How is laminate classified? What is the best class of laminate? What classes of laminate exist?

Thanks to modern technologies, there is a wonderful opportunity to replace expensive parquet boards with analog material, the price of which is lower, but visually it looks the same. Laminate has confidently won a high position in the world construction market and thanks to its properties does not lose its relevance.

The operational classification of the laminate allows you to determine the period during which it will not lose its properties and will not change in appearance.

Main classes of laminate

Today, active work is underway to improve the top layer of laminated flooring, and are also being developed various types decor. Externally, many types of laminate have long been difficult to distinguish from natural wooden boards and parquet.

There are two main groups of laminate flooring:

Laminate home use . The service life of this coating is no more than 5-6 years. The cost of laminate flooring for the home is lower.
Laminate for commercial use. The service life of this coating is 3-6 years in commercial premises.
This coating can also be used at home, in which case its service life can increase to 10 years or more. The price for commercial laminate flooring is higher.

According to European standards, these two large groups also include several. If you use flooring in accordance with its class, it will last a long time.

Home laminate

21st grade. This flooring has the most short term operation, about 1-2 years. Cheaper materials are used for its production.
mainly in areas with light loads - closets, bedrooms, etc.
22nd grade. Laminate with a service life of no more than 2-4 years. More durable and high-quality materials are used for production.
Therefore, it is preferable to use such laminate in rooms with little load on the floor, such as a dressing room, pantry, bedroom, nursery, etc.
23rd grade. This floor will last about 4-6 years. It is very popular, mainly used in kitchens, dining rooms, corridors, guest rooms and other rooms where the floor is subject to higher wear and tear.

Commercial laminate

31st grade. Used in rooms with low floor load. It is installed mainly in meeting rooms, reception rooms, small offices and so on.
This coating lasts about 2-3 years. However, if you use this laminate at home, its service life increases to 10-12 years.
32nd grade. Suitable for use in rooms with average floor load. More often it is always placed in office premises, where they serve perfectly for about 3-5 years.
However, often this type laminate is used at home. Where its service life is at least 12-15 years.
33rd grade. Ideal for rooms where there is constant heavy load on the floor. This coating lasts for about 5-6 years in commercial premises.
If at home, then it will last at least 15, or even 20 years. Manufacturers, without exaggerating, give this coating a lifetime guarantee.
The main advantage of class 33 laminate, in addition to excellent performance, is its appearance, which remains unchanged for a very long time.

Advice!
When purchasing, check the accompanying documentation. It must contain images corresponding to the class.
Laminate, which is intended for residential sectors, is designated a house. The people with numbers underneath them indicate the intensity of the load that the laminate can withstand.

Pros and cons of laminate flooring

The main advantages are the following

Laminate is an excellent alternative parquet
Laminate flooring is easy to maintain. It is quite easy to wash it on time; it does not require polishing or sanding.
Laying laminate flooring is not difficult; you can do it yourself. When selling, the laminate is accompanied by special instructions, which will help with the installation issue. When assembled, such a floor looks like parquet, but is much cheaper.
Laminate flooring is environmentally friendly and therefore suitable for people with allergies.
Laminate is lighter than boards and much stronger. Any stains can be easily removed from laminate flooring. If you spill paint or nail polish on it, the stain can be easily removed with ordinary acetone without causing any harm to the coating.
Laminate flooring can be laid on any surface, be it tile, linoleum of any hardness, wood flooring or short-haired flooring.
It is wear-resistant and durable material. The floor is covered with a special film that can withstand any load for 15-20 years. The coating does not scratch, and there are no dents left on the laminate from hairpins or furniture. If something heavy falls on the floor, there will be no trace left on it. The coating is resistant to high temperatures, a cigarette butt or ashes from the fireplace will not cause any harm to the floor. You can even roller skate or paint on laminate flooring.
The wood fiber base provides the laminate with high strength and good rigidity. The top layer imitates wood valuable species, externally it looks very high quality, so it is quite difficult to distinguish laminate from natural flooring. Besides wood species successfully imitates granite, marble, tiles and even carpeting.

