ᐅ Who has experience with the Parador Modular One flooring system?
Created on: 10 Feb 2019 21:44
G
Garfield-1978
Hello! Last week, we visited a retailer and looked at the Parador Modular One flooring. It sounds interesting: plasticizer-free; lifetime warranty; integrated cork underlay for sound insulation.
Who has experience with it? During installation? In daily use; cleaning; maintenance; durability?
Who has experience with it? During installation? In daily use; cleaning; maintenance; durability?
Snowy36 schrieb:
Is anyone actually reading this thread or is the question just being asked over and over again???
All the pros and cons are already listed.
We have it in the basement, and I don’t find it so great that I would want it on the ground floor.... Great atmosphere here. I have read every single page. Still, given the varying opinions on both sides, I hope it’s okay for me to ask for more experiences. Right?
P
Philipp_202227 Jan 2022 17:28Hello everyone,
referring to the post by Wolfgang 404 from 26.3.2020, I would like to create my very first (and probably last) forum post here. I’m writing this especially with the hope that my experience might help someone.
Two years ago, I renovated our house. Living room, hallway, and kitchen: tiles removed – Modular One Oak Spirit Nature country-style plank installed. Upstairs, two bedrooms have 50-year-old oak parquet flooring that was sanded and sealed again. In the third bedroom, there used to be very cheap laminate, now replaced with laminate (Basic 200 – silky matte texture).
I always wanted, especially in the living areas/on the ground floor, a nice parquet floor (that was one of the big wishes/dream ideas for our home), but I didn’t want to pay a fortune or be frustrated after 10 years, especially with kids, if everything was ruined. So, at the time, the relatively new Modular One floor seemed perfect to me: cheaper than parquet, appearance and feel fairly close to parquet, and clearly more comfortable than vinyl or laminate. After 10 years, just remove it once and then have real parquet installed. That was the plan.
I bought the 80m² (860ft²) for the ground floor locally from the specialist/building materials dealer (official distributor) and installed it properly myself. Everything according to the instructions: checked the screed with the aluminum straightedge (always less than 3mm/m (0.24 inches/ft)), swept and vacuumed several times, acclimatization period, cut outside, edge gaps, etc. Really more than meticulous. As recommended by the dealer, installed with 0.2 mm (0.008 inches) foil. The result: visually and tactilely excellent, but when walking on it there was always an annoying sound resonance like cracking or creaking (foil and panels) (this also varies slightly with temperature, depending on whether the underfloor heating is on or off) and a “clunk” sound in spots where the floor has a slight hollow area and then hits the screed. With shoes, it’s not as noticeable, but when walking with heels or normally barefoot, it’s extremely annoying. I repeat: the screed complies with the standard requirements of max. 3mm/m (0.24 inches/ft). In the kitchen and hallway, the screed is new and almost perfect, yet there is still creaking, crackling, and (in fewer places than on the old screed) a “clunk” where the very stiff floor doesn’t fully lay flat.
To the specialist dealer: “That’s normal – just heat it up a bit – it will settle.” Six weeks later, the situation was unchanged. After several conversations, another staff member told me that for a good result the floor should be installed with the original impact sound insulation (Acoustic Protect 100). So that’s faulty advice, in my opinion. Since I could not accept the situation, I removed the floor and installed the sound insulation underneath. The result is better – but overall it only improved from unsatisfactory to about a grade 4+ (on a scale of 1-6). The manufacturer was always involved in the discussions but, despite the detailed description of the situation and my complaint, only supplied replacement planks for those damaged during removal. The entire work of removal and installation (the second time), as well as the cost for the sound insulation (about €400), was at my expense. At the specialist dealer, I was asked whether my aluminum straightedge was straight (we have three of them), and that they had never heard of such a problem before. Due to COVID-19, no one could come and inspect the situation.
