Beige/Light Browns Laminate Flooring
Beige and light-brown laminate floors create bright, warm spaces with a natural look. Their soft tones suit both modern and classic interiors and make rooms feel more open.
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Buying guide
Beige/Light Browns, explained
Still unsure? Real people, honest advice.
Beige/Light Browns in laminate: 4 herringbone blocks, Canterbury, Leicester, Whitby and York. Each is 12 mm thick and 100 mm by 600 mm, an oak design on a high-density fibreboard core, rated AC4 and listed as compatible with underfloor heating.
The look
Natural to smoked
AC4, dry rooms
One block size
In depth
Choosing light laminate herringbone
The light laminates are all herringbone: 4 blocks, Canterbury, Leicester, Whitby and York, each 12 mm thick and 100 mm by 600 mm, with a registered embossed surface over an oak design on a high-density fibreboard core. They click together, carry abrasion class AC4 and a 15 year manufacturer's warranty, are listed as compatible with underfloor heating, and come 32 blocks to a box of 1.92 square metres. With one block across the whole tone, what you are choosing is the design and the edge.
Going by the listed colours, Whitby and Leicester are natural oak, Canterbury greige and York smoked oak. In a herringbone the blocks sit at right angles to each other, so a single sample on the table shows less than a handful laid in the pattern on the floor. Put them down near the window and away from it, next to the skirting and the furniture that will stay, before deciding.
In practice
A light laminate belongs in the dry part of the house: bedrooms, a landing, a study, a living room. EN 13329, the laminate standard quoted below, grades abrasion in classes from AC1 to AC6, and these blocks are AC4; the same standard does not cover areas subject to frequent wetting, which is why a bathroom or a laundry room is not on that list. For a light herringbone in a bathroom, the rigid vinyl herringbone blocks are listed as waterproof; a wet room with a floor drain is not for a floating floor.
Thickness is the figure on the box that draws the eye, and it is not the one that decides. Egger, a maker of laminate, says the thickness is not decisive for suitability; the correct use class is. What 12 mm does change is the height at each doorway, so plan the junction with the next floor before the first row goes down, and keep the edge gap of 8 mm to 12 mm that the EPLF recommends at every wall.
Published standards4 sources
What the published standards say
Each entry is quoted from its source and linked to it. The full set is in the standards reference.
BS EN 13329 — laminate floor coverings
BS EN 13329 specifies the characteristics, requirements and test methods for laminate floor coverings with a surface layer based on aminoplastic thermosetting resins, including requirements for marking and packaging. It also contains a classification system based on EN ISO 10874 for areas and levels of use, and it does not cover areas subject to frequent wetting such as bathrooms, laundry rooms or saunas.
“BS EN 13329 specifies characteristics, requirements, and test methods for laminate floor coverings with a surface layer based on amino plastic thermosetting resins. BS EN 13329 specifies requirements for marking and packaging.”
Source: BS EN 13329:2016+A2:2021 | 31 Oct 2021 | BSI KnowledgeAC1 to AC6 — abrasion classes for laminate
EN 13329 classifies the abrasion resistance of laminate floor coverings in abrasion classes AC1 to AC6. The EPLF's own Environmental Product Declaration for DPL laminate floor covering states the property "Abrasion Class EN 13329" with the value range AC1-AC6.
| Abrasion classes under EN 13329 | AC1-AC6 |
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“Abrasion Class EN 13329 | AC1-AC6 | -”
Source: Environmental Product Declaration - Direct Pressure Laminate Floor Covering (DPL Floor Covering), owner of the declaration: European Producers of Laminate Flooring e.V. (EPLF), decl. no. EPD-EPL-20210138-CBE1-ENLaminate: the use class decides, not the thickness
Egger, a maker of laminate, says the thickness of a laminate or multilayer modular floor is not decisive for its suitability; what matters is the correct use class for the area. It makes laminate from 6 to 12 mm, and warns that an underlay that is too thick can harm the click joints and the efficiency of underfloor heating.
“For the suitability and use of multi-layer modular flooring (MMFA, EN 16511) and laminate flooring (EPLF, EN 13329) in the respective area of application, the thickness or gauge of the flooring is not decisive. It is important that the floor covering chosen has the correct stress class, which is approved and recommended for this area. EGGER produces laminate flooring and multi-layer modular floor coverings in thicknesses ranging from 6 to 12 mm. … If the impact sound underlay is too thick and not sufficiently pressure-resistant, this can have a detrimental effect on the durability / fitting accuracy of the click connections and also on the efficiency of the underfloor heating.”
Source: EGGER Flooring - FAQs, questions and answers (web page)The expansion gap
The EPLF, the European association of laminate flooring producers, recommends an edge gap of 8 mm to 12 mm on all sides of a floating floor, so that the covering can expand and contract without lifting.
| recommended edge gap on all sides | 8 to 12 mm |
|---|
“To accommodate such changes, a edge spacing should be observed on all sides. A free space of 8 mm to 12 mm is recommended.”
Source: EPLF Technical Bulletin — Installation of Laminate Floor Coverings (06/2022), 6.4 Edge gapsQuestions