Commonly known as lino, linoleum has for some years been a particularly popular floor covering with interior designers who cover all the rooms in the house with it. We even put it outside on the terrace, or even on the balcony.
What is Linoleum?
Linoleum is essential today in the department of floor coverings, and its appearance is not new: this material has been on the market since the mid-nineteenth century. More precisely, it is to the Scottish industrialist Frederick Walton that we owe his invention, who hastened to have it patented, realizing the exceptional nature of his creation. Since then, linoleum has been one of the great classics, even essentials.
Of course, it depends on the installation price, but here is a material that adapts to all rooms of an apartment or a house: kitchen, bathroom, living room or hallway… linoleum harmonizes with all styles of decoration and interior. However, its main advantage lies in its exceptional resistance to time, but above all to wear.
Some even call it indestructible. This coating is ideal for living areas that are constantly frequented, as well as places regularly subject to humidity and temperature changes such as the kitchen and the bathroom, for example. This is also why the lino is found a lot in public places or places with high traffic recording many passages and comings and goings. A legendary robustness due to its entirely ecological main components which are chipboard powder, cork resin and linseed oil. Hence its name linoleum which in Latin means linum for flax, otherwise oleum for oil. And that’s not to mention its suppleness and its soft, smooth and comfortable touch, not to mention its ease of maintenance. Its only great enemy is wax.
How much does it cost and how do I lay linoleum?
But the qualities of this material do not just boil down to its unfailing robustness, but also lie in its very wide variety of colors, prints and patterns. It is undoubtedly one of the floor coverings that offer so many choices. There are even models that perfectly imitate wood, tiles or natural stone. The certainty is that there will be something for everyone and, what’s more, at affordable prices.
Be careful, however, not to confuse this material with vinyl or PVC floors which are made from petroleum products, nor with le balatum which has the same appearance, but of inferior quality, since it is made of cardboard coated with bitumen. Indeed, one can very quickly confuse these coatings in particular for the people who know nothing about it. However, these other coatings are not only more rigid, but in addition, their surface is scratched and marked very easily, without being ecological.
Now concerning its price, the square meter will vary depending on the type and model of linoleum. For the hundred percent natural essentially made from recyclable components, it is generally between 15 and 100 € per square meter. Otherwise, for classic models, the buyer can pay between 10 to 60 €.
This coating can be sold in rolls with a width that can range from 2 to 5 meters or square slabs with a thickness of 4 millimeters. Otherwise, you can also buy it in strips of parquet which will then be a self-adhesive lino. Anyway, even if this coating seems very easy to put in place, nothing beats the intervention of a professional for the installation.