Flooring for Which Room / Ideas & Tips

Because you say you can't determine the quality in terms of durability by the price. Have you seen / glued any of the three manufacturers live?

Classen is only available as a floating floor. We have it as the "Sono" variant on the upper floor with the Blue Angel label. The covering is relatively smooth compared to vinyl and also cooler underfoot. So far, very robust. Furniture etc. are not a problem. Hard sharp-edged objects can leave scratches. In the house with the "cathedral" in the house pictures thread, Classen was just installed (as Neo 2). I only know Meister as a design covering (click) from exhibitions, Wineo only from the internet. I found the manufacturers in my research because they were advertising that they would soon offer adhesive vinyl with the Blue Angel label. Unfortunately, it was not yet available for us. If normal vinyl is acceptable, I can recommend Ter Hürne; we have it as "Pro"/glued on the ground floor. Except for the missing Blue Angel, very pleasant and really very robust. I had other vinyls in hand; some felt horrible. Others had worse abrasion classes without any other advantages.

Okay, you had practically decided on Classen back then due to the best suitability for underfloor heating. Since the two Blue Angel adhesive vinyls did not exist yet, okay understood. Thank you

With today’s standards, however, one would certainly always prefer the adhesive vinyl because it is even better for underfloor heating.

**Edit: Again on the topic of ease of maintenance: since the joints are sealed on the vinyl afterwards, I should be able to clean the vinyl floor with a steam cleaner just like with tiles or linoleum, right?

With today's standards, one would certainly prefer the glue-down vinyl because it is even better for underfloor heating.

The difference won't be huge. With Classen (which also has well-conducting impact sound insulation), we have a return temperature that is 1 degree higher than with glued-down vinyl, so the covering absorbs slightly less heat. With regular design coverings, it is probably a bit worse. Of course, it still works with underfloor heating.

Apart from that, I find glued installation much better; it feels more solid, also when walking on it.

We have tiles on the ground floor and in the bathroom. On the upper floor (mainly bedrooms) we had vinyl installed. I am now very annoyed with the vinyl. I don't find it very comfortable and it always reminds me of cheap PVC.

Regarding the tiles: It is often said that tiles are uncomfortable and cold. In my opinion, that is complete nonsense. Tiles are the perfect heat conductor for underfloor heating and are therefore always nice and warm during the cold season. And we mostly walk around the house in socks/barefoot...

With vinyl, parquet, etc., I would be very concerned that it would get damaged way too quickly if small stones get carried inside or similar.

Therefore, clearly: Pro tiles!

Good that the steam cleaner on vinyl is probably not a good idea! Answered myself. Thus, the steam cleaner actually remains the great cleaning device for tiles and probably also for the corresponding (temperature) sealed linoleum floors.

There are enough phases in new houses where the underfloor heating does not run... (all transition periods in spring and autumn, i.e. months-long...) during which the tiles are unheated and therefore completely cold. Of course, you can lay carpets everywhere, ...

If the tiles become pleasantly warm in winter, then the heating is definitely not state-of-the-art and/or runs inefficiently, but is either poorly designed or poorly adjusted, or it is an old building that requires significantly higher flow temperatures. At the typical flow temperatures of 25-30 degrees in new buildings, tiles feel cold or cool (unless you are a vampire with a body temperature close to zero).

Durability of parquet: Always depends on the demands... If you cannot live with scratches, then you should definitely avoid it, especially with children and/or pets. If you accept it or even find it nice to have a "living floor," it is not a problem. It is of course more maintenance-intensive because it needs regular oiling to look nice for a long time. If the floor no longer looks nice enough after 10-15 years... have it sanded, re-oiled, and everything is like new. Even with "pre-finished parquet," you can usually sand it 2-3 times.