Among the disadvantages, the following qualities of laminate are distinguished:

Laminate coating is relatively short-lived. With active use, the laminate will last no more than 4-5 years, despite the fact that manufacturers promise excellent service for at least 15-20 years.
Laminate flooring is ideal for those who like to experiment and often change the interior design of their home.
It is impossible to recycle a laminate floor and then cover it with a new layer of varnish; after its service life has expired, it must be completely replaced with a new coating.
And an equally important disadvantage is that no matter how high-quality the laminate is, it only imitates natural parquet.

Advice!
When choosing a laminate, take into account its characteristics. It’s not enough to just look at a photo of the finished floor or a video of how laminate flooring is installed and how good it looks.
Classifying laminate flooring by class allows you to determine how durable the laminate is and how long it will last. When purchasing, be sure to check which class the laminate you choose belongs to.

Among the huge variety of floor coverings large number people are choosing laminate flooring. This is true good material, having excellent quality and relatively low cost. The owner of his own living space, who does not work in the construction industry, knows very well how wear-resistant laminate flooring is.

You can independently choose the texture and pattern of the coating, calculate required quantity material for a separate room or the entire apartment.

But not everyone knows what the class of laminate is, how to choose it correctly and not spend extra money and at the same time not buy something that will be erased in a few years. Next we will talk about such a characteristic as the class of laminate: what it means, what they are, how they differ.

Laminate wear resistance classes

The quality of the laminate is determined by class, that is, the higher the class, the better quality. What does laminate class actually mean? The laminate class indicates how long the laminate will retain its attractive appearance when exposed to different loads.

In residential and commercial premises, laminate flooring with characteristics suitable for this particular type of premises should be installed. Depending on how often they pass through it, the type is selected.

Laminate, according to the level of wear resistance, is divided into two large groups:

home;
commercial.

Within each group there is a classification of laminate into classes that have their own abrasion coefficients (AC).

For use in apartments, there are different classes of laminate, the differences of which are in varying degrees of abrasion of the surface of the material:

Class 21 – used for rooms with little foot traffic (bedrooms, closets), CI>900;
class 22 - used for rooms with medium load (bedroom, children's room, living room), CI>1800;
Class 23 – intended for rooms with high traffic intensity (kitchen), CI>2500.

Commercial laminate is divided into the following classes:

31 – for rooms with low load on floors, CI≥2500;
32 – applicable for premises with medium load (office), CI≥4000;
33 – used for rooms with high intensity (corridor, store), CI≥6500;
34 is the highest class of laminate. It is not formally recognized, but it exists and is intended for very serious loads (shopping center, hotel, inn). It is the most wear-resistant laminate.

On the packaging, the class of the laminate is indicated by the “man” sign. The more such signs, the higher the class of the laminate.

Household laminate

This laminate has a relatively low abrasion rate and a short period of use. Today it is quite difficult to find household laminate flooring in stores. None of the manufacturers has the desire to supply the market with a product that they know will not be in demand.

However, during normal use, such a laminate will most likely retain its appearance until the time when you want to make repairs and change the floor covering. The cost is much lower than commercial laminate.

21st grade The wear resistance of the laminate has a service life of approximately 2 years in rooms where there is increased walking intensity, chairs are constantly moving, and a dog is running. Such a short period of use because the material has a very weak protective layer.

If this covering is laid in the bedroom, the floor will delight you with its beautiful appearance for 10 years. Most often, laminate of this class is used for storage rooms and utility rooms, that is, where they almost never go.

22nd grade has a little more strength than 21. Can be laid in rooms with low traffic, for example, in the bedroom. The period of use is 2-3 years.

This period can be extended by laying a carpet on top of the floor. This solution for bedrooms is natural. We can assume that laminate strength class 22 has a service life of 10 years.

23rd grade- This is an improved class 22, withstands medium-intensity loads and has greater wear resistance. According to manufacturers, the service life is 4 years and above. It can be increased to 12-15 years if treated with care. When purchasing material, check with the seller how much laminate is in the package so that you can correctly calculate the required amount.

