A floor element includes a decorative top layer on a polymer substrate. The sides of the floor element have a profile along a section with a surface at right angles to the decorative top layer. The floor panel is provided with a water-repellent coating on at least one side. For each side and along the entire length of the side, at least a part of the profile is coated with a water-repellent coating.

A panel for forming a covering, more particularly a floor panel for forming a floor covering, which at least at two opposite edges, comprises coupling parts arranged to couple two of such panels to each other by means of a downward movement of one panel in respect to the other. The coupling parts form a first locking system arranged to lock in the plane of the panels and perpendicularly to the edges, as well as form a second locking system, which effects a locking perpendicularly to the plane of the panels. At least one of the coupling parts is formed at least partially in soft PVC (polyvinyl chloride), as well as at least partially formed from a milled profiled part of this soft PVC.

Floor panels are shown, which are provided with a mechanical locking system on long and short edges allowing installation with vertical snap folding that could be accomplished automatically without tools and where the short edge locking system has a tongue made in one piece with the panel. The floor panels may have a first and a second connector at the long edges that are configured to obtain a minimum of friction facilitating a displacement, by a spring back force from the bending of a short edge locking strip, of a new panel in a horizontal direction along the long edge during the vertical snap folding action.

A floor panel including at least one substrate and a top layer, where the substrate includes at least one first layer of a first thermoplastic material and a second layer of a second thermoplastic material. The second layer is adjacent to a first side of the first layer and the second layer provides the floor panel with its underside. The first layer is characterized by a first colour with saturation value S1 in the HSL colour space and the second layer is characterized by a second colour with saturation value S2 in the HSL colour space, where S1 is less than S2.

A set of essentially identical floorboards each including a front face and a rear face extending in the horizontal plane, a core, and a surface layer, a mechanical locking system is arranged at least at two opposite edges for connecting a floorboard with an adjacent floorboard in a horizontal and a vertical direction, said mechanical locking system being configured for connecting the floorboard with the adjacent floorboard by vertical folding, wherein one of said opposite edges is provided with a horizontally extending protrusion at an upper edge, and wherein said protrusion is configured to overlap a surface groove at an upper edge of the other of said opposite edges, such that two connected and adjacent floorboards have upper overlapping edges.

A method is provided for manufacturing a panel that includes a substrate and a top layer provided on the substrate. The top layer may include a decor film and a transparent film. The decor film may be a printed synthetic material film chosen from the group consisting of a vinyl-based film, a polyethylene based film, a polyurethane based film, and a polypropylene film. A print may be situated on an upper side of the printed synthetic material film. The transparent film may be a thermoplastic synthetic material film the material of which is chosen from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polyurethane, and polypropylene. The method may involve providing the decor film and the transparent film on the substrate by performing a first press treatment at an increased temperature to form a package of the substrate, the decor film, and the transparent film. The first press treatment may be performed by a calendar device or a continuous press device. A structure may be formed in the thermoplastic synthetic material that forms a surface of the package by performing a second press treatment using a press device with a structured press element at a temperature that is lower than the increased temperature.

Floor panels are shown, which are provided with a mechanical locking system on long and short edges allowing installation with vertical snap folding that could be accomplished automatically without tools and where the short edge locking system has a tongue made in one piece with the panel. The floor panels may have a first and a second connector at the long edges that are configured to obtain a minimum of friction facilitating a displacement, by a spring back force from the bending of a short edge locking strip, of a new panel in a horizontal direction along the long edge during the vertical snap folding action.

A panel having a core, a top side, a underside, a first edge pair and a second edge pair. The first edge pair has a groove profile at a panel edge and a complementary tongue profile at the opposite panel edge, which cooperate in positively locking relationship so that movement of locked panels away from each other in the plane of the panels is opposed. At its opposite panel edges the second edge pair has a receiving hook and a complementary arresting hook. The arresting hook can be assembled to the receiving hook by a joining movement in a direction perpendicular to the panel plane. The receiving hook has a holding groove for a separate locking element for a vertical locking action. At a corner of the panel the tongue edge of the first edge pair comes together with the receiving hook. The holding groove provided on the receiving hook of the second edge pair for the locking element has an upper groove wall with a spacing from the top side that is greater than the spacing between the panel top side and the tongue top side of the tongue profile of the first edge pair.

Floorboards which have a core and a surface layer and are provided with decorative joint edges which are formed by removing the surface layer. A method for making a floorboard, or a floor element that is to be divided into at least two floorboards, the method including making a core from a sheet shaped material, from which a part of a locking system for vertical locking of the floorboards is to be formed, impregnating and/or staining the core surface with a substance at least in portions which in the completed floorboard will constitute a joint edge of the completed floorboard, and arranging an surface layer on the core surface.

A panel including a core, a top side, an underside, a first edge pair and a second edge pair. The first edge pair has a groove profile at a panel edge and a complementary tongue profile at the opposite panel edge, which are lockable by a pivotal movement and positively lock so that movement of locked panels away from each other in the plane of the panels is opposed. At its opposite panel edges the second edge pair has a complementary receiving hook and an arresting hook. The arresting hook is assembled to the receiving hook by a joining movement in a plane perpendicular to the panel plane by the pivotal movement for the first edge pair. The receiving hook or the arresting hook has a holding groove for a separate locking element that provides vertical locking. A butting surface is arranged at the receiving hook substantially orthogonal to the top side. The arresting hook has a counterpart butting surface substantially orthogonal to the top side. The second edge pair has at least one sealing nose at a lower end of the counterpart butting surface of the arresting hook or at a lower end of the butting surface of the receiving hook. The sealing nose extends parallel to the respective panel edge over the entire length of the counterpart butting surface or the butting surface.