The floor has now been installed for 1.5 years. The situation with the additional impact sound insulation is better than before, but honestly, for a nice home this is unacceptable. If someone walks through the hallway to the kitchen and back, you always hear at the same spots “creak, clunk,” etc. Especially this “clunking” is extremely annoying. The laminate is the same.
Summary:
- Maintenance is easy, looks and feels great – but real parquet (upstairs) is a whole different league.
- The floor would stay forever if not for the mentioned problems. The idea of the flexibility of a floating floor was very interesting at the time. After 10 years, you say: “Now one day’s work, and instead of oak in the kitchen, you have cement-gray square panels or something like that.”
- At the beginning, I always thought: if you get a serious scratch or damage, you just replace that one panel (until then, remove or cut it out). A professional company can do that with parquet as well. Also, a scratch/dent/crack on parquet is color-matched because it has a thick wood layer. For design floors, the very thin top layer comes off, revealing the dark “pressed waste” underneath. But a real wood floor can have a scratch – “It has to live/it shapes the character,” say many who have parquet.
- If someone is lucky with this floor and satisfied – I am really happy for them! I don’t want to speak badly about it, just share my experience. Since I now have the direct comparison with parquet upstairs, I would never again install a floating floor (not even in a kid’s room – a friend installed floating parquet planks in his living room, which is even ten times worse than my case). My parquet partly lies in my old childhood/now office room, is over 50 years old, and looks like new after sanding (before sanding it looked very good despite the age but sanding was recommended). Over these 50 years, these rooms have been used multiple times as kitchen, living room (rented and self-used), and children’s room – visually like new. Look at pubs or similar places – parquet is treated much worse there and still looks great even after years.
- At about €35/m² (about $38/yd²) including impact sound insulation and my own labor and time for installation, real parquet for (let’s say) €60-80/m² (about $65-87/yd²) including professional installation doesn’t seem so expensive in total for about 100m² (1,076ft²) of a project like this. And then you really have something high-quality made from solid oak wood or similar.
- Many friends (and for me, in comparison to the oiled oak staircase upstairs) have noticed, especially with kids now, that oiled parquet is very beautiful but suffers a lot from water etc. (our staircase too). So if it’s parquet, it should be properly sealed (we have a matte finish upstairs, which looks very natural). We have sealed parquet upstairs, our neighbors in the kitchen, friends in their living rooms – all tip-top and unharmed. Water is not a problem for a certain time. Of course, the best solution for water is tiles. We had lighter tiles in the living room before: two beer bottles fell, creating two about 1-cent size brown marks (inside the tile) right in front of the stove – a disaster. So rather a small (color-matched) dent in parquet (and as mentioned, a professional company can also replace a damaged plank/tile).
- With parquet, of course, you have to be a bit careful: no small stones under shoes, use gliders under chairs, etc. But finally, a comparison: usually you have professionals smooth walls and wallpaper so it looks great, not just cheap wallpaper with inferior glue that peels off halfway. So why with the floor? Well, because the alternative options look so attractive and seemingly cheap – and that’s why I’m sharing my experience. I considered removing everything again and gluing it down (a friend of mine has glued vinyl which is quite nice), but then you might have a new, glued problem (Modular One is not meant to be glued, I think). After the toddler phase, if not earlier because it bothers me so much, parquet will be installed. (Tiles in wood-look might also be an alternative for some – there are really nice ones now.)
By the way, you can better save on wallpaper because you eventually stop noticing it – but you walk on the floor every day, and that annoyance lasts forever.
Now finally a practical tip: if in doubt, buy one or even two packages of 2.5m² (27ft²) each and lay them out in a few places in your home. If it’s good – perfect! If not, that is the best 100 € (about $110) you could spend.
I hope my experience helps someone and wish you much success with your building projects!
Best regards!
referring to the post by Wolfgang 404 from 26.3.2020, I would like to create my very first (and probably last) forum post here. I’m writing this especially with the hope that my experience might help someone.
