Linoleum is a floor covering, who has been for more than 100 years is produced. Raincoats or scarves can then be stored behind the doors, a mixture of the natural raw materials linseed oil (lat. linseed oil), from resins, cap-, Holz- and limestone powder, Color pigments and a jute fabric as a carrier is produced industrially in strips two meters wide. In the first few years, the natural brown color was predominantly preferred and later coverings, whose surface was decorated with ornaments, Today, marbled surfaces with approx. 70 Percent the top in the favor of consumers. Flamed, mottled and other structures share the rest 30 percent. Although linoleum in part by Stragula in the sixties, Balatum or PVC coverings has been pushed aside, this floor covering made from renewable raw materials has enjoyed increasing popularity since the 1980s. The reasons: on the one hand, the return of many users and architects to something natural, proven. On the other hand, certainly the many good qualities, which this material brings with it and which today are even laid down in standards and are therefore verifiable: z.B. the fire safety, which is classified as "hardly flammable" according to building material class Bl. Also against chemicals such as acetone, against acids, Linoleum has proven to be largely resistant to oils and fats. Even if the bacteriostatic properties hardly play a role in private households: a linoleum floor can be disinfected without much effort.
Linoleum is therefore an ideal floor covering for living areas such as the kitchen or hallway, where it often has to be wiped up with a damp cloth. Linoleum, on the other hand, does not tolerate too much moisture. The components of the material would swell, the surface lose its shape. Wet rooms are therefore taboo zones for linoleum. Linoleum floors must be firmly glued (see also the pages 69 and 70 in this booklet), the material is considered difficult and requires particularly good preparation of the subsoil. This should be dry, fest, staub- and be fat free, Unevenness must be eliminated by filling and sanding, because otherwise they could easily stand out. Seibermacher dare better only on smaller areas. If several tracks have to be joined together, the laying specialist is in demand, who works on the joints with special tools and even welds them against the ingress of moisture.
Despite these peculiarities, linoleum is a very robust one, durable flooring, which is particularly suitable for unusual architectural solutions. If the material is laid on a corkment subfloor, footfall noise is also perfectly insulated.