It is not recommended to perform frequent and strong wet cleaning any class of household laminate, especially using all kinds of means that contain active chemicals. Basically, in ordinary apartment There is no need to wash the floors every day.

The manual for this laminate describes all cleaning and maintenance methods. Household laminate flooring can be used for a long time if you follow the care instructions and minimize the likelihood of mechanical damage.

For example, wear slippers with soft soles, do not have pets, do not move furniture frequently, and do not ride on a chair with wheels. Household laminate flooring is suitable for people leading a calm and measured life. There is an opinion that laminate is harmful to health, although, in fact, quality laminate does not harm human health.

Commercial laminate

It is recommended to watch a video or photo of the use of commercial laminate. It can be placed in shopping centers, offices and public institutions, but not in the children's room (read: ""). Let's consider commercial laminate by class: characteristics and properties.

Class 31- This is the cheapest laminate in this group. Used in offices with relatively low traffic. It can last 2-4 years in an office, and much longer when used in an apartment – 10-12 years. This is the most popular type of laminate, because many people choose this type of coating for all rooms in their apartment.

33rd grade laminate has the longest service life, if you do not take into account the unofficial 34 class. It is used in hotels, restaurants, that is, in those premises where there is a heavy load and high traffic.

This laminate is thicker, and with a fairly heavy load it will last about 6 years. If you lay it in an apartment, the laminate will need to be changed after about 20 years. That is, all this time there will be no need to make repairs or change the floor covering. Some may find this boring.

Wear resistance

IN professional field An important characteristic of laminate is the degree of wear resistance. To check it, abrasives are used to process the surface of the material for a certain time.

This test is performed on a device that is equipped with a rotating abrasive wheel, and it is monitored how many revolutions are performed to a certain degree of abrasion.

Degrees of laminate abrasion:

IP – clear deep scratches and signs of wear appear;
FP – the protective layer is half erased;
AT – the protective layer is completely erased.

Test results very rarely become widely known. But such data is indicated in the certificate, so it is worth asking the sellers in more detail about the results of such tests and find out how high-quality the products are.

Taber test

The Taber device is designed to test the wear resistance of floor coverings. The material is fixed to a device with an abrasive wheel, and a pressure equal to the body weight of an average adult is established.

Using a Taber device, the number of revolutions of the abrasive wheel for a certain time is recorded.

The circle is started and the abrasion of the floor covering surface is monitored. When the protective layer under the abrasive is completely wiped off, the device is turned off, the result is recorded and the coating is classified.

Depending on the class of laminate, the layer can be completely erased in 900-20,000 revolutions. The “number of revolutions” indicator is a classification called Average Taber (AT). Category AC1 - AC5 is assigned.

This division is regulated by the European quality standard EN 13329. About 10 years ago there was a softer standard EN 438.

Laminate creaks

No matter how the laminate is laid, it will still creak, even if you use very thick substrates. This ear-piercing sound can only be reduced if you purchase thick panels. More expensive and thick laminate creaks less.

In addition, the expensive material has an additional sound-absorbing layer. The sound will be less if the laminate is laid more accurately and the locks are fitted as tightly as possible. However complete absence it is impossible to achieve a squeak. Therefore, you should not assume that the builders did their work in bad faith.

Let's sum it up

Which laminate wear resistance class is better? You should proceed from the room in which the flooring will be laid and what load is expected on it. For example, for a quiet life in an apartment, class 22 or 23 laminate is suitable, for a supermarket you need laminate high class 33-34.

Laminate - often used in various types premises flooring. Its popularity is associated with a large number of its advantages, including:

environmental friendliness;
large selection of colors and textures;
simplicity and ease of installation (convenient locking connections, the ability to lay a new coating without dismantling the old one);
high speed of laying the coating and the ability to immediately move on it;
good thermal and sound insulation performance.

Compound

Laminate is a kind of layer cake, where each part performs its own function.