Two years ago, I renovated our house. Living room, hallway, and kitchen: tiles removed – Modular One Oak Spirit Nature country-style plank installed. Upstairs, two bedrooms have 50-year-old oak parquet flooring that was sanded and sealed again. In the third bedroom, there used to be very cheap laminate, now replaced with laminate (Basic 200 – silky matte texture).
I always wanted, especially in the living areas/on the ground floor, a nice parquet floor (that was one of the big wishes/dream ideas for our home), but I didn’t want to pay a fortune or be frustrated after 10 years, especially with kids, if everything was ruined. So, at the time, the relatively new Modular One floor seemed perfect to me: cheaper than parquet, appearance and feel fairly close to parquet, and clearly more comfortable than vinyl or laminate. After 10 years, just remove it once and then have real parquet installed. That was the plan.
I bought the 80m² (860ft²) for the ground floor locally from the specialist/building materials dealer (official distributor) and installed it properly myself. Everything according to the instructions: checked the screed with the aluminum straightedge (always less than 3mm/m (0.24 inches/ft)), swept and vacuumed several times, acclimatization period, cut outside, edge gaps, etc. Really more than meticulous. As recommended by the dealer, installed with 0.2 mm (0.008 inches) foil. The result: visually and tactilely excellent, but when walking on it there was always an annoying sound resonance like cracking or creaking (foil and panels) (this also varies slightly with temperature, depending on whether the underfloor heating is on or off) and a “clunk” sound in spots where the floor has a slight hollow area and then hits the screed. With shoes, it’s not as noticeable, but when walking with heels or normally barefoot, it’s extremely annoying. I repeat: the screed complies with the standard requirements of max. 3mm/m (0.24 inches/ft). In the kitchen and hallway, the screed is new and almost perfect, yet there is still creaking, crackling, and (in fewer places than on the old screed) a “clunk” where the very stiff floor doesn’t fully lay flat.
To the specialist dealer: “That’s normal – just heat it up a bit – it will settle.” Six weeks later, the situation was unchanged. After several conversations, another staff member told me that for a good result the floor should be installed with the original impact sound insulation (Acoustic Protect 100). So that’s faulty advice, in my opinion. Since I could not accept the situation, I removed the floor and installed the sound insulation underneath. The result is better – but overall it only improved from unsatisfactory to about a grade 4+ (on a scale of 1-6). The manufacturer was always involved in the discussions but, despite the detailed description of the situation and my complaint, only supplied replacement planks for those damaged during removal. The entire work of removal and installation (the second time), as well as the cost for the sound insulation (about €400), was at my expense. At the specialist dealer, I was asked whether my aluminum straightedge was straight (we have three of them), and that they had never heard of such a problem before. Due to COVID-19, no one could come and inspect the situation.
The floor has now been installed for 1.5 years. The situation with the additional impact sound insulation is better than before, but honestly, for a nice home this is unacceptable. If someone walks through the hallway to the kitchen and back, you always hear at the same spots “creak, clunk,” etc. Especially this “clunking” is extremely annoying. The laminate is the same.
Summary:
- Maintenance is easy, looks and feels great – but real parquet (upstairs) is a whole different league.
- The floor would stay forever if not for the mentioned problems. The idea of the flexibility of a floating floor was very interesting at the time. After 10 years, you say: “Now one day’s work, and instead of oak in the kitchen, you have cement-gray square panels or something like that.”
- At the beginning, I always thought: if you get a serious scratch or damage, you just replace that one panel (until then, remove or cut it out). A professional company can do that with parquet as well. Also, a scratch/dent/crack on parquet is color-matched because it has a thick wood layer. For design floors, the very thin top layer comes off, revealing the dark “pressed waste” underneath. But a real wood floor can have a scratch – “It has to live/it shapes the character,” say many who have parquet.
