No doubt you’ve grown up with some form of linoleum flooring in your home, probably on your family’s kitchen or bathroom floor. Even your grandparents likely used linoleum in many parts of their homes. Since those days, improved variations became available in the flooring market: linoleum sheet rolls and tiles.
You’ll enjoy using these forms of linoleum in your home or business because they’re perfectly designed for high-traffic areas. They’re also low maintenance, making them an exemplary floor if you have an overly busy life.
Before you buy this type of flooring, though, you’ll want to know what to look for when shopping. There isn’t any doubt that Forbo is one of the leading linoleum brands in the world. Nevertheless, check out these fifteen things to consider about them before making a decision.
- Residential vs. Commercial
One thing to ask about linoleum sheet rolls and tile is whether it’s appropriate for your home or a business.
It’s possible to use it both places, depending on how much floor traffic you receive in each. Be sure to ask more about Forbo, because they’re still the global leader in this type of flooring.
They make their floors truly sustainable, which is good for any type of building needing to adhere to environmental principles. Even better is their durable linoleum flooring products are easily useable in important rooms like bathrooms, basements, laundry rooms, or office spaces.
Forbo has a specific collection featuring their linoleum products: Marmoleum.
You can count on Marmoleum products being naturally beautiful, durable, and sustainable. These use a patented cured finish called Topshield2, which has double UV protection. It helps retain the appearance of your linoleum floor so you reduce the costs of ownership during its lifetime.
To determine whether you should use this floor in your home, you’ll want to estimate how much floor traffic you get on a consistent basis. Some of you may entertain numerous guests in your home every week, making linoleum sheets or tile a good choice.
However, keep in mind linoleum is a true standard for businesses and other buildings across the world. Forbo’s website reminds that linoleum is one of the oldest flooring materials. Recently, this material celebrated 150 years of existence.
To date, you’ll find linoleum sheets and tiles used in places as diverse as the White House to the Sorbonne University in Paris.
As you can see, it’s a good choice for any type of public place. Still, what more do you need to know about it when shopping?
It’s time to move on to what kind of size to look out for when considering a specific workspace or residential room.
- Finding the Right Size
Like all floor products, linoleum sheet rolls and tiles come in different sizes for specific residential or commercial spaces.
When looking for Forbo’s Marmoleum linoleum sheet rolls, the primary size available is 79” x 105’, giving you a large size to cover any type of room. With sheet rolls, you have a simple glue-down method, making it very easy to install on your own without professional help.
Here at Floor City, you can buy this in 691.25 square foot rolls. A good example of this size includes the popular Vintage Blue under the Marmoleum Walton Cirrus collection.
Sizes are a little more expansive when you buy Forbo’s linoleum tile. You can start out with a 13” x 13” size and go up to 20” x 20” for larger spaces. In between, you can get 12” x 36”, 19.7” x 19.7”, or 12” x 12”.
The 13” x 13” is the most popular and prevalent available. Flax MCT is our #1 bestselling linoleum tile and comes in the 13” x 13” size.
Some tiles are sold in squares or panels, suiting any type of space. As an example, the Marmoleum Click Cinch LOC linoleum tile is sold in 12” x 12” squares and 12” x 36” panels.
- Thickness Level
As with all floors, thickness is always measured in mils. In the case of Forbo’s linoleum sheet rolls, you’ll measure this in wear layer. The thicker the wear layer, the more durable your linoleum is.
One of the most common thickness levels seen in Forbo linoleum sheet is 1/10 (or 2.5 mm).
In comparison, thickness levels of Forbo linoleum tile are a little thicker, providing even more protection. You’ll still find 2.5 mm in some products (like Marmoleum Composition Tile), though you’ll find some thickness levels at 0.37”.
A good example of the above is through Marmoleum Click Cinch LOC, using a click lock method for installation. Ultimately, this comes out to 9.8 mm, giving you incredible durability for floors getting the most foot traffic daily.
Most linoleum tile products from Forbo adhere to this thickness. It gives you something durable for years, whether entertaining often in your home or dealing with hundreds of customers every day in your business.
- Forbo Warranties
When shopping for either linoleum sheet rolls or tile, always look at how long the warranties last. In the case of Forbo, it’s going to mean different warranty lengths based on whether using your floor for a business or residence.
In the case of their linoleum sheet rolls, you’ll generally find a five-year limited commercial warranty. This is still a long time before you might need any repairs or replacements. Marmoleum Striato is one example of common use in businesses and the five-year warranty plan.
Overall, residential warranties are for life, though you’ll sometimes find exceptions based on the product. Forbo makes this fairly uniform, and they make it clear before you buy.
For linoleum tile, you’ll basically find the same limited five-year warranty for commercial businesses. Many examples of this exist with Forbo’s Marmoleum Click Cinch LOC collections that are so easy to install. Residential warranties are often for 25 years and sometimes life.