At the bottom there is compressed paper impregnated with resins, which protects the wood from moisture and compensates for small differences in height. The thickest part consists of wood panels, which give the flooring strength and rigidity. The locking connections are also located in this layer. The slabs are covered with moisture-resistant decorative films with various patterns that determine the appearance of the laminate. The final coating is a laminated film made of acrylic or melamine resins. The wear resistance of the floor covering mainly depends on the thickness and quality of this layer.

The finished laminate board is subjected to a number of tests in production, including checking:

abrasion;
moisture resistance;
heat and sound insulation indicators;
color stability when exposed to sunlight;
resistance to detergents;
degree of slip;
flammability (high-quality laminate should not catch fire from a cigarette butt or a match falling on the floor);
impact resistance.

Although laminate is not intended for rooms with high humidity, a high-quality coating can withstand not only wet cleaning, but also stronger contact with water for a short time.

What is a laminate class

Among other characteristics of a laminate floor, its class plays an important role. What does this even mean? This indicator indicates how durable and resistant the coating is, and how long it will lie on the floor, maintaining a pleasant appearance without scuffs or fading.

The first digit in the numerical coefficient of the laminate class indicates the scope of application. Marking 2 - coating for home use, 3 - for public premises, 4 - high-strength material. Of course, no one forbids installing a more durable class 3 laminate at home, but you shouldn’t do the opposite. In public spaces, the traffic of people is much higher, which means that home laminate flooring will quickly become completely unusable due to abrasion.

The second number reflects the degree of wear resistance of the coating; the higher it is, the more durable the laminate.

In practice, laminate for home use is designed for 6-7 years of service. Few people want to change the floor covering so often, so in residential premises laminate from classes 31 to 33 is also mainly used.

Laminate classes

Coverings of 21-22 classes are designed for 5-6 years of service in a low-traffic area, for example, a bedroom. This is a good option for budget renovation, but you shouldn’t hope that such a floor will last a long time without losing its attractiveness appearance and performance characteristics.
Class 23 laminate is a little more durable; in addition, it has good moisture resistance, allowing it to survive wet cleaning or accidentally spilled water without consequences.
Class 31 can be used in office premises for about a year or two, and in housing this period increases to a decade.
Class 32 is designed for average load in a public place for 4-5 years. At home, it will easily serve for 15 years without wearing out or changing much in appearance.
Class 33 is a durable floor that can withstand high loads. In a busy office it will serve well for 10 years, and for home use many manufacturers promise a lifetime warranty on it.
Class 34 and above laminate is intended for premises with not just high, but very significant traffic - bars, restaurants, dance floors, shops.
Class 42 and beyond are based on natural high-strength wood and coatings that are particularly resistant to abrasion and other influences. This laminate is suitable for places that host large numbers of people, such as airports or sports arenas.

The low class of laminate does not mean its low quality. You cannot judge which laminate is better and which is worse only by class. All products undergo quality control and various tests, and no self-respecting company will release a bad product to the market. A low class only shows that the coating cannot withstand heavy loads, which means it cannot be used in rooms with high traffic volumes.

Each of the laminate classes has its own digital indicators for the main tests and characteristics of this coating. However, they will not say much to an unprepared person. So how do you choose? You should focus on the laminate class itself, the manufacturer and special characteristics (for example, compatibility with heated floors or increased moisture resistance).

Naturally, the cost of the material directly depends on its type and class. The more durable and high-quality the coating, the more expensive it will cost. When choosing flooring, do not skimp. The lower quality of cheap laminate from dubious manufacturers will quickly negate all savings.

Types of laminate

By design

The surface of the floor covering may be different. The degree of gloss varies from matte to glossy. It is possible to imitate wood with all its fancy patterns and irregularities, plain surfaces or blurry shades of the same color.

High-quality wood-look laminate is sometimes really difficult to distinguish from parquet board or natural plank flooring.

In the line of expensive luxury products, leatherettes are very common. Mostly popular designs are reptile skins, especially crocodile skins.

Stone floors look luxurious and attractive, but have many disadvantages - they are very cold to the touch, are expensive and weigh a lot. Laminate does not have these disadvantages. And externally the difference will be completely invisible.