- If someone is lucky with this floor and satisfied – I am really happy for them! I don’t want to speak badly about it, just share my experience. Since I now have the direct comparison with parquet upstairs, I would never again install a floating floor (not even in a kid’s room – a friend installed floating parquet planks in his living room, which is even ten times worse than my case). My parquet partly lies in my old childhood/now office room, is over 50 years old, and looks like new after sanding (before sanding it looked very good despite the age but sanding was recommended). Over these 50 years, these rooms have been used multiple times as kitchen, living room (rented and self-used), and children’s room – visually like new. Look at pubs or similar places – parquet is treated much worse there and still looks great even after years.
- At about €35/m² (about $38/yd²) including impact sound insulation and my own labor and time for installation, real parquet for (let’s say) €60-80/m² (about $65-87/yd²) including professional installation doesn’t seem so expensive in total for about 100m² (1,076ft²) of a project like this. And then you really have something high-quality made from solid oak wood or similar.
- Many friends (and for me, in comparison to the oiled oak staircase upstairs) have noticed, especially with kids now, that oiled parquet is very beautiful but suffers a lot from water etc. (our staircase too). So if it’s parquet, it should be properly sealed (we have a matte finish upstairs, which looks very natural). We have sealed parquet upstairs, our neighbors in the kitchen, friends in their living rooms – all tip-top and unharmed. Water is not a problem for a certain time. Of course, the best solution for water is tiles. We had lighter tiles in the living room before: two beer bottles fell, creating two about 1-cent size brown marks (inside the tile) right in front of the stove – a disaster. So rather a small (color-matched) dent in parquet (and as mentioned, a professional company can also replace a damaged plank/tile).
- With parquet, of course, you have to be a bit careful: no small stones under shoes, use gliders under chairs, etc. But finally, a comparison: usually you have professionals smooth walls and wallpaper so it looks great, not just cheap wallpaper with inferior glue that peels off halfway. So why with the floor? Well, because the alternative options look so attractive and seemingly cheap – and that’s why I’m sharing my experience. I considered removing everything again and gluing it down (a friend of mine has glued vinyl which is quite nice), but then you might have a new, glued problem (Modular One is not meant to be glued, I think). After the toddler phase, if not earlier because it bothers me so much, parquet will be installed. (Tiles in wood-look might also be an alternative for some – there are really nice ones now.)
By the way, you can better save on wallpaper because you eventually stop noticing it – but you walk on the floor every day, and that annoyance lasts forever.
Now finally a practical tip: if in doubt, buy one or even two packages of 2.5m² (27ft²) each and lay them out in a few places in your home. If it’s good – perfect! If not, that is the best 100 € (about $110) you could spend.
I hope my experience helps someone and wish you much success with your building projects!
Best regards!
P
Paulpauli201029 Jan 2022 21:29Hello everyone,
Really interesting to read all the experiences and opinions. I am now also facing the decision whether to choose the Modular One or not.
Parador says that a warm water underfloor heating system is not a problem. However, I definitely want to glue the flooring to avoid the mentioned clicking and creaking noises. Is the combination of underfloor heating and glued installation also possible? Parador’s installation instructions say nothing about this…
Also, regarding the area. According to Parador, gluing is possible for a maximum of 20 sqm (215 sq ft). My largest area measures 33 sqm (355 sq ft). I don’t want a joint in the middle of the room. Has anyone fully glued similarly large areas with underfloor heating? What are your experiences?
Regards,
Paulpauli2010
Really interesting to read all the experiences and opinions. I am now also facing the decision whether to choose the Modular One or not.
Parador says that a warm water underfloor heating system is not a problem. However, I definitely want to glue the flooring to avoid the mentioned clicking and creaking noises. Is the combination of underfloor heating and glued installation also possible? Parador’s installation instructions say nothing about this…
Also, regarding the area. According to Parador, gluing is possible for a maximum of 20 sqm (215 sq ft). My largest area measures 33 sqm (355 sq ft). I don’t want a joint in the middle of the room. Has anyone fully glued similarly large areas with underfloor heating? What are your experiences?
Regards,
Paulpauli2010
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