The Inovar Laminated Wood Flooring by Daiken - it's impressive technical features and results of my own tests are detailed in my previous post (see link). My intention was to compare its performance versus it's claims and versus competitors. This is because I needed to decide on my own flooring for a new house project.
Inovar floor, a global product.
Since writing that blog, I've seen the Inovar Australia and South Africa websites, aside from Asian sites, and now better appreciate how Inovar flooring is a truly global product with a very extensive line-up.
This photo above is from the Inovar Australia website, and shows the Laminate - Original range. They have 5 laminate ranges, each with its own set of characteristics and aesthetic choices. And Inovar has other products like laminated wood, bamboo and vinyl. The Engineered Wood shown to me at the Kibu Design Concepts showroom in Manila is also very impressive and worthy of consideration. I've decided to use laminated wood, so the quest for me was to find the best laminated wood among a myriad of choices.
The Inovar floor components, and badges that highlight strong qualities. See my previous blog for detailed discussions on the component layers. Other wood laminate brands have similar claims. But whose claims stand up to actual tests?
Laminated wood prices vary widely. Product descriptions from different companies tend to be quite similar, and most of them are quite impressive. But as I've determined personally - performance under testing can be very different. And the test that results in the biggest differences, is the water exposure or water immersion test. Notably, Inovar in certain sites and literature, claims it is "the most water-resistant laminate flooring you can find in the market", which is a very lofty claim. So how does it stack up?
The comparison after 10 hours of partial immersion (Figure 1) shows that the Inovar flooring sample had less expansion, and less "curling" towards the edge. I've shared this in more detail on my last blog on the Inovar floor. It also needs to be said that after 105 minutes of partial water immersion, the water resistance and dimensional integrity of the Inovar sample was superior. Therefore, check! The lofty and almost audacious claim of Inovar to being the most water-resistant wood laminate gets a nod on my part.
As I kept going back to my samples though, I felt that the whole story hasn't been told. So I took photos of the samples that had been immersed for 10 hours, after they've been fully dried for many days, and compared the appearance of the edges when stacked against each other, same brand, verses the edges that were not immersed. Here are the results.
Figure 2 shows the results for Kronotex Exquisit, 8 mm. Now let me say that among all the wood floor samples I've tested (and I've tested many - see this link), I find Kronotex to be a sound option with good to very good overall value vis-à-vis price and performance. Kronotex is far from the cheapest in the market, it has much technical information that many don't even have, and has innovations built into its products. That is why Kronotex is my comparator here. Figure 2B shows that even after complete drying, there has been a permanent thickening of the immersed section versus a section that had not been immersed. There is no sharp edge though but only a rounded one, thanks to the v-cut present in this Kronotex model, mitigating the change in thickness.
Figure 3 shows the results for Inovar, 8 mm. Inovar is another very good option, with some advantages in performance, while being at a premium in price compared to Kronotex although gladly it is lower than Parador, while overall performance I estimate is comparable to better than Parador. The Inovar sample here has no v-cut. Figure 3B shows that the sample that was immersed and dried, when attached to a sample that wasn't immersed, has little difference and very minimal thickening of the side that was immersed. This gives further independent support to the claim of Inovar on superior water resistance among laminated wood products in the market.
The performance in the water immersion test is a big reason why I want to use the Inovar laminated wood floors. The way I see it, this choice gives a longer life to my investment on a wood floor. Of course another approach could be to go with an expensive and premium solid wood floor that could last more than one lifetime. But this would increase my floor cost 5 times, and I'd rather spend on something else right now. (Read a comprehensive survey of wood floor options from this link.) Or I could go with a low-priced laminated wood that would halve my material cost. But then I would possibly need to deal with more visual imperfections within even less than a year, and possibly even need to replace the floor within a few years (this has happened to a neighbor, even without water damage). On the other hand, the large installations I've seen of Inovar floors that have sustained a high degree of traffic, continue to look elegant. And so I'm happy with my direction to use the the Inovar floor.
An elegant and light-toned, contemporary Inovar floor. Photo on the right is from the Inovar Australia catalogue. To see Product Brochures from the Inovar Australia website, check this link.
To see detailed international test methodologies and results, check the Inovar South Africa website. The only laminated wood brands I've seen with detailed technical tests are Parador of Germany, Kronotex of Germany and Inovar of Japan, with manufacture in Malaysia. Many other brands don't even have published test results. And doing my own tests have given me confidence on what to expect in actual use.
We all want to be wise in making material choices for our house. The Bible says in Proverbs 24:3-6:
By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power. For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory. (NASB)
Here the Bible speaks of one's life, family and household as one's "house". But it's interesting how this can also apply to building a physical house, where we want wisdom and good advise to help us make the best choices.
I hope this blog has given you some good insights.
If you are building, changing or have changed floors, and have used some wood laminate or bamboo wood or engineered wood, I'd love to hear of your experience. Do post a comment.
Bye for now.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Inovar floor, a global product.
