12 minute read
Special Subfloors : part II
HOW DO YOU ACHIEVE THE BEST THERMAL RESISTANCE?
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Michaël Wensky (Key Account Management Parkettfreund - D)
“It’s all about sustainability, on top of exceptional quality”
When you want to know more about underlays, it’s a good idea to contact Michaël Wensky, who is Key Account Manager with German Parkettfreund. Wensky mainly works as product manager for insulation materials and accessories for the installation of floors, after having spent the earlier days of his career in the general flooring business. We ask him first to situate Parkettfreund inside Küberit, to see what exactly the difference is between the two.
“Both companies target the professional, with Parkettfreund as a subsidiary of Küberit Profile Systems. Küberit primarily sells profiles in aluminium, stainless steel and brass for the installation of all kinds of floor coverings. It also targets professionals, but in addition, Pakettfreund offers an extensive range of installation accessories and insulating underlays. This range is primarily geared towards the needs of the craftsman and goes more through the wood accessory market”, explains Michaël Wensky.
Sustainability comes first
During the interview, Mr. Wensky mainly wants to stress how sustainable his company works and how this reflects on the underlays: “If you don’t guarantee you offer sustainable products, what then is the use of going on? Take, for example, our top product, the polyurethane products from the acoustic series. These can be described as all-round ecological products and these high-quality insulating underlays consist of up to 90% naturally occurring raw materials, such as mineral fillers and polyurethane binders. They are also free of plasticizers, asbestos, formaldehyde, halogen and heavy metals and contain neither solvents nor other ozone-depleting substances. Moreover, the renewable raw materials used for these products are not in competition with food cultivation. These products are produced in Germany, which means there are short delivery routes to our warehouse. The result is they meet the VOC guideline, afsset A+, ‘Blauer Engel’ and the AGBB scheme.”
“We also offer some insulating underlays, that are made of PE-material, such as plastic. Here, we take great care to work as sustainable as we can as well. First and foremost, we ensure the products are manufactured in the EU and that the transport routes are as short as possible. Our production partly uses recycled materials and recycles all of its waste.”
New developments
We want to know if there are any new developments. What are the plans for 2023, especially for the PVC and vinyl sections, in which we know the insulating underlays are primarily used to improve the acoustics of floating floor coverings.
“Our experience with the existing range is good, there will only be minor changes in the new catalogue for 2023. Therein, for example, the XPS 2.2 series is supplemented by two folding plates. This means goods are no longer rolled, but are offered folded as a ‘package’. This has clear advantages during transport and, above all, during the installation, as the roller does not have the unpleasant ‘roll-back effect’.”
“Another change is that the successful series of polyurethane insulation underlays in 1.9 mm will be supplemented by two additional products. The first is a version without aluminum lamination, so without a moisture barrier, that becomes suitable for the installation on wooden floors. Secondly, we also expand the PUR 1.9, the version including a moisture barrier, with a pack including a roll of aluminum tape. This tape is needed when installating the underlay anyway and is often forgotten when shopping.”
Finally, we also want to know where we will be able to meet Parkettfreund and its products over the coming months. And are there any investments planned?
BAU in Munich
“You will primarily see us at several local association trade fairs, the next big event will be next year's BAU in Munich. We have no specific investments planned as of now, but we invite everyone to come and visit us”, says Michaël Wensky, who emphasizes how Parkettfreund warmly welcomes professionals from all over the world: “Particularly noteworthy for this market are our high-quality PUR underlays. We invite all craftsmen to discover how their pressure stability is exactly right and how the products are without any exception very well suited for use on underfloor heating. Besides this, we of course want to illustrate how these products are manufactured under very strict and ecologically sound conditions.”
In terms of thermal resistance, what is the most suitable subfloor for loose fitting under floating multilayer modular floor coverings? To answer this question, we consulted the MMFA’s document ‘Underlay materials under multilayer modular floor coverings, test standards, and performance indicators’. That technical bulletin gave us some general advice and application recommendations.
We must certainly point out that this document does not apply to products with pre-fitted subfloors and nor does it apply to areas with special requirements and use specifications. This means that you must always comply with the legal requirements in the country or region of purchase. When we talk about multilayer modular floor covering, we refer to floor covering as specified in EN 16511 and other semi-rigid multilayer modular floor coverings for floating fitting. The bulletin covers the performance features of underlays as regards thermal resistance. It also covers how those features guarantee the durability of the technical performances in both light and heavier areas of use for the entire lifespan of the floor covering. This should enable us to choose the ideal floor covering/subfloor.
Floor heating
First of all, the document considers the use of floor heating. And so, this involves heating under the subfloor (e.g. water/electrically in the covering floor/concrete). When floor heating is fitted, the floor covering system should not affect the heating operation. The floor covering system should not excessively hinder the effective transfer of heat in the room. In this regard the BVF (‘Bundesverband Flächenheizungen und Flächenkühlungen’, the German Association Floor Heating and Cooling Association) and the European standard for the dimensioning of floor heating (EN 1264-3) state that the level of Rλ,B heat resistance for the whole floor covering system may not exceed 0.15m²K/W.
Obviously, the heating can also be located on the underlay (think of elements such as electric foils directly on top of the underlay). In this case the energy goes through the floor covering into the room and only a minimum of energy is lost in the subfloor. Experience shows that this is achieved when the heat resistance (R) of the subfloor alone exceeds the heat resistance of the floor covering.
