Reading a specification sheet without getting lost
Twenty fields, and only four of them usually differ between two products. Here is which four to look at first.
A flooring specification sheet runs to twenty or more fields. Most of them will be the same across the products on your shortlist, which is why the sheet feels harder to read than it is.
The four fields that usually decide it
- Traffic rating What the construction was built to take. Fix this first.
- Fire class Set by the building, not chosen by preference.
- Pile weight or wear layer How much material is there to wear away.
- Backing How the tile lays, and whether it can be lifted and reused.
Everything else on the sheet matters, but it rarely separates two products that have already passed these four.
