Unfortunately, luxury flooring like hardwoods and natural stone tend to be outside of the budgets of many. Thankfully, laminate flooring is an alternate material that gives a home the same warmth and elegance that any hardwood floor or stone floor can give, but with a much lower cost.
Laminate Flooring: Light, Durable, and Beautiful Flooring Material for Virtually Every Room In Your Home Laminate flooring truly is a marvel of the modern era of the flooring industry. Early attempts at a convincing wood floor substitute were less than convincing, but the laminate flooring of today is so perfectly designed that it would take much discernment to distinguish the real material from the facsimile. In fact, it might be nearly impossible to tell the difference by sight alone, even by an expert.
Laminate Flooring and Moisture Laminate flooring is versatile and can tolerate moisture much more easily than can its wooden predecessor. For this reason, it may be used in kitchens, bathrooms, and even in basements—all places that hardwood flooring does not dare go. Of course, caution should be exercised when installing any material in high moisture areas. Laminate is water resistant, but not waterproof.
Laminate Flooring: A Flooring Advancement Laminate flooring is one of the most fascinating and technologically advanced flooring options to come out in recent years. It has actually been around for quite a while, but not on floors. The original uses for laminates were for kitchen countertops. Eventually, many realized that the scratch-resistant and easy-to-maintain material could be suited to floors. As most ingenious inventions, laminate flooring was born out of this need for a resilient yet beautiful and low maintenance flooring option. Due to its low-maintenance qualities and its realistic appearance that mimics that of hardwoods and other surfaces, laminate flooring has become one of the most popular options today. One other reason for its popularity is its relative low price and wide availability.
Laminate Flooring – What Is It Made Of? The material used in manufacturing laminate flooring is actually layer upon layer of materials fused together to make this very strong and reliable flooring material. The top layer consists of a transparent material, usually a resin of some type that has been chemically treated in order to be able to resist water, scratches, burns, dents, and stains. This transparent top layer protects the decorative layer which follows.
The decorative layer is where laminate flooring gets its aesthetics from. This layer can mimic the appearance of any hardwood, stone, or bamboo flooring using state-of-the-art photography technique. Yes, that layer you see is actually a highly-rendered photograph of the desired surface. It is guaranteed not to fade because it is protected by the top layer.
Beneath the decorative layer is a core layer made of high- or medium-density fiberboard to support the stress of foot traffic. Still another layer is called the stabilizing layer, which adds further strength and stability to the floor board.
Laminate Flooring: A Very Easy Flooring Installation Laminate flooring is one of the easiest flooring options to install thanks click joints that enable the homeowner to simply lay the flooring in place without the use of glue. The laminate flooring boards simply click and lock into place, and you can enjoy your laminate floor in no time. These are called floating floor installations as the laminate is held in place by itself, floating on top of the subfloor.
