Explanation of Laminate Flooring

It can be relatively inexpensive, extremely tough and very long-lasting. But what is laminate flooring and why is it so popular?

Construction of Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is manufactured across the world, with most of the top brands originating from Europe. Some of the worlds best-known brands are Egger, Kronoswiss and Quickstep.

The construction of laminate flooring consists of 4 layers. A HDF (High-Density Fiberboard) as the main core, with a balancing paper on the base. The top of the HDF core is finished with a decorative paper and then laminated. The HDF board is then cut down to a required size and machined to add the click system. You can find out lots more about this subject by reading our article -  How is laminate flooring made?

Benefits of Laminate Flooring

Homeowners and builders will often choose laminate flooring for a vast number of key reasons.

  • Easy to install
  • Easy to remove
  • Can be lifted and reinstalled numerous times
  • No Glue required
  • Hard to scratch (unlike real wood surfaces)
  • A wide range of decors
  • Low maintenance
  • Can be extremely realistic
  • Often suitable for commercial use.
  • Long-lasting
  • Suitable for all budgets
  • Water-resistant laminates are now available

Originally laminate floors were glued together but as technology has improved, modern laminate floors use a variation of different click system types. Some have various niche advantages but we have found that there are multiple advantages which all of the different systems have in common:

  • Glue is not required
  • Easy DIY installation
  • Fast Installation
  • Ready to use immediately

Choosing Your Laminate Floor

Today there are thousands of laminate floor types available with various thicknesses, wear ratings, decors and features.

The thickness of laminate flooring commonly ranges from 6mm up to 14mm. 12mm Laminate floors are growing in popularity A thicker floor offers these great benefits

  • Stronger click system
  • Easier to install
  • More Robust feel
  • Increased insulation
  • Better performance on imperfect floor levels

AC Ratings for laminate flooring will commonly range from AC1 up to AC6. A higher AC rating will offer some performance improvements.

 

 

  • Improved scratch resistance
  • Increased impact resistance
  • Long-lasting even with Heavy traffic
  • Suitability for commercial use

When choosing we think that it is important to read the product details of each laminate to ensure that it meets your requirements. If you were thinking of installing your new floor in a Kitchen, you may want to consider a thicker and hard-wearing AC4 rated laminate floor, with waterproofing built-in. Of course, it will be a little more expensive but it will likely last much longer in a busy kitchen. Few of us will want to be replacing our new flooring after only a short period of use.

Laminate flooring is considered hard-wearing, but it isn't indestructible. The individual boards are fragile before installation and they should be handled with care. After installing, laminates can be marked or chipped if something heavy is dropped, or something is dragged across them. For this reason, we advise using felt pads underneath all furniture and keeping a few boards spare just in case. If disaster should happen, there are repair kits available on the market which can do a fantastic job of hiding a scratch or chip in laminate floors.

Hopefully we have answered the question of "what is laminate flooring? " well. We have lots more common wood and laminate flooring questions answered in our wood flooring FAQ's.

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