Keep in mind you may want to try a commercial version of these floors in your home if your home is overly busy like a business. We’ll explore this more later.
Most homes will enjoy a lifetime warranty because you normally wouldn’t have the wear and tear as a business would. Despite some floors having longer warranties for businesses, five years is more than suitable for linoleum. Because heavy use could wear out linoleum after a few years, you’ll find this type of warranty very useful.
- Underlayment
Thinking about underlayment with linoleum floors might become overlooked without considering about how much more protection it can give you. It’s equally important for things like sound control and making these floors more level in different rooms.
Forbo provides their own underlayment as many flooring brands do. Armstrong is another brand providing their own underlayment for many of their products. In Forbo’s case, it’s corkment.
Otherwise known as a corkment underlay, you can use this as a combination with the Marmoleum products. The intention of this underlayment is to achieve a substantial sound reduction if your business or home has constant loud noises. It reduces sound to 14dB.
You can easily install this yourself, though you need to place the jute side up at right angles. It installs the same direction as the linoleum sheet rolls.
All it takes is using an adhesive that comes with the corkment. After completing this task, it requires 24 hours for the adhesive to set. Then you’re ready to install your linoleum sheet or tiles over the underlayment.
Thickness level on this is 2mm, with a length and width of 32m x 200cm.
The sound control aspect is going to become a major convenience in places like schools, hospitals, and retirement homes. Forbo notes they’re specialists in acoustic flooring, so you can depend on an underlayment of quality.
Even though you won’t see the corkment, it comes in a brown or beige color. Know you may need underlayment when using linoleum in other rooms of your home or business to keep the floor even. Using different floor thickness levels in other rooms could lead to your floor looking uneven without using underlayment in some form.
- Adhesives
As you saw above, Forbo makes it easy to install their linoleum floors. It usually entails either a gluedown method or a locking mechanism.
When using the adhesives that come with Forbo’s linoleum floors, they offer various primers to help improve adhesion on leveling compounds.
Using the gluedown method is very simple and requires a specific type of adhesive to work correctly. In Forbo’s Stucco Rosso linoleum sheet product, it’s recommended to use Forbo 885.
Most linoleum sheet products from Forbo use the gluedown method, making it possible to avoid hiring professionals to install your floor.
Linoleum tile is primarily installed with the gluedown method as well. However, most in the Marmoleum collection use the earlier mentioned Click Cinch LOC install method. The Trace of Nature linoleum tile product is one example.
These install methods are generally straightforward, though be sure to read directions before installation takes place. If you have any questions about the adhesives or install methods, we’re here to answer questions at Floor City.
- Price Range
No matter what type of flooring you buy, price is obviously going to matter in your final buying decision. Like vinyl flooring, linoleum is very affordable as well. You might think the best prices in flooring are only brand names like Armstrong.
Forbo makes their linoleum sheet and tile products reasonable in price. Even so, when you can find an online source that sells flooring, you can definitely find further discounts to reduce retail prices.
Many people turn to linoleum because of its affordability, and it’s been this way for people around the world going back 150 years. Did you know Forbo makes up about 60% of the world market in linoleum floor products now? It’s not hard to see why thanks to the natural and recycled materials used in their sheet rolls and tile.
On a general retail price level, linoleum sheet rolls go for about $6-$7.50 per sq. ft. Tiles go for less at around $4-$5.50 per sq. ft.
At Floor City, we make those prices lower thanks to our attention to discounting all floor products. Take a look at our website and you’ll see prices ranging from $3.33 to $4.99 for all linoleum sheet roll products. This saves you between $1-$2 on the normal price range you’d find elsewhere.
For linoleum tile, you can save just as much with our primary prices going in the $4.50 per sq. ft. range. Compared to paying $6 or $7, this is a true deal.
Despite many online flooring companies out there, we prove ourselves every day as a pricing leader.
To sum up, you won’t pay over $6 per sq. ft. for any of Forbo’s linoleum sheet or tile collections on our site.
- Cleaning Methods
No doubt you’re wondering how you’ll be able to clean your linoleum flooring. Forbo’s Topshield2 finish makes a big difference in making cleaning easier, something not always common with competitors.
Before you start cleaning your floor, you have to wait three days before doing any wet cleaning. Once the adhesive is dried, you’ll want to clean the floor before initial use. What’s most important is to use a neutral floor cleaner to clean up any debris on the floor brought on from the installation.
Any dirty water permeating the floor can be cleaned up with a mop or wet vacuum. Scrubber dryers are also used frequently on linoleum without causing damage to clean up initial debris.
Using a vacuum, a broom, or a mop are all you need for regular cleaning. How often you clean depends on how much dirt your floor attracts during a given period. In a business with considerable floor traffic (and perhaps where inclement weather is a problem), customers could track in loads of dirt on a regular basis.
