Best Laminate Flooring options

We often want to know which is best before buying anything. Of course, the "best" one may not always be the right choice for you. It can be a matter of opinion as opposed to something that can be measured or compared. Sometimes the best product, may not be best for you personally.  For example, I personally think the very best car available right now is a Ferrari 488, but not everyone agrees. My mum would consider this to be a terrible car for her requirements. When searching on Google, it will generate various results for the "best car" ranging from a cheap and cheerful Volkswagon up to the high performance and rather expensive £3.5m Bugatti Veyron. These very different results are because what is best for the buyer is the real question, and the answer will differ for almost everyone. Choosing what someone else deems to be best, could land you doing the school pick up in a very impractical Bugatti Veyron, as opposed to something a little more suited. When figuring out what is the best laminate flooring, it is most important to find the best one for you.

Read Wood Floor Supplier Reviews First

Start with choosing a reputable specialist wood flooring company. It is important that they understand their products well, and are capable of explaining the pros and cons to you correctly. They need to ask you the right questions to be able to offer up the most suitable product. Often, DIY sheds are not able to provide this service and it can lead to customers buying unsuitable products which can be very costly. Good service can sometimes be the most important factor when choosing wood floors,  and you can judge it by reading genuine reviews. At Wood Floor Warehouse, we use Feefo to gather feedback on our service and products. You can read real Wood Floor Warehouse reviews from genuine customers on our Feefo page.

The Best Laminate Floor Brands

Our buying team will always try to choose the best laminate floor brands from around the world. When we choose a brand, we purchase directly from their factory to enable the very best prices. This requires a significant commitment to stock so we are very thorough with our suppliers. We will consider quality, environmental impact, installation, customer support, price and decor before we consider a laminate flooring brand. Each brand will have its own ranges which also vary in price and quality. Here are our own favorites, which we have personally selected to be part of our range :

  • Egger Laminate Flooring. Founded in 1961, this family business, manufacturers in the UK and Germany, using state of the art facilities. Egger use up to 80% recycled wood and PEFC approved managed forests for their products. With close attention to every detail, excellent decors, combined with outstanding value, Egger floors have become our most popular choice. Feedback from our trade and DIY customers who chose Egger, has been excellent. Egger offer both budget and premium products in their very large range.
  • Faus Flooring. Produced in Spain, in a smaller facility, Faus had always concentrated on a premium product for over 60 years. Faus has excellent sustainability commitments using only FSC approved raw materials. Faus have always concentrated on outstanding decors, and produce some of the most realistic laminate floor tiles in the world. While their products are often more expensive than other brands, their specifications are extremely high. They are the only supplier in the world to produce an AC6 rated laminate floor. This is independently awarded and is the highest resistance to abrasion available in laminated floors. All their products are also water-resistant floors, as standard
  • Lamett Flooring. A relative newcomer to the market, founded in 2005. However, they have made a big impact in a very short space of time. Lamett are another brand that manufactures only for the premium market so the prices are a little higher. But we think that they are very much worth it. Innovative decors, combined with excellent specifications and easy installation have made Lamett a contender to be one of the best laminates in the world. All of their laminates are 12mm thick, ensuring a robust installation. One of our favorite highlights of Lamett flooring is Attroguard, which adds extra waterproofing and reduces expansion.
  • Swiss Krono Laminate Flooring. Formerly known as Krono Flooring, this group separated to form multiple brands under the Krono name. You may have also come across Kronotex, Kronoswiss or Kronospan. It's a little confusing as they are now all separate companies, with very similar names. Swiss Krono flooring is made in Switzerland and is considered an excellent mid-range brand. They produce entry-level flooring and high specification premium laminates. We love the competitive prices and large choice to suit all budgets.

Laminate Flooring Specifications

To start, it is important to understand the specifications of the laminate. This flooring has an endless number of specs to choose from, but most are more about marketing than practical use. Ignoring personal preferences such as how to choose the right colour of laminate flooring, the most important specifications to consider are :

  • AC Rating (Wear Rating)
  • Thickness
  • Water Resistance

What is AC Wear Rating and Why does it Matter?

The AC rating of a laminate floor is independently awarded and it will determine how much traffic (or abrasion) a floor can take before wearing through the lamination. Although this is not exclusively a scratch test, laminate floors with a higher wear rating will be harder to scratch. AC ratings will range from AC1 up to AC6. For most residential users, an AC3-4 floor will be more than sufficient. Here is a brief explanation of each grade.

  • AC1-2 Low to moderate traffic Areas (Bedrooms)
  • AC3-4 Moderate to high Traffic Levels (EG Hallways)
  • AC5-6 High traffic residential or commercial use (EG Busy offices )

When browsing our laminate floors for sale, you can filter all of our products by wear rating to find the best laminate floor for you.
You can learn much more about wear ratings in our article on the best wear rating for laminate flooring.

Is The Thickness of Laminate Flooring Important?

The thickness of a laminate floor won't affect how long it will last, or how scratch-proof it is. That is solely determined by the wear rating. But it is still important in other ways. A thicker laminate floor should have a thicker click system and that will make it stronger. Fitting laminate flooring is simple enough, but sometimes you might need a little extra force. Having a thick and strong click system will be much less fragile when installing.

A thicker floor such as 12mm laminate flooring, will feel stronger underfoot. Having a robust plank to walk on is considerably more assuring and offers a more luxurious feeling when compared to a thinner board. It will also flex less than thinner 6mm laminate flooring or 7mm laminate boards which can be helpful when there is some slight unevenness in the sub-floor.

Using the filter on our website will allow you to filter our entire range by thickness.

Consider the Water Resistance

Wood and water don't often mix well, which is one of the key reasons why the correct maintenance for laminate flooring is important.  Too much water on a floor and it can swell up. Most laminates, if cleaned correctly, won't have to deal with much more than the odd spill or two. Provided these are cleaned up and not left to soak, it shouldn't cause any trouble to a quality laminate. But in rooms where excess moisture will inevitably be present, a water-resistant laminate should be a high priority. These floors are designed to cope with higher moisture and frequent spills. If you are considering an installation in any of the following room types, consider putting water resistance at the top of your priorities when looking for the best laminate flooring.

  • bathrooms
  • utility rooms
  • laundry rooms
  • kitchens
  • cafes
  • restaurants
  • salons

To help with this, we offer a range of waterproof laminate floors on our site that can be accessed by using the filter on our website.

Check out our video showing some of our own in-store laminate flooring after 5 years of commercial traffic. We answered the popular questions of how long does laminate flooring last and how tough they are, in this fun Youtube video.

Our entire range has been chosen to offer a wide selection of floors for everyone's budget and requirements. The best laminate floor will be different for every customer and we hope our filters make it easier for you to find the perfect floor for your project.

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