Special Who sells waterproof laminate floors?

THE FINAL VICTORY?

MANUFACTURERS HAVE MADE A PRIORITY OF WATERPROOF LAMINATE FOR MANY YEARS

Over the years, laminate has had to conquer several hurdles. For instance, it once looked artificial, it had the annoying sound of footsteps, and the fitting always involved glueing. Those problems have hardly been an issue, if at all, for many years now. If there is still one problem, it’s the issue of a waterproof floor. Yet here, too, we note that this is now much less of an issue.

Watertight or waterproof

In recent decades, laminate manufacturers have made an absolute priority of making floors which are watertight, or perhaps it would be better to say waterproof. To judge by what we’ve seen coming onto the market in recent years, they’ve largely succeeded so that we can put a number of prejudices firmly to bed. To mention one, for instance, laminate isn’t suitable for the bathroom. That was largely the case ten years ago, but nowadays you have to give a much more refined answer. In particular, we wonder how producers make these floors more dampproof. To get a better grasp of this, we look first and foremost at the product structure. For instance, the base is the first crucial factor for deciding whether or not a particular laminate floor is suitable for use in damp surrounds.

A treated base

We know that a laminate base is almost always HDF. Generally, this HDF (or high density fibre) easily absorbs water so that the material swells. And so, in the quest for refinement, manufacturers firstly examined this base and considered how to treat the HDF to counteract water absorption.

With the products now emerging on the market, we notice that makers have found solutions to treat HDF to make it more waterproof. For instance, with waterproof laminate they have inserted a synthetic profile into the base and have impregnated the surfaces and edges of the plank.

Adapted joints

That latter brings us to a second weak point in these floors which had to be tackled, namely the joints. Here we note how there are now scores of systems which pay extra attention to making the joints watertight. And so, the edges have extra protection and even make the entire locking system watertight. Sometimes a rubber strip is also added here.

Extra coatings

Equally important, obviously, is how to tackle the surface of the floorboards. In this connection you will notice that just about all manufacturers apply their own extra coating to the product. This yields a system where the floor is sealed at the joints after the fitting via a waterproof treatment, coating, or wax. This is almost always in combination with both items which we’ve already outlined. A practical example

We found a practical example of how to make laminate floors waterproof for use in damp rooms at Berry Alloc, a well known pioneer in this field for a long time. Back in 2008, this market player introduced its hydro+ technology, which has been further refined over the years. This player applies specifically a water-repellent coating to the sides of each plank so that the water cannot penetrate into the joints. They implement this process during the production so that the collection is fully waterproof when it leaves the factory. Since they also realise how important the finishes to walls and thresholds are, they have developed a whole range of accessories to protect the room completely from water and other fluids. Amongst other things, we refer to their jointing strip as a basis for filling. This is used to fill all expansion joints with the so called Filler Twine, whereby the floor can swell and shrink, whilst it is still protected against damp.

A specialist has his say

Välinge

Why Välinge’s 5G® Dry™ is making a big splash in the world of flooring The world of floor locking is a dynamic one — and Välinge has innovation engrained in its DNA. The desire to evolve, redefine, and improve is omnipresent, so, as the demand for waterproof flooring increased, the engineers at the company’s HQ in Viken, Sweden, were already into advanced testing of the technology that would become 5G® Dry™. “Most of the water-resistant laminate flooring on the market today doesn’t utilise a fold-down locking system — they are usually based on a simpler angle/ snap solution,” says Laetitia Kimblad, Välinge Innovation’s Director of Floor Locking. “What we wanted to achieve with 5G Dry was to take everything great about 5G Fold Down — such as the fastest and easiest installation and strong locking provided by the plastic tongue — and add a watertight joint that reduces surface swelling and prevents water from penetrating through the joint.” To achieve their goal, they tweaked the locking profiles, creating a lip that prevents the water from penetrating. The result is that both the long and short sides of the plank gain watertight joints while retaining the fast and easy installation that people love and expect from 5G Fold Down. “When customer see that a floor uses 5G® Dry™ — whether that’s a Hardened Wood floor, resilient, or laminate — they know they’re getting the easiest, fastest, and best installation out there and a worry-free floor that can handle whatever life throws at it.”

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