At home, your linoleum sheet rolls or tile could also get quite dirty if you have kids or pets around every day. No explanation is necessary if kids and animals play on your floors for long hours.
Remember that regular cleaning is going to help you above having to pay for a deep clean. Of course, you may have to do some different types of cleaning based on what stains your linoleum take on.
One thing you’ll appreciate is the Topshield2 finish on the linoleum’s surface means you won’t have to worry about doing any polishing in the future. Regardless, when you get stains on your linoleum, be sure to clean them up as soon as possible so they won’t set in. Simply using water and a paper towel should wipe up any stains quickly.
Whatever you do, don’t use high alkaline cleaners or solvents on your linoleum. These create fumes that can harm people. Most of these also don’t do your linoleum any good.
Forbo puts out their own neutral floor cleaners, and it’s recommendable you use their cleaning products to ensure you don’t ruin the linoleum finish.
Those of you who don’t have time to clean your linoleum floor with a vacuum should consider using a Roomba. They’re very gentle on any type of floor, especially linoleum. When you’re away from home for long periods, a Roomba will keep your floor looking pristine with slow and thorough vacuuming.
- Why You Might Want Commercial Linoleum In Your Home
Forbo makes their linoleum sheet rolls and tile usable in any home or business, though most people buy these for their specific categories.
Don’t think you couldn’t use the commercial edition of Forbo’s linoleum floors in your home. All of it depends on how much floor traffic your home gets.
Some of you may hold family gatherings often in your home, if not even business parties. Having this go on every week can start to wreak havoc on any type of floor.
With the commercial edition of linoleum sheet rolls or tile, you’ll get more endurance intended to hold up for years. Thanks to the five-year warranty, you’ll have years of use before it starts to show any signs of wear.
As Bob Vila points out, commercial linoleum was first manufactured in the early 1870s. This particular type of linoleum was fully intended for commercial use originally, yet homes quickly realized the value of its use. Not long after, it became the most popular type of flooring during the late 19th century and into the early 20th century.
When Forbo created their own brand of linoleum sheet rolls and tile, they expanded on the same type of materials generations already knew about.
Any of you deciding to buy a commercial version of their linoleum floors will already have a rich tradition of perhaps your great-grandparents doing the same thing during the Victorian Era.
Other than rooms in your home, consider using these linoleum floors in hallways where people walk the most often.
Despite the above commercial warranties lasting around five years, you can usually expect linoleum to hold up for 25 years (or much longer) with proper care and maintenance.
- Colors to Consider
Choosing the right color is a big part of shopping for the perfect floor. As with many flooring brands, Forbo offers a big palette of colors to choose from, not including various textures.
For linoleum sheet rolls, one of the most popular colors is stone. This is just a general category, because the color of stone comes in other primary colors to match your interior design.
Take a look at what’s available in the stone color. We carry up to 102 Forbo linoleum sheet products with this aesthetic. It runs from Camel Fresno, Golden Safron, Stucco Rosso, Asian Tiger, Olive Green, and Black Hole Concrete as just some.
These offer just about every type of unique color pattern to mimic the look of stone.
Even standard colors like brown come in variations with specialized names created by Forbo.
You can get the look of grey, beige, green, blue, and orange with the linoleum sheet rolls.
Linoleum tile from Forbo gives you slightly more neutral colors that range from brown to black. You can also get standard white when you want to keep things simple. With white, you’ll get variations as well like White Marble and Himalaya MCT.
Other unique color names you’ll find with linoleum tile include Tobacco Leaf, Bleeckerstreet, and Forest Ground.
Before you make a final purchase, we invite you to read our color disclaimer. This is an important aspect about color choice requiring us to send samples so you know you’re truly getting what you want.
One challenge with buying linoleum floors online is the color choices shown don’t always look accurate through a computer screen. It’s why we’re glad to send you free samples so you can see what the color looks like in reality before making a buying commitment.
Be sure to do this with Forbo’s linoleum floors. Our staff is there to guide you.
- The Uniqueness of Forbo’s Marmoleum Brand
One other thing to look at with Forbo is how unique their linoleum is compared to all of their competitors. As you compare different brands, you’ll see Forbo has their own unique approach to creating their linoleum.
If you analyze anything about Forbo, you should read about how they manufacture their Marmoleum linoleum floors. They continually mention that making linoleum is a true art form you can’t really teach in schools. Their dedication to evolving linoleum over the last 150 years has also fostered only a select few having the knowledge to create their products.
A lot more goes into creating linoleum sheet rolls and tiles than you may think. It requires proper ingredient mixtures, raw material settling, and applying the right temperature. All of this comes from in-house training so they stand apart from competitors.