Laminate flooring can go well with a strict and cool high-tech style. The flooring will have the color and appearance of metal.

The variety of laminate types does not end there. Absolutely any design, even the most exotic, can be implemented on such a floor. There are barcodes, cave paintings, pages of printed publications, and drawings of instruments in the style of Leonardo da Vinci. There are also special children's collections with fairy tale and cartoon characters.

Most types of laminate are available in the form of rectangular planks with lock connection. But there are also square tiles with more intricate patterns. Working with such tiles is somewhat more difficult - you need to try to choose a size so that a whole number of elements fit along the length and width of the room, because the cut pattern looks much less beautiful.

By invoice

As for the texture of laminated flooring, it is also very diverse.

The “natural wood” surface has notches, lines and pits that imitate natural wooden surface. These details will be visible to the eye even without a magnifying glass, and also tangible to the touch.

Choosing a floor covering is an important component of any major renovation, but deciding on a purchase is often more difficult than it seems at first glance. More and more people are giving up boring things even in Soviet era linoleum, all floors cannot be covered with carpet, and noble parquet is too expensive.

And here a fashionable and affordable laminate comes to the rescue - comfortable, effective and quite durable. To understand all the intricacies of choosing the best laminate, we invited an expert, a master with 12 years of experience, Alexander Eremeev, to answer our questions.

This comfortable, beautiful and durable material is now available in a wide range

Alexander, first of all, tell us what criteria should be followed when choosing a laminate flooring? What to look for: price, manufacturer, board thickness or design?

Buying laminate flooring is a responsible matter, because floor boards They are not bought for one year or even five. To select best coverage, be sure to consider several factors: brand and country of origin, price, wear resistance, moisture and impact resistance, scratch resistance. And, of course, design.

Let's start with durability. Laminate has several classes, but how to understand them?

Today, laminate flooring is usually divided into 7 main classes: 21, 22, 23, 31, 32, 33 and 34. The first number 2 in the marking indicates use in residential premises, number 3 - in public and commercial areas.

Class 21 boards are laid in rooms with the least traffic - bedrooms, living rooms,
22 is suitable for children's rooms where there is constant play,
23 - for the kitchen and corridor.

However, these types of coatings are no longer popular, and the manufacturer gives them a minimum warranty of 6 years. Today the most popular types on the market are “30s”. They are used for both residential and non-residential premises:

31 - in conference rooms,
32 - in offices,
33 - in shops and sports clubs,
34 is a laminate “for centuries”, for places with the largest flow of people.

The guarantee for high-class laminate boards is from 10 to 20 years, but it can last much longer.

And yet, what class of laminate should I buy for an ordinary city apartment?

From my professional experience I can say: optimal choice in terms of price and quality ratio for apartments - class 32 laminate, for the noisiest and active families- 33rd. But here you need to take into account some subtleties.

Wear resistance is determined by both the speed at which the top layer of the board is destroyed and how easily the surface is scratched. To determine the class of a laminate, the following test is carried out in production: the board is fixed in a special device under an abrasive disk and the number of revolutions required to destroy the top layer and leave noticeable scratches is calculated. Often these numbers are different brands diverge significantly, but in total they give the same indicator. For example, on some boards, scratches may occur as early as 300 revolutions, and the destruction of the protective layer may occur at 5000 revolutions, the average number being 2650 revolutions. In another laminate class, scratches are visible after the 1500th revolution, and the protection is damaged at the 3800th. Average- like the previous sample, but the scratch resistance is 5 times higher.

Therefore, it happens that a person buys an expensive class 33 product, but the coating quickly gets scratched and loses its shine, although the top layer is still intact. It’s the same with a good laminate of a lower class: it happens that the 32nd has practically no scratches, but the boards are noticeably worn out.

Moisture resistance is also an important property of laminate, especially in an apartment where there are children. How to choose a coating that practically does not allow water to pass through, is durable, and does not create cracks during installation?

First of all, you need to have a good idea of what a laminate board is made of. This is a stabilizing layer, then an HDF board, then a decorative layer (photo) and transparent protection. The most important part is the HDF board; the higher its density, the less the laminate is afraid of water and the stronger its locks.

