Industrial flooring includes a variety of materials that are used to permanently cover a floor. There are three main types of products: commercial, industrial, and residential. Commercial flooring is designed for educational, healthcare, retail, light industrial, office, and other commercial settings. Products include wear-resistant carpets, laminate flooring, ceramic tile, asphalt tile, and other durable materials. Industrial flooring is designed for factories, garages, warehouses, and other facilities that handle or process chemicals, food and beverages, electronics, or pharmaceuticals. Products include concrete, epoxy, polyurethane and rubber floors with anti-slip or dustproof finishes. Residential flooring is designed for bathrooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, family rooms, foyers, home offices, kitchens, and living rooms. Products include ceramic tile, laminates, linoleum, granite, and wood floors.
Industrial flooring includes the two main types of wooden flooring: hardwood and laminate. Hardwood flooring is often used in residential applications because it improves the resale value of a home. Hardwood flooring products include solid, engineered, long-strip, and parquet wood flooring. Solid wood flooring is made from a single piece of lumber. By contrast, engineered wood flooring consists of multiple layers that are glued together in a cross-grain lamination. Long-strip flooring is a type of engineered wood flooring that is made of individual slats or fillets. Parquet flooring has a mosaic design. Laminate flooring is also available. This type of industrial wood flooring has a surface wear layer, a core, and a backing. The layers are fused by heat and pressure as a direct-pressure laminate (DPL) or a high-pressure laminate (HPL).
Green builders use several types of industrial flooring products. Linoleum is a type of flooring that many suppliers designate as environmentally-friendly or all-natural. The main ingredient, linseed oil, is extracted from flax seeds and processed into a fine powder called linoleum cement. Unlike vinyl flooring, a floor covering with which it is often confused, linoleum does not emit gasses. Linoleum is also anti-static, hypoallergenic, and antibacterial. Care must be taken, however, to avoid gouging the surface. Cork flooring is a type of wooden flooring made from the outer bark of the cork oak. Though less common than hardwood floors or laminate floors, cork floors provide sound attenuation. Bamboo flooring is made from grass instead of wood. Though designated as a green building product, bamboo floors may use low-formaldehyde glue.
Industrial flooring products also include indoor carpet, outdoor carpet, commercial carpeting, and rugs; vinyl sheet and vinyl tiles; and ceramic and granite. Carpets and rugs are made from natural or synthetic fibers such as cotton, rayon, nylon, polyester, polypropylene, and wood. Vinyl flooring and vinyl sheet flooring are durable products that are available in a wide variety of colors and styles. Ceramic tiles are often used in kitchens and bathrooms. Granite is more expensive, but valued for its resistance to both acids and alkalis.
