a self-leveling floor for this purpose. You can sand the surface or lay plywood flooring. In any case, the height difference over an area of two square meters should not be more than two millimeters.
Then the prepared base must be vacuumed so that the floor does not begin to creak due to random debris that gets into the joints during installation.
Laminate flooring is not installed on the day of purchase. He should rest indoors for a couple of days to “get used” to its humidity and temperature. Adaptation boards are placed horizontally in the center of the room.
If the base is wooden, waterproofing is not needed. When laying on concrete, a polyethylene film with a thickness of 200 microns is laid. The film strips are laid with an overlap of 20 centimeters and secured with tape.
At the next stage, a backing made of extruded polystyrene foam, cork or polyethylene foam is laid. The backing strips are laid end to end. They should run perpendicular to the strips of film. The backing is also secured with tape. The panels, in turn, are laid perpendicular to the substrate.
Before you begin installing the laminate, you must take into account that it changes dimensions under the influence of temperature.
Therefore, it should not be adjacent tightly to the wall. A technological gap of 10 millimeters is required. It is covered with skirting boards. A gap is required where the laminate joins another material, such as tiles. The joint is formed with special thresholds, cork sealant or compensator.
Modern laminate is available with two types of locks: “lock” and “click”. With the first type of lock, the boards have tenons on one side and grooves on the other. Installation is done by driving the tenons into the grooves.
The board is set at this angle if it has a “click” type lock.
Click locks are a more modern design. In this case, the spike looks like a flat hook. The groove is made in a special way so that the hook can fit in and hook. The board is placed at an angle of 45 degrees to the previous panel. Then the board goes down. At the same time, the hook enters the hook and a characteristic click is heard, which gives the name to the design of the lock.
This lock is good because it securely fastens the panels together and allows you to disassemble the floor several times.
There is no shortage of laminate flooring on the market. If you carefully approach the choice and installation technology, it will decorate the interior of the apartment and will last for many years.
Additional information on the topic of the article can be obtained from the video material.
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Peculiarities
Ideal laminate is a high-quality premium floor covering from a well-known European manufacturer. It is produced at the Berry Alloc plant, which is part of the large transnational corporation Beaulieu International Group. Country of origin: Belgium.
The Ideal brand is used by the manufacturer for exported products. The company has factories in Eastern Europe, including Russia.
The Alloc company produces laminate of 32 and 33 wear resistance classes. It can withstand high loads and has a long service life. Coatings are made of four main layers:
- bottom – craft cardboard impregnated with resins;
- base – fiberboard;
- decorative – printed paper;
- The top protective layer is a lamination of melamine and other types of resins.
At the final stage of production, the layers are pressed together. Depending on the thickness of the materials, the density of the laminate board is determined. For Ideal it is 900 kg/cubic meter. m.
A distinctive feature of laminate is the locking system used. This is the Best Loc X-Treme lock from Valinge Innovation AB. It has a plastic lock on the short side. This fastener is flexible and reduces stress by imparting resilience. This variety has high strength and moisture resistance characteristics, since the lock is impregnated with a special wax composition. This makes assembly easier because there is no need to put in extra effort.
The laid coating will be tear resistant. In addition, it can withstand a load of up to 900 kg on the long side. Laminate flooring will not begin to creak over time when walking on it. Uniclic lock is also used.
The catalogs offer a wide variety of laminate patterns. Thanks to such a chic assortment, consumers can choose stunning canvases for their homes that replicate natural wood.
Dimensions
The panels are available in various sizes. Each company has its own line of sizes. But all laminate, regardless of the manufacturer, is in a certain range according to this characteristic. For example, the minimum length is 300 millimeters, the maximum is 1845 millimeters.
The thinnest panel is 6 millimeters, the thickest is 12 millimeters.
The minimum width is 90 millimeters, the maximum width is 330 millimeters.
A panel of the same size may weigh differently. The mass is affected by the density of the material. The higher the density, the greater the mass.
Wood-look laminate
Positive reviews
Of course, class 33 laminate is the best that can be on the laminate market. And in terms of wear resistance it is the highest, BUT. WHEN choosing a laminate, it's not just about class. Even Leroy Merlin has a lot of laminate of class 33, but this is such a G that sometimes it is better to take class 31, but not from Leroy. WE decided to save money on repairs that year and bought laminate flooring from Leroy. After this garbage, I became a super expert in laminate flooring))) Because I re-read all the sites before buying next time. Based on the price/quality ratio, I chose RICHMANS laminate. IT is not made from sawdust and does not crumble. In general - the miser pays twice! Choose wisely! I'm attaching a photo of my new gender.
Excellent laminate, we are renovating an apartment, we took it as a test copy for one room and ended up covering everything! The color palette is 100% perfect! there is plenty to choose from and combine with the interior! I recommend!
To be honest, I'm not happy with this laminate. What I don't like most is his appearance. Perhaps this is due to the poorly chosen color (coffee oak). Perhaps due to the fact that there is no chamfer. But it looks somehow too matte, dusty, worn out and completely unfestive. It seemed like the new floor was supposed to transform the room. But the effect turned out to be completely opposite. It seems like everything has been replaced except the floor.
Unlike most reviews, where people complain about a large number of defects, we were spared this problem. There was especially no marriage. The only thing the master complained about was weak, inconvenient, and sometimes broken locks. But given the price of this laminate and the place of production, this is expected. But, in fact, nothing critical. For that price I was ready for the worst.