The board of this modern covering consists of several layers

Moisture resistance also depends on the type of laminate - adhesive or interlocking. If the slabs are laid with glue, then there are no gaps between them, which means that moisture will not penetrate inside. But such a coating has a significant disadvantage - it will be impossible to replace 1-2 damaged tiles, unlike those boards on which the side locks are simply snapped into place during installation. There is a worthy alternative - waterproof interlocking laminate on a standard basis.

For a good laminate, the moisture resistance indicator should be no more than 18%. To check this, you need to cut off a small piece of the board and lower it into water at home for 8 hours. A branded board will swell by 15-18%, but for a low-quality board this percentage can reach 40.

The thickness of the laminate board is also important - the more millimeters it has, the stronger it is, and the easier it is to lay. In addition, such a coating perfectly absorbs sounds, so in apartments where there are children, I always recommend buying laminate no thinner than 8-12 millimeters.

What is a laminate underlay?

The substrate is a very important material for floor repairs, the material insulates laminate slabs from the floor and provides heat and sound insulation. High-quality laminates of class 32 and higher usually already have a backing; when purchasing cheaper classes, you need to purchase it separately.

There are three types of substrate, the most affordable and popular is polyethylene foam. It is resistant to moisture and is easy to install, but over time this layer sags. Cork is a little more expensive - it holds heat well, but can produce condensation. The solution is very simple - buy cork backing with the addition of bitumen or rubber. There is also a so-called special substrate, it is the most expensive, but it perfectly absorbs sound, retains heat, and condensation never appears on it.

The substrate can be made on the basis of cork material

What can you say about environmental friendliness? How important is this quality for apartment laminate?

Environmental friendliness building materials has long been a top priority, and in my work I always take this factor into account. In the production of flooring boards, phenol-formaldehyde resin is used, which reduces production costs and the price of the final product, but emits formaldehyde, which is hazardous to health. Therefore, when purchasing laminate, you need to look at the level of hazardous resins in the tiles.

Thus, in Europe, the formaldehyde content in laminate flooring is strictly regulated, and both expensive parquet and standard laminate are equally harmless to health. China is another matter; according to the laws of this country, the requirements for the content of phenol-formaldehyde resin in wood-look boards are much lower!

When choosing a laminate in a store, trust only yourself and your powers of observation - when opened, the package should only emit a faint aroma of sawdust. Any foreign smell - glue, paint, etc. - should alert you. Also look at the price tag: laminate that is too cheap is dangerous to health in almost 100% of cases. And it makes no difference where you buy building materials - even in a large hypermarket you may find dangerous product. I know that large stores often write in contracts that the supplier bears all responsibility for the quality of the laminate; in addition, hypermarkets are not even legally obligated to check product certificates - this is the concern of special organizations.

Let's talk about cover design. What colors are in fashion today, wood, stone or plain? Is it possible to choose high-quality laminate by color?

The situation with the design of laminate tiles has developed quite interesting. Classic laminate is an imitation of parquet, while real wooden boards unique to the floor - you won’t find two identical ones. Therefore, the best laminate can boast of minimal repeatability of the pattern, the presence of knots and natural variegation of the wood. The repeatability of the image 1:6 will tell about European production - this means that in 4 packs there must be at least 6 color options “under the tree”. By the way, in the most expensive collections of premium manufacturers, for example, Quick Step, this ratio reaches 1:60.

Quick Step brand material has beautiful and virtually non-repeating patterns

But the Russian consumer has his own quirks - we are accustomed to the monochromatic color of floors, so we believe that correct laminate It should be either a solid color, reminiscent of floor paint, or an even wood-like shade, identical, symmetrical and without any knots. Typically, inexpensive Chinese laminates have this coloring - they use the simplest imitation pattern, and the repeatability is 1:3.

This is how it turns out that the whole world is chasing the exclusive parquet laminate, and give us something simpler.

Nowadays there is a lot of talk about beveled laminate. What is it and what are the advantages of these plates?

