Good evening!
I am facing a difficult choice regarding flooring. Visually, two options are under consideration: laminate and vinyl.
The laminate offers a "5-year warranty for commercial use" and has an usage class of "23/32" as well as an abrasion class of AC4.
The vinyl from the same manufacturer also has a 5-year warranty for commercial use, but with a usage class of 23/33. No abrasion class is specified for the vinyl.
According to the detailed product description, both options are suitable for commercial use and described as "durable." However, the vinyl is more than twice as expensive.
According to a salesperson who didn’t seem very knowledgeable, laminate is "definitely not" suitable for an office.
I use a home office where I sit about 8 hours a day on my office chair. Will laminate withstand this, or is vinyl absolutely necessary? Online, I’ve read for both vinyl and laminate that a protective mat should be placed underneath—but that is definitely not an option for me.
Thank you very much!
I am facing a difficult choice regarding flooring. Visually, two options are under consideration: laminate and vinyl.
The laminate offers a "5-year warranty for commercial use" and has an usage class of "23/32" as well as an abrasion class of AC4.
The vinyl from the same manufacturer also has a 5-year warranty for commercial use, but with a usage class of 23/33. No abrasion class is specified for the vinyl.
According to the detailed product description, both options are suitable for commercial use and described as "durable." However, the vinyl is more than twice as expensive.
According to a salesperson who didn’t seem very knowledgeable, laminate is "definitely not" suitable for an office.
I use a home office where I sit about 8 hours a day on my office chair. Will laminate withstand this, or is vinyl absolutely necessary? Online, I’ve read for both vinyl and laminate that a protective mat should be placed underneath—but that is definitely not an option for me.
Thank you very much!
Hello "DReffects",
You generally need to distinguish whether you want to trust the product marketing (which is advertising) or the normative (minimum) requirements.
A PVC plank or PVC sheet flooring without plasticizers does not exist; that is impossible! This is only common with polyolefin coverings.
The "visual wear" on PVC coverings (which strongly depends on the brightness of the design) usually appears as scuff marks.
It is somewhat different with laminate flooring (although not necessarily better).
For the intended use, the manufacturer-mandated abrasion classes must be considered.
It is only partly true that soft chair casters must always be used on laminate floors. Generally, I would agree with that.
But if you look at the requirements for laminate floors in DIN EN 13329, you will see that in table 2, for use class 34 (very heavy use), hard chair casters are used in the chair caster test.
What matters for damage-free flooring after installation is that the manufacturer-required underlay is also used. I understand the reasons for this and can agree with them!
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PVC or laminate, the "crucial question".
You can certainly use either for an office with the appropriate use class 33 or 34. The darker the design, the more sensitive the surface is to matting. This means that even with class 34, a child drifting with their ride-on toy through corners will cause matting from the plastic wheels, and this would not be considered a defect.
PVC flooring has other disadvantages; you cannot simply weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each type of covering against each other.
So if laminate is your favorite, use the recommended underlay for floating installation and use "Type W" chair casters for office chairs. Also, make sure there is a sufficiently sized dirt-trapping mat at the entrance door.
--------------------------
Regards, KlaRa
You generally need to distinguish whether you want to trust the product marketing (which is advertising) or the normative (minimum) requirements.
A PVC plank or PVC sheet flooring without plasticizers does not exist; that is impossible! This is only common with polyolefin coverings.
The "visual wear" on PVC coverings (which strongly depends on the brightness of the design) usually appears as scuff marks.
It is somewhat different with laminate flooring (although not necessarily better).
For the intended use, the manufacturer-mandated abrasion classes must be considered.
It is only partly true that soft chair casters must always be used on laminate floors. Generally, I would agree with that.
But if you look at the requirements for laminate floors in DIN EN 13329, you will see that in table 2, for use class 34 (very heavy use), hard chair casters are used in the chair caster test.
What matters for damage-free flooring after installation is that the manufacturer-required underlay is also used. I understand the reasons for this and can agree with them!
-----------
PVC or laminate, the "crucial question".
You can certainly use either for an office with the appropriate use class 33 or 34. The darker the design, the more sensitive the surface is to matting. This means that even with class 34, a child drifting with their ride-on toy through corners will cause matting from the plastic wheels, and this would not be considered a defect.
PVC flooring has other disadvantages; you cannot simply weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each type of covering against each other.
So if laminate is your favorite, use the recommended underlay for floating installation and use "Type W" chair casters for office chairs. Also, make sure there is a sufficiently sized dirt-trapping mat at the entrance door.
--------------------------
Regards, KlaRa
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