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Laminate Flooring
- Exceptional durability
- Easy to clean
- Superior stain & fade resistance
- Installs on all grade levels, on top of most subfloors and many exisiting floorings
- Great Do-It-Yourself project
- Excellent impact resistance
- Superior realism at affordable costs
- Easy to repair or replace
The best of all worlds!
Laminate, also known as “floating,” floors (i.e. not nailed or glued down) have been a staple of the European building industry for several decades, and are becoming more popular in the US because of all the features noted above. Most laminate flooring is produced in, and imported from, Europe. Among the first companies to bring laminates here to the US was the Swedish company, Pergo; now, several brands are produced here in the States. Features and construction methods vary, but performance differs little among the brand options. Typical warranties are in the 25-year range for residential laminate flooring. Laminate flooring is available in a wide-range of style and color choices, from light to dark, regular woods (eg: oak, pine, maple) to the more exotic (eg: purpleheart, teak). Even bamboo and cork are available as floated flooring.
Laminate floors are not glued or nailed to the subfloor, but are floated above it over an underlayment or existing flooring. They can be installed on concrete pads, in basements, nearly all above- or below-grade locations, even over radiant heating systems.
Brands:
Alloc • Teragren
Mohawk • Quick-Step
Wecork • APC Cork
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Nearly all brands feature a snap-together mechanism—some are an integral part of the fiberboard core, some are metal. All make installation pretty easy, assuming some experience with carpenter tools and other D-I-Y projects.
Construction
Laminates are manufactured from several layers of materials bonded (laminated) together, similar to how engineered flooring is made. However, instead of multiple plies of hardwood layers, laminates are bonded to a high-density manufactured fiberboard core with integrated locking mechanism; a decorative ply having an extremely realistic lithographed wood surface; several finish layers (usually a polyurethane/aluminum oxide mix) wrap it up. Aluminum oxide is nearly as hard as diamonds and is the protective material used on space shuttles; it adds incredible toughness and durability to the flooring. Some brands of laminate flooring offer a real wood-veneer decorative layer. Laminates are extremely stable under many conditions, thus offering great versatility in where they can be installed—nearly anywhere! Some include an underlayment as part of the plank, but most will require separate roll underlayment. Edges typically are sealed with resin or glue to prevent moisture from entering the core. Our wood flooring construction page illustrates how different types of flooring is constructed.
Our page of manufacturers’ links will let you browse through the brands we offer and also point you to pertinent information, styles, etc.