Since writing that blog, I've seen the Inovar Australia and South Africa websites, aside from Asian sites, and now better appreciate how Inovar flooring is a truly global product with a very extensive line-up.
This photo above is from the Inovar Australia website, and shows the Laminate - Original range. They have 5 laminate ranges, each with its own set of characteristics and aesthetic choices. And Inovar has other products like laminated wood, bamboo and vinyl. The Engineered Wood shown to me at the Kibu Design Concepts showroom in Manila is also very impressive and worthy of consideration. I've decided to use laminated wood, so the quest for me was to find the best laminated wood among a myriad of choices.
The Inovar floor components, and badges that highlight strong qualities. See my previous blog for detailed discussions on the component layers. Other wood laminate brands have similar claims. But whose claims stand up to actual tests?
Laminated wood prices vary widely. Product descriptions from different companies tend to be quite similar, and most of them are quite impressive. But as I've determined personally - performance under testing can be very different. And the test that results in the biggest differences, is the water exposure or water immersion test. Notably, Inovar in certain sites and literature, claims it is "the most water-resistant laminate flooring you can find in the market", which is a very lofty claim. So how does it stack up?
The comparison after 10 hours of partial immersion (Figure 1) shows that the Inovar flooring sample had less expansion, and less "curling" towards the edge. I've shared this in more detail on my last blog on the Inovar floor. It also needs to be said that after 105 minutes of partial water immersion, the water resistance and dimensional integrity of the Inovar sample was superior. Therefore, check! The lofty and almost audacious claim of Inovar to being the most water-resistant wood laminate gets a nod on my part.
As I kept going back to my samples though, I felt that the whole story hasn't been told. So I took photos of the samples that had been immersed for 10 hours, after they've been fully dried for many days, and compared the appearance of the edges when stacked against each other, same brand, verses the edges that were not immersed. Here are the results.
Figure 2 shows the results for Kronotex Exquisit, 8 mm. Now let me say that among all the wood floor samples I've tested (and I've tested many - see this link), I find Kronotex to be a sound option with good to very good overall value vis-à-vis price and performance. Kronotex is far from the cheapest in the market, it has much technical information that many don't even have, and has innovations built into its products. That is why Kronotex is my comparator here. Figure 2B shows that even after complete drying, there has been a permanent thickening of the immersed section versus a section that had not been immersed. There is no sharp edge though but only a rounded one, thanks to the v-cut present in this Kronotex model, mitigating the change in thickness.
Figure 3 shows the results for Inovar, 8 mm. Inovar is another very good option, with some advantages in performance, while being at a premium in price compared to Kronotex although gladly it is lower than Parador, while overall performance I estimate is comparable to better than Parador. The Inovar sample here has no v-cut. Figure 3B shows that the sample that was immersed and dried, when attached to a sample that wasn't immersed, has little difference and very minimal thickening of the side that was immersed. This gives further independent support to the claim of Inovar on superior water resistance among laminated wood products in the market.
The performance in the water immersion test is a big reason why I want to use the Inovar laminated wood floors. The way I see it, this choice gives a longer life to my investment on a wood floor. Of course another approach could be to go with an expensive and premium solid wood floor that could last more than one lifetime. But this would increase my floor cost 5 times, and I'd rather spend on something else right now. (Read a comprehensive survey of wood floor options from this link.) Or I could go with a low-priced laminated wood that would halve my material cost. But then I would possibly need to deal with more visual imperfections within even less than a year, and possibly even need to replace the floor within a few years (this has happened to a neighbor, even without water damage). On the other hand, the large installations I've seen of Inovar floors that have sustained a high degree of traffic, continue to look elegant. And so I'm happy with my direction to use the the Inovar floor.
An elegant and light-toned, contemporary Inovar floor. Photo on the right is from the Inovar Australia catalogue. To see Product Brochures from the Inovar Australia website, check this link.
To see detailed international test methodologies and results, check the Inovar South Africa website. The only laminated wood brands I've seen with detailed technical tests are Parador of Germany, Kronotex of Germany and Inovar of Japan, with manufacture in Malaysia. Many other brands don't even have published test results. And doing my own tests have given me confidence on what to expect in actual use.
We all want to be wise in making material choices for our house. The Bible says in Proverbs 24:3-6:
By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power. For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory. (NASB)
Here the Bible speaks of one's life, family and household as one's "house". But it's interesting how this can also apply to building a physical house, where we want wisdom and good advise to help us make the best choices.
I hope this blog has given you some good insights.
If you are building, changing or have changed floors, and have used some wood laminate or bamboo wood or engineered wood, I'd love to hear of your experience. Do post a comment.
Bye for now.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
From a friend, Riza in South Africa: I read your blog about inovar laminated flooring.. it's a good choice, I used it when I changed from carpets to laminated flooring for my 3 bedrooms 6 years ago..we sold that house a month ago and the flooring still looks great.. low maintenance as well.. cheers
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