Children’s flooring: criteria for choosing the best material

Children’s flooring

To make a choice in favor of a certain finishing material and be satisfied with the result, it is important to carefully compare the requirements with the properties. Choosing a floor covering for a child should be especially careful and scrupulous. The child spends a lot of time on the floor, it is important that the coating is not only beautiful, but also safe.

Content

• The main characteristics of flooring
• Is linoleum suitable for children?
• Laminate and the younger generation
• The advantages of flooring
• Carpet as a cover for a nursery
• Safe aesthetic plug
• Parquet – right-flank floor

Consider the main qualitative characteristics of the most common floor coverings, in order to compare the best option..

1. The main characteristics of flooring
2. Resistance to possible damage.
3. Appearance.
4. Moisture resistance.
5. Thermal conductivity.
6. Life time.
7. Environmental friendliness.

Is linoleum suitable for children?

Linoleum is the most affordable in material terms, easy to care for, but, being a product made from synthetic polymers, it accumulates static stress. Linoleum tends to squeeze under the weight of the legs of a cabinet or sofa. The heat absorption of linoleum, or in other words the ability to absorb heat, depends primarily on the thickness of the base, its composition and density. A textile-based material with a foam polyvinyl chloride base is preferred.

The service life depends on the characteristics and conditions of use. On average from 7 to 20 years.

Laminate and the younger generation

Laminate is easy to install, beautiful in appearance and relatively durable. But, this is a “loud” floor covering. The resonant properties (loud sound when the object falls to the floor) and low water resistance are explained by the structural feature: the coating consists of 80% of wood industry wastes compressed in combination with various compounds based on phenol formaldehyde resins and coated with a special film. Most vulnerable at junctions. It cannot be restored, it is static (the antistatic effect is acquired if special means are used). If it is planned to lay a carpet over the laminate (which compensates for possible “noise effects”), then use for the nursery is quite possible. Service life depends on strength class, does not exceed 20 years.

The advantages of flooring

Durable and resistant to moisture. The most important thing is eco-friendly: in fact, a parquet board is a material made of solid wood. Glued pieces of natural wood are covered with veneer and several layers of varnish. Thanks to repeated gluing, the material does not dry out, does not deform. The board is able to retain heat well. The coating is quiet. If the thickness of the top layer allows, repeated restoration of the surface is possible (scraping followed by varnishing). One of the best options. Serves an average of about 25 years, subject to constant humidity and temperature.

Carpet as a cover for a nursery

At first glance, a good option – a fluffy coating, pleasant to the touch and soft, provides excellent sound insulation, a good alternative to the carpet. Undoubtedly, it looks impressive, you can cover the nursery floor along the entire perimeter. But if the baby spills paint on the floor, then washing the stain can be problematic. Daily care is somewhat complicated by the need to use special technical means (wet cleaning in the usual sense of the word is unacceptable, with a broom you can’t sweep a carpet, especially a long pile, in winter you can’t clean it in snow). The carpet is short-lived – it is able to maintain its properties for a maximum of 10 years. In the manufacture of both synthetic and natural materials are used, but there is much more synthetics. Even a few percent of the wool in the carpet will give the seller a reason to call the carpet “almost natural.” Avoid the abundance of synthetic materials in the nursery.

Safe aesthetic plug

Excellent sound insulation, resistance to moisture, pleasant texture and good thermal insulation are the main advantages of cork flooring. Under the weight of heavy pieces of furniture, the coating pushes through. Service life on average 10-20 years.

Parquet – right-flank floor

One of the best options for flooring in the nursery is laying parquet. The high price is explained by expensive production, because each plank of parquet is made of solid wood. Eco-friendly, warm and safe coating, leading in durability (over 50 years), provided the microclimate is stable in the room. Parquet may deteriorate from moisture. Parquet can be restored many times (after polishing it completely restores its former appearance).

The degree of environmental friendliness of any floor covering is determined by the results of many examinations: whether the raw materials used are harmless, whether they comply with safety requirements. In any case, when buying, you should familiarize yourself with a hygiene certificate and choose a coating of the appropriate wear resistance class

Considering the properties of the most popular flooring of our time, everyone will notice for themselves both useful and undesirable characteristics. To understand which floor is better in the nursery, we recall the main requirements for flooring. – First of all, safety, ability to keep warm, durability, simplicity in leaving. The high cost can be justified by the compliance of the coating characteristics with the required parameters. The choice is obvious.