In general, 32 classes of laminate are enough for a home. Anything larger (33+) is designed for service and office spaces with increased load on the floor. But our master advised us to play it safe with a cheap laminate and take something more durable. Therefore, we now have class 33 with a thickness of 8 mm. We've been using it for a year now, no problems. Nothing was scratched, dented, or fell off.
The floor is warm even without heating. Of course, if you only put the laminate on a substrate. For example, in another apartment we have thick parquet lying directly on the bitumen. Therefore, it is always very cold to sit on the floor, even in summer, and despite the fact that it is a brick house. It's always warm to sit on Kastamonu laminate flooring. Although the house is made of panels, there is draft through the windows. Feet never get cold.
In general, the laminate is tolerable, you can buy it.
Good day guys. I want to share with you my opinion about the Laminelli laminate. I installed this laminate about a year ago when I was renovating my apartment. The color I chose was “Toman Oak”, the strength class of the laminate is 33, which is very good and the price is quite pleasing. If you buy it at a wholesale price, a pack of laminate will cost about 700 rubles per pack, in which you will get 2.1 square meters
This is the kind of cute drawing you will get. A good advantage is that the connection of this laminate is seamless and the seams are not visible at all, in addition, this laminate is quite moisture resistant. How many times have I spilled water on it and no swelling has happened? So I strongly recommend this laminate to you. Both the price and quality will pleasantly please you.
I recently bought Chinese class 33 laminate flooring, I liked the reviews on it, so I decided to try it out myself. The price of the laminate was 380 rubles/m2, but the locks turned out to be of poor quality, so a number of problems arose during installation. In theory, the dies should be quite easy to insert and then snap into place. However, in reality we had to fill in all the details. The entire attic was covered with laminate flooring as a single sheet with a total area of 8x8 m. It turned out quite well, the laminate looks neat.
I already bought thin laminate flooring at half the price on sale once. A year later I changed it. The chair leaves marks and holds everything together. In a word, paper. Class 33 is considered reliable and high quality. It's better to overpay once than to change like me. I set myself exactly 33 grades three years ago, now it’s like new.
In my opinion, laminate is the best option. I installed it 5 years ago and I still don’t regret it. We have two children and they all love to misbehave, and laminate flooring is durable for children's fun. The most important thing is that class 33 is environmentally friendly, this is its main advantage.
During the renovation, we installed class 33 laminate flooring at home and did not regret our choice even once. The laminate passed all the tests, I have two small children, with all the ensuing consequences. We have something to compare with, friends who were doing renovations around the same time as us and, saving on a class of laminate, installed 31 classes. Now they already regret their choice, the floor in many places has begun to wear out. Our laminate looks like new even after four years.
Laying
So, based on the latest arguments from experts and reviews of Tarkett laminate, the installation process is simple and quick. There is no need to use glue, screws or nails during the work. The X'traLoc system allows you to re-lay the floor as many times as needed.
Another important advantage is that the locks, whose job is to connect the boards together, are attached very securely and save you from the risk of getting grooves and bumps on the floor. Even if you are a beginner, you can always try your hand.
What rooms is it suitable for?
It is advisable to use laminated coating of class 31 in residential premises where there is no high humidity. So, for example, it is optimal to lay boards of this category in living rooms, hallways, kitchens, dining rooms, children's or guest rooms .
Use in office premises is possible, but with light load and traffic, otherwise after a few years you will have to replace the coating with a new one.
It's time to look for a store
First of all, we looked for laminate in company showrooms, construction warehouses and specialized markets. Each seller convinced of the uniqueness of the products offered and its obvious benefits. But in the end we settled on an online store.
Pros of buying at a salon (in my opinion)
- The ability to touch and carefully examine the front and back sides (base).
- Providing certificates, instructions, manufacturer recommendations.
- Confirmation of the declared characteristics with information from the packaging.
- Shipment in any batches.
- Comparison of several samples in reality (you can lay them out on the floor side by side and try to connect the locks).
- Home delivery at a convenient time.
- Simultaneous selection of substrate and plinth.
Minuses:
- Overpriced compared to online stores. Buying laminate flooring in a store with a showroom, samples and polite consultants who never leave a step is really EXPENSIVE. I understand that rent, salaries and a bunch of other expenses. But when you know that you can buy cheaper, saving a total of about 30 thousand rubles, no one will force me to make a choice in favor of even the most famous hypermarket with “low prices”.
Cunning! No one forbids choosing, touching, comparing and consulting in a store. But the same item can be purchased from an official dealer through an online store for much less. So we go to the hypermarket, choose a laminate, remember the article or name, and go to Yandex to look for the lowest price for this item.
As a result, the Tarkett Navigator Gulfstream laminate chosen in the salon, which costs 1,400 rubles per sq.m. in the store. we found it in the online store of TD Megapol for 809 rubles/sq.m. That is, an opportunity has arisen instead of 98,000 rubles. in the salon pay 56,630 rubles. for 70 sq.m. Saving more than 40,000 rubles. without loss of quality was essential for us.
We used Yandex.Market to search. Just enter the desired name of the laminate and filter by price and rating. Megapol was in 1st place - the lowest price + 5 stars according to Yandex classification, more than 270 customer reviews and inexpensive delivery.
Neutral reviews
I read reviews here - they say kronotex laminate peels off easily, even class 33. And he is very demanding about the evenness of the floor. It turns out that it’s not enough to look at the labeling; you also need to surf the Internet before buying something. They also say good things about the quick-step.
I am the owner of a company that lays floor coverings. I buy a lot of appropriate inexpensive materials, but in large quantities I buy only Chinese-made laminate of class 32 and 33, and exclusively from manufacturers. Others sometimes cause criticism, but these suit everyone.
