How to choose linoleum for your home based on quality - expert advice

It’s hard to imagine a cozy home without high-quality and beautiful flooring. Today, the number of offers on the market will make even a professional confused. But still, quite often, buyers prefer time-tested material - linoleum - to newfangled options. Over the years of its existence, it has acquired a lot of new characteristics. Therefore, in order not to get confused in the variety of its types, choose “yours” from the rating of the best linoleum collections for 2021.

Expert's choice:

Mini rating

Types of modern linoleum: household, semi-commercial, commercial, sports

Types of linoleum
Modern linoleum is divided into classes, indicating the resistance of the material to different types of load. Wear resistance is marked with two-digit numbers, where:

• the first digit reflects the scope of application;
• the second digit shows the maximum possible load.

There are usually three areas of application. Each number indicates its range of use:

1. Household . This material is soft, easy to cut, and comes in a wide variety of colors. It is inexpensive, but usually lasts about 5 years. It is relevant for apartments and private houses with low traffic. Otherwise, after 2 years it will lose its appearance and be thrown away.
2. Semi-commercial . This type of linoleum is in many ways similar to the previous version, but is denser and has an additional protective coating. It can be installed in a home or public premises (hospitals, administrative buildings and more). The service life can be up to 20 years.
3. Commercial . This type of material is the most durable of all. It is dense, has several protective layers and sound insulation. It is painted throughout its entire thickness, thanks to which it retains its presentable appearance. Often the manufacturer equips the material with an anti-slip coating. Such linoleum is expensive and cannot be installed in residential buildings.

Important! Sports linoleum is included in a separate group. But it is rarely found on the open market, as it has a specialized purpose. It is expensive and limited in colors.

The degree of load is reflected in numbers from 1 to 4:

1. Weak.
2. Average.
3. High.
4. Very high.

For an apartment, levels 2 and 3 are sufficient, but for offices you should not take linoleum with a designation below the number “4”.

Important! Many manufacturers also label products with graphic images. A factory or a house, for example, reflects a purpose. And the number of people indicates the category of wear resistance.

Myth #2: Only suitable for narrow rooms

Anyone who has not gone to a construction market for a long time is simply confident that the linoleum panels have not changed and there is a choice of widths from 1.5 to 3 meters. This means that in a larger room it will be necessary to make ugly joints from plastic or iron strips, and no beauty or integrity will come of it.

But we hasten to please you: everything has not been like that for a long time.

Firstly, there are now both four and five meter panels on the market, but there are certainly far fewer of them than standard ones. If you don’t find the right color from the wide canvases, then don’t worry either: no strips are needed.

Secondly, now there is a special welding for linoleum, and the seam is almost invisible. This name is, of course, very approximate. In fact, welding is nothing more than the usual butt gluing of seams, but the composition of the fastening composition is such that it literally dissolves the linoleum and splices the pieces together. As a result, the surface comes out intact and cannot burst at the joint.

Popular linoleum manufacturers

Expensive linoleum is not always a symbol of quality. When looking for good material, you should rely not on the price, but on the name of the manufacturer. The following brands are recognized leaders in the segment:

1. Tarkett. One of the most famous companies among Russians, which focuses on safety, environmental friendliness and innovative technologies. Each line is carefully developed and tested. As a result, a product with an increased level of wear resistance and meeting all modern standards and requirements enters the market.
2. Forbo. This manufacturer is unique in its kind, as are its collections. The main goal of the brand is to create an environmentally friendly product. Therefore, the material contains natural components that provide an extended service life - up to 3 decades. Also, all brand positions have antimicrobial properties.
3. Grabo. The market leader is also the oldest “player” on it. Its linoleum has increased strength. And the design solutions will delight any consumer!
4. Armstrong. An international brand with attention to detail. Its range includes all categories of flooring. Linoleum is known for its strength, thermal insulation characteristics and resistance to stress.
5. Juteks. If you need a material that is resistant to fading and stress, then pay attention to this manufacturer. It produces high-tech products that are immune to almost any trouble.
6. Artens. An option available to everyone. The manufacturer produces cheap and simple collections that do not differ in design diversity.
7. Gerflor. A well-known French brand that produces only products of the highest quality. The company makes developments that form the basis of each line. This is facilitated by the presence of our own laboratories and production workshops, equipped with the latest technology.

GreenLine Collection

If you believe the reviews, IVC GreenLine linoleum is a constant experiment with design and color. Each collection of this brand surprises with its novelty and has its own theme.

IVC GreenLine Berlin 531 linoleum has gained particular popularity. Reviews about it are as follows: good quality, ease of installation and maintenance. The GreenLine Berlin 506 collection is in demand. IVC 544 linoleum is no less in demand. It would be more expedient to systematize owner reviews of these coatings:

• Easy to install. Due to the thickness of the substrate, there is no need to involve specialists; there is no need to prepare an ideal base before installation, since the coating well hides unevenness up to 3 mm.
• Easy and easy to clean, no special care required, linoleum provides maximum comfort for a long time.
• It has a double layer, providing increased heat and sound insulation.

