ᐅ New House – Which Flooring Is Suitable?

Created on: 2 Feb 2017 07:49
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laurooon
laurooon2 Feb 2017 07:49
Hello everyone,

The planning is slowly taking shape. It will probably be a Weberhaus (assuming the price fits). For the calculation, my advisor wants to have a rough idea of which flooring options are suitable for me.

We want to build with underfloor heating, which is quite important for the type of flooring. I am considering laminate, parquet, or vinyl. Since I have a sectional sofa with very narrow feet measuring 2 x 2 cm (about 0.8 x 0.8 inches), I need a floor that can withstand the couch and visitors without leaving pressure marks.

Parquet naturally fits well with a Weberhaus, a wooden house with real wood flooring. However, I have read that parquet is very maintenance-intensive and does not react well to water. Also, I am not sure if it would avoid pressure marks in my case.

Vinyl is a very interesting flooring option. It is said to be very easy to maintain, water-resistant like tiles, not too expensive, and it is supposed to feel pleasantly warm. However, it apparently has the downside of being a rebranding of the unpopular and carcinogenic material PVC. Is vinyl a health concern?

Laminate seems like a mix of both.

I am very interested in your opinions and recommendations.

Best regards,
laurooon
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ypg
2 Feb 2017 08:09
We just addressed the same or a very similar question a few days ago. Take a look! It feels like we discuss hardwood flooring, laminate, and the like every week anew.
laurooon2 Feb 2017 08:16
Sometimes the topic comes up about vinyl. We discuss vinyl on HDF boards, vinyl near wood-burning stoves, problems with vinyl, impact sound insulation, and Venly. However, I couldn’t find a general comparison that addresses my specific question.

A forum is never free from redundancy. The same questions get asked again and again, and every builder probably has 80% of questions that were likely already covered somewhere. No doubt about that. Still, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect everyone to read through the entire forum and piece together their answers.
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Baumhaus.Bau
2 Feb 2017 09:52
We have chosen vinyl flooring throughout the entire house (basement, ground floor, upper floor), except for the bathrooms. We have underfloor heating everywhere. It’s turned off in the summer, and we don’t wear shoes inside. For these reasons, we went with vinyl.

Hardwood flooring is too high-maintenance and requires more careful treatment. Tiles feel too cold in summer, and laminate flooring, in my opinion, is not a good option at all.

So far, the basement is complete, and the floor installer is currently gluing down the planks on the ground and upper floors. We will move in at the end of the month, and I will report back then.

Regarding health concerns:
As long as you don’t buy cheap vinyl from China, the emissions should be below the required limits. From my perspective (and that of many knowledgeable people), today’s vinyl products can be used without worry.
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ypg
2 Feb 2017 09:55
I advised you to take a look at the posts below yours in this subforum. If that is too much effort for you....

Best regards in brief
laurooon2 Feb 2017 10:24
Baumhaus.Bau schrieb:
We decided to use vinyl flooring throughout the entire house (basement, ground floor, upper floor), except for the bathrooms. We have underfloor heating everywhere. It’s turned off in the summer, and we don’t wear shoes inside the house. That’s why we chose vinyl.
Hardwood flooring is too high-maintenance and requires more care. Tiles feel too cold in summer, and in my opinion, laminate is not an option at all.

So far, the basement is finished, and the floor installer is currently gluing down the planks on the ground and upper floors. We plan to move in at the end of the month, and then I can share more feedback.

Regarding health concerns:
If you don’t buy cheap vinyl from China, the emissions should be below the required limits. From my perspective (and that of many experts), modern vinyl flooring is safe to use.

Thank you very much for your assessment. I would really appreciate it if you could share more feedback after moving in. Did you also install impact sound insulation? Have you walked around the basement yet, and are you satisfied? In the hallway, it’s uncertain whether vinyl is hard enough to withstand the small stones tracked in on shoes.

My homebuilder (Weberhaus) would probably use tiles in the bathroom, hallway, and kitchen, but I’m considering vinyl instead. I have some concerns whether it might swell in very humid rooms. In the utility room where the washing machine is located, tiles might be better… I imagine that in a wooden house, a washing machine leak combined with the wrong flooring wouldn’t be a good situation…