A chamfer is a V-shaped bevel end edge laminate board (1-2 mm deep), due to which, when laying, small grooves appear at the joints of the boards. The chamfers are found both along the entire perimeter of the board and on 2 long sides, double-sided.

As we have already said, the sign expensive laminate- complete resemblance to parquet, and the chamfer only enhances this resemblance, because on natural wood Such grooves are almost always present. In addition to aesthetics, the chamfer allows you to increase the service life of the laminate by 2-3 times, and when exposed to moisture, it helps the coating not to lose its original shape.

Another plus - if you buy a laminate flooring with a bevel, you don’t have to spend a lot of money and effort on perfect alignment floor. Usually, a perfectly flat surface is needed so that cracks do not appear on the boards, which eventually take on the shape of the floor. The chamfer hides these cracks - provided that the difference on the floor is no more than 4 mm per 1 meter.

You have mentioned more than once high quality European brands of laminate. So which manufacturer should you choose? Only Europe, or China and Russia also produce high-quality laminate?

I have been dealing with laying laminate flooring for many years and I can say with confidence: the best and most responsible manufacturers are Europeans. Making laminate boards is a high-tech process; it does not require cheap labor, as in China, but the most modern equipment and high responsibility of companies. Not a single world-famous European manufacturer will locate laminate production in the Middle Kingdom - this would simply be a blow to their image.

In addition, there is another indicator of quality - the construction company must be a member of the Association of European Manufacturers of Laminate Flooring (EPFL), in which case it bears full responsibility for its product and for what is written on the label. Therefore, I always advise my clients - if you need high-quality laminate, be sure to check whether the manufacturer is a member of the Association - on the company’s website on the Internet.

Russian and Chinese manufacturers who are not members of a professional union have every right to write whatever they want on the label, which is why a low-quality laminate can display a class 32 badge. In fact, the quality may correspond to class 21.

Tell us about the most famous manufacturers. Which laminate company is better to choose, taking into account the different purchasing power of consumers?

In terms of price-quality ratio, laminate has three classes: premium, comfort and economy.

In the premium segment, the most famous companies are the Austrian Kaindl, the Belgian Quick-Step and Pergo. These companies have excellent quality, interesting collections, but the expected high price. The German HDM has interesting lines of glossy coatings, the Belgian company Balterio is famous for its unique black laminate.

The Austrian brand Kaindl is a premium flooring material

From the comfort class, I can definitely recommend the French Alsafloor - it is excellent quality, many different design lines, there are 33rd class boards with a thickness of 12 mm and high strength. The German manufacturer Kronotex operates in comfort and economy class, but it does not have the widest color palette, minimum technical specifications. Another well-known representative of the laminate economy option is the German Egger. The price of such a coating is quite affordable, but the design also suffers - a minimum number of colors, imitation wood, mainly from photographs.

Let's summarize our conversation. Can you formulate for our readers a few rules that will make it easy to distinguish branded Western laminate from cheap and low-quality ones?

I have already mentioned several rules - this is a pleasant woody smell of laminate boards, moisture resistance is no more than 18%, pattern repeatability is at least 1:6.

Another indicator of a good floor covering is its high price: a real laminate cannot cost less than 400-500 rubles per square meter. Also, always check the markings: Chinese laminate often has no identification marks or does have them, but with errors. In European, the information is always indicated in full, and the name of the country is without abbreviations. Another identifying feature can be the color of the back side of the laminate tiles - pleasant beige color, while Asian products are brown. However, recently, eastern manufacturers have also begun to supply laminate with a beige backside.

With almost 100% probability, the special size will tell about Chinese production - the length of the laminate board is 1215 mm, thickness - 12.3 mm. For Asian manufacturers, these dimensions are very convenient; the production of such slabs is the least expensive, so such parameters should also be of concern.

High-quality material will serve you for a long time and will delight you with its appearance.

There are quite a lot of rules, but remembering them is quite possible. Don’t rush into choosing a floor covering: go to several stores, look at prices, check the manufacturers you like for the “quality mark” - and you can easily buy the best laminate for your apartment.