While Farbo creates other types of flooring, their linoleum has a rich tradition to help you make a fast decision on which linoleum product is better.
- Don’t Expect to Find Quality Linoleum at Big Box Stores
No doubt you’ve spent some time in the popular home product stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s. If you’ve ever purchased flooring there, you likely realized you’re probably paying a little more than you could if buying online.
It’s true you can find Farbo’s Marmoleum flooring products at the above stores. Go on their websites, though, and you’ll see they charge full retail price. By the time you have the order shipped to you (or you go to pick it up in person), you’ll have paid more than you can find elsewhere.
Your best bet is to find better discounts online. You’ll find some flooring companies offering discounts, but you won’t find as low of prices as you will on our site: Floor City.
We continue to offer the best flooring brands in the world at prices saving you up to $2-$3 per sq. ft.
As you saw above with pricing, you won’t find anything better with our competition. Those of you looking for linoleum flooring should always turn to us first rather than think you’ll get the best service from the big box names. Besides, they won’t ship out free samples like we do.
- The Green/Eco-Friendliness of Your Linoleum Flooring
Most of you are probably looking for a floor that’s eco-friendly by using green materials. Many top flooring brands now focus on this. Forbo isn’t new to this fray by any means, including having a long track record bringing green principles to their linoleum sheet and tile.
In fact, their environmental impact is extensive and significant in how they produce linoleum. They’ve created a methodology called Life Cycle Assessment, which provides a transparent means to measure their environmental performance.
The above works by bringing the four R’s: Reducing, reusing, recycling, and renewing.
Like other flooring companies (Armstrong being one), Forbo published their own Environmental Product Declarations for each of their products. These provide detailed environmental information based off of data taken from the LCA’s above.
Thanks to their green design principles, Forbo increases efficiency while reducing use of virgin raw materials in their manufacturing centers. Their ultimate goal is to reduce any damage or pollution from the materials they use during linoleum production. At the same time, they ensure the planned life of the material being used is done correctly to abide by all environmental laws.
In 2010, Forbo even put together an internal environmental program called Forbo Way to Win. It allows employees to bring more environmental awareness to the company via their own free will. Through encouragement of workers contributing their own efforts toward how they consume energy and recycle, the company rises above most other flooring companies in utilizing green processes.
- Environmental Certifications
To continue the environmental commitment of Forbo, you’ll want to take a look at all their environmental certifications as means to prove their green practices.
One thing to know first is their Marmoleum brand is one of the most rewarded when it comes to eco-friendliness. They also have many environmental labels that define exactly how serious they are in upholding their green status.
On an international scale, they’ve been awarded a Swan label, the Blue Angel certification, and the North American Sequoia Seal as just a few.
As far as LEED certifications, you’ll find details on this at Forbo’s Download Center about Health and the Environment. Their LEED status is at platinum level and the stats on this show every detail of their certification. In their composition sheet, you’ll find information about their linoleum’s physical properties, recycled content, rapidly renewable materials, and acoustical performance.
You’ll even learn about the indoor environmental quality of their floors. With low emitting materials, it’s perfectly suitable to use their linoleum in places like public schools.
Part of Forbo’s objectives in their environmental practices is to create healthy learning and healthcare environments. Schools and healthcare are two industries using linoleum often due to the heavy foot traffic often taking place in their buildings.
Along with the company’s EPD’s, you’ll find their health product declarations (HPD’s), plus Declare LBC Red List Free Labels.
Also, if you wondered: They’re also compliant with FloorScore. As a whole, Forbo meets all federal government requirements when it comes to low emitting material.
- How Can You Place Your Order for Your Forbo Linoleum Floor?
You may feel tempted to look around at other online stores to find Forbo linoleum floors, but you probably won’t find top-tier customer service. At Floor City, not only will you be able to find the best discount prices on flooring, you’ll also find customer service at a personalized level.
Shopping for Forbo floors requires exemplary customer service to help you find exactly what you need within an overwhelming amount of inventory. We’re here to help you find exactly what you want to determine whether Forbo’s linoleum sheet or tiles are the better options.
Our site provides further detailed information in writing to help you purchase wisely. Plus, when you place your order, our customer service team is there to help answer any questions you have without having to wait.
- Purchase Forbo Marmoleum at Floor City
Simply call us at (800) 898-9540 to place your order. Because we have pickup centers throughout the United States, you can acquire your linoleum in any part of the country.
Remember, any samples you need of Forbo linoleum are sent to you for free. We’ll send out your samples immediately to avoid long wait times on helping you make your final buying decision.
It’s time for you to try linoleum sheet rolls and tile if you’ve used other types of flooring for years. After almost two centuries in use, you’ll rediscover the physical beauty and usefulness of these floors for any hard floor or formerly carpeted room.