Which linoleum to choose: important criteria

Choosing linoleum
Thin or dense linoleum? With or without additional coverage? Designer collection or simple drawing? These and many other questions plague potential buyers all day long.

To accurately answer them, be guided by the following criteria for choosing flooring.

Purpose

If the room is highly trafficked, buy only the commercial option. Semi-commercial linoleum will be good in an apartment with active children and places where traffic is slightly above average. A household option is suitable for the bedroom, hallway and living room in an apartment or cottage.

Wear resistance class

When choosing linoleum, classes are of paramount importance. The higher this class, the stronger the material. Traditionally, it is customary to focus on the following data:

• 21-23 – household purposes;
• 31-34 – commercial use;
• 41-43 – industrial use.

Important! Within the same room, it is not only possible, but necessary to vary the wear resistance class. It is advisable to lay the most durable linoleum in the kitchen and hallway, and in the bedroom, for example, 21 grade will be good.

Thickness

Thickness is a criterion that depends on the quality of the base. Wood requires maximum thickness, as it tends to sag, bend and change volume depending on humidity. A thick substrate will not allow all these nuances to become noticeable to the owners of the house and their guests.

Concrete screed is not so demanding on the thickness of the material. Therefore, you can put almost any coating on it.

Design

Here, be guided by your own taste. But if we are talking about appropriateness, then consider the following:

• abstract drawings are always relevant for any premises - they are especially good for decorating offices and other public areas;
• the wood pattern will fit perfectly into the interior of the living space, highlighting the kitchen and hallway;
• Textile design can decorate a bedroom, adding coziness and warmth.

additional characteristics

Additional properties are not of primary importance when a material is purchased for a home. But in the case of a clearly defined purpose, you need to take care of a number of additional options:

• antibacterial impregnation is relevant for hospitals and kindergartens;
• antistatic coating is necessary in server rooms;
• An anti-slip layer will be needed in children's, medical and other public institutions.

Laying features

Laying includes the following stages: preparation of the room and base, preparation of material and tools.

Household linoleum should only be laid on a leveled surface, since a thin underlay will not be able to hide floor defects.

Upon completion of the preparatory work, they proceed directly to laying the linoleum. This process does not take much time and can be carried out independently, without outside help.

It is recommended to lay the coating at a temperature of 15-25 degrees. At low temperatures, the material becomes less soft and elastic, as a result of which it may break. If linoleum was purchased in winter, it should lie indoors for at least 12 hours.

The material must be placed so that there are no gaps at the edges, but on the contrary, the sheet extends slightly onto the walls. When the linoleum is laid, trimming is performed.

Which is better: laminate or linoleum

Manufacturers of different types of linoleum position it as the best material for flooring. But laminate companies say the same thing. Which of these materials is better?

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so you need to choose based on your primary needs.

Comparison table

Myth #1: Incredibly unhealthy

Some people are very afraid that linoleum emits toxic fumes, and they believe that it is this coating that emits them, almost for life and in huge quantities.

What can I say? Yes, there is harmful linoleum, but there is also harmful laminate, harmful carpet and even harmful boards covered with low-quality and cheap varnish. Yes, we will tell you more. There are harmful wallpapers, paints and suspended ceilings...

The point here is not at all that it is linoleum, but in the production technology and initial components.

Everyone knows that it’s better not to deal with the Chinese: the guys are slapdash and reduce the cost of production as much as possible. As a result, their products contain such an amount of phenol that it simply fills the room with an unpleasant, chemical smell. And it is practically impossible to weather it.

And it’s difficult to determine in a store which coating has a smell and which doesn’t, since there is phenol in the air and it seems that all the coatings are the wrong one...

Therefore, there is only one way out: look not only at the colors and parameters, but also at the manufacturer. You should not take on faith what is written on the price tag in the store, since supermarkets often provide information that is not entirely correct.

Comparison table of technical characteristics

In this article, we have created a rating of the most popular linoleum among buyers.

Below is a detailed description of each model.

Myth #3: Very impractical and short-lived

And here we, too, as in the first block, will say: depending on what kind of linoleum.

Yes, to this day there are coatings on the surface of which the slightest pressure leaves dented marks, not to mention marks from heels and other aggressive things. But not all linoleum is like this!

There are incredibly durable floors that will serve you faithfully for decades, without losing their original appearance. But we talk about this point in more detail below, in a separate block, since the topic of making the right choice is a broad one.

What is important here is the class, the top coating and many other things that are worth paying attention to.

We can only say that in 90% of cases, the base of linoleum is fiberglass, and this guarantees that the canvas will not “sit down” over time and will not deform, and there is also no reason to fear that it will tear from some little thing.

Myth No. 4: it’s not prestigious and it’s embarrassing

Here, yes, if you take the cheapest linoleum, which is painted in unnatural colors and looks like oilcloth - it is, it looks disgusting, to put it mildly. But if you choose something more expensive, with good texture and color, without any oilcloth reflections, then the floor will look pretty decent.

Often, good linoleum is much more impressive than inexpensive laminate. And more practical, which is the most important thing. You need to take care of the laminate: under no circumstances allow drops of water to get on it, otherwise it will swell... And linoleum is an absolutely unpretentious thing.