Floor cooling
Floor cooling is another case. If there is an installation whereby cold water can be pumped through the floor heating system to cool it down, additional requirements are necessary. This means that it is necessary to install a device under the floor covering to regulate condensation automatically. For that purpose condensation sensors (probes) should be fitted under the floor covering. They disconnect the cooling system before the onset of condensation, which could result in damage to the
The complete underlay collection encompasses with currently 22 sales-boosting products solutions for almost all applications
u Acoustic underlays for highest
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u Underlays for special application areas u High-quality products for different
requirements
u Underlays out of natural raw material u Cost-effective underlays u Moisture protection and self-adhesive
tapes
STEICOunderfloor
The trend is to build with ecological materials, this also applies to the floor area and what is laid underneath: laying underlays and impact sound insulation. STEICO offers ecologically high-quality products at a good price-performance ratio.
STEICOunderfloor is ideal for rigid floor coverings with click connections: Prefabricated parquet and laminate flooring. It evens out punctual irregularities and prevents protruding corners and edges from touching, overloading and lifting the floor covering.
Since STEICOunderfloor is available in thicknesses of 3, 4, 5 and 7 milimeters, it is possible to react to height differences from room to room and to create a continuous floor surface without tripping hazards. In the rooms where STEICOunderfloor is installed, stepping on the floor sounds "better". This is because the noise of walking changes: it sounds quieter, deeper and more pleasant. In the rooms on the floor below, the impact sound is dampened by up to 19 dB. STEICOunderfloor is suitable for underfloor heating. Its high raw density and compressive strength of 15 tons/square meter also prevents the thin click joints of the floor covering from breaking under high loads. At the same time, however, it shows its elasticity - falling objects are cushioned and the surface of the floor covering remains largely undamaged.
STEICOunderfloor is ecological in more ways than one: its wood fibre portion binds carbon dioxide. Like all wood used for STEICO products the raw material for STEICOunderfloor comes entirely from sustainable forestry with FSC or PEFC certification. Examined by the Institute for Building Biology Rosenheim (IBR) it is classified as "harmless from a building biology point of view" and is recommended for living areas.
For further information visit www.steico.com
About STEICO (D)
STEICO develops, produces and markets ecological construction products made of renewable raw materials. STEICO is the market leader worldwide for wood fibre insulation materials. STEICO is positioned as a system provider for ecological residential construction and is the only manufacturer in the industry to offer an integrated wooden construction system in which insulation material and construction components supplement each other. The Munich-based company’s products are used in new construction and when renovating roofs, walls, ceilings, floors and facades. STEICO’s products allow the construction of futureproof, healthy buildings with a particularly high quality of living and a healthy atmosphere. STEICO’s products offer reliable protection against cold, heat and also noise, and they permanently improve the building’s energy efficiency. www.steico.com
floor covering such as distortion, swelling, puffing up, crack formation, and such like. To that end, the recommended heat resistance (Rλ,B) for the entire floor system may not exceed 0.10m²K/W.
We can mention that the lower the Rλ,B value of the floor system is (with both heating and cooling under the subfloor), the more suitable the floor system is for use on a heated/cooled base. The following applies for heating on top of the subfloor: the higher the Rλ,B value of the floor system and/or the R value of the subfloor, the more suitable the floor is for use under a heating system. The Rλ,B value for the entire floor system has to be calculated as the sum of the heat resistance of all layers (generally: damp screen + subfloor + floor covering).
Thermal insulation
For installation on uninsulated subfloors at ground level or in cellars or above unheated rooms such as garages, you can get more home comfort by insulating the floor covering thoroughly. This can yield higher floor temperatures and a greater sense of comfort when you walk on the floor barefoot. The higher the Rλ,B value of the floor system, the more suitable the floor system is for use on an uninsulated subfloor.
Sources: MMFA: ‘Underlay materials under multilayer modular floor coverings, test standards and performance indicators’ and Unifloor.
Bona
The Bona assortment of subfloors comprises four different sorts of subfloors. The most popular one is the U300 subfloor. Footsteps, falling objects, moving furniture, and vibrations from a washing machine are all disruptive noises if you live in a house or flat. Bona's U300 subfloor reduces impact sound considerably and improves your quality of life at the same time. The Bona U300 subfloor has excellent structural sound insulation, reduces impact sounds and absorbs vibrations. Bona U300 is an underlay which consists of cork and recycled polyurethane foam granules bound with polyurethane elastomers. The product is ideal for several types of floors, such as parquet, composite parquet, etc.
Design Parquet
An underlay must be compatible with the following low temperature underfloor heating systems - Hydraulic (according to DTU65-14) - Electric (in accordance with standard NFC 32-330 and installed in accordance with NF P52-302) - and / or cooling heating systems. The lower the thermal resistance of the underlaying, the better the performance of the underfloor heating. The acoustic insulation of an underlaying includes the reduction of impact noise and the reduction of resonance noise. In the case of floating laying, the moisture barrier (polyane, vapour barrier) is mandatory. This is a prerequisite for laying in accordance with DTU 51.11, floating laying of engineered wood floors. In the case of glued laying, the polymer glue will limit the exchange of humidity from the subfloor. Caution, whether in floating or glued laying, a test with a carbide spray is mandatory to check that the concrete support is suitable for parquet. It is advisable to check the humidity of the subfloor before laying, and to notify this by means of an acceptance report. Finally, for underfloor heating, we recommend glued laying to limit the thermal resistance of an underlay, which will reduce the performance of underfloor heating. Anhydrite screed is a fluid screed which does not have the same characteristics as a conventional screed. The residual moisture content of the anhydrite screed must be checked with a carbide spray test before any flooring is laid and must be less than 0.5%. There are several types of underlay: cork, Phaltex, etc. They all have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, a cork underlay is compatible with glued-down laying and floating laying, but it is compulsory to add a polyane when laying floating. Other underlays for floating laying have an integrated polyane. They are also characterised by their acoustic performance. Finally, their thickness must be considered if there is a limit to the thickness of the floor covering that must not be exceeded. Each customer has his own needs, which is why we strive to have as much information as possible to advise our customers as closely as possible.
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