“Both companies target the professional, with Parkettfreund as a subsidiary of Küberit Profile Systems. Küberit primarily sells profiles in aluminium, stainless steel and brass for the installation of all kinds of floor coverings. It also targets professionals, but in addition, Pakettfreund offers an extensive range of installation accessories and insulating underlays. This range is primarily geared towards the needs of the craftsman and goes more through the wood accessory market”, explains Michaël Wensky.

Sustainability comes first
During the interview, Mr. Wensky mainly wants to stress how sustainable his company works and how this reflects on the underlays: “If you don’t guarantee you offer sustainable products, what then is the use of going on? Take, for example, our top product, the polyurethane products from the acoustic series. These can be described as all-round ecological products and these high-quality insulating underlays consist of up to 90% naturally occurring raw materials, such as mineral fillers and polyurethane binders. They are also free of plasticizers, asbestos, formaldehyde, halogen and heavy metals and contain neither solvents nor other ozone-depleting substances. Moreover, the renewable raw materials used for these products are not in competition with food cultivation. These products are produced in Germany, which means there are short delivery routes to our warehouse. The result is they meet the VOC guideline, afsset A+, ‘Blauer Engel’ and the AGBB scheme.”

“We also offer some insulating underlays, that are made of PE-material, such as plastic. Here, we take great care to work as sustainable as we can as well. First and foremost, we ensure the products are manufactured in the EU and that the transport routes are as short as possible. Our production partly uses recycled materials and recycles all of its waste.”

New developments
We want to know if there are any new developments. What are the plans for 2023, especially for the PVC and vinyl sections, in which we know the insulating underlays are primarily used to improve the acoustics of floating floor coverings.

“Our experience with the existing range is good, there will only be minor changes in the new catalogue for 2023. Therein, for example, the XPS 2.2 series is supplemented by two folding plates. This means goods are no longer rolled, but are offered folded as a ‘package’. This has clear advantages during transport and, above all, during the installation, as the roller does not have the unpleasant ‘roll-back effect’.”

“Another change is that the successful series of polyurethane insulation underlays in 1.9 mm will be supplemented by two additional products. The first is a version without aluminum lamination, so without a moisture barrier, that becomes suitable for the installation on wooden floors. Secondly, we also expand the PUR 1.9, the version including a moisture barrier, with a pack including a roll of aluminum tape. This tape is needed when installating the underlay anyway and is often forgotten when shopping.”

Finally, we also want to know where we will be able to meet Parkettfreund and its products over the coming months. And are there any investments planned?

BAU in Munich
“You will primarily see us at several local association trade fairs, the next big event will be next year's BAU in Munich. We have no specific investments planned as of now, but we invite everyone to come and visit us”, says Michaël Wensky, who emphasizes how Parkettfreund warmly welcomes professionals from all over the world: “Particularly noteworthy for this market are our high-quality PUR underlays. We invite all craftsmen to discover how their pressure stability is exactly right and how the products are without any exception very well suited for use on underfloor heating. Besides this, we of course want to illustrate how these products are manufactured under very strict and ecologically sound conditions.”