Laminate flooring is a type of flooring that is easy to install. It’s a favorite of designers and home decor enthusiasts, and it’s the type of flooring you’ll see in most Home decor social media tutorials. This is because there is little technique needed to install this flooring, unlike hardwood flooring.
Keep reading to find out what laminate flooring is, its origins, and how you can use it in your home.
Laminate is a manufacturing process where different materials are combined in layers. The final result of this process is a product with more excellent resistance that combines the combined materials’ positive qualities.
A laminate floor can be resistant to water, have vivid colors, or be lighter in weight; everything will depend on the area of the house used.
The lamination process originates from Swedish inventors. In the early 20th century, Swedish manufacturers began to overlay layers of wood pulps by pressing them with heat or pressure to make laminated wood of greater strength.
Although laminate flooring was created in the 1970s, the Swedish company Perstorp is credited with creating the flooring in 1977. Still, it was in 1984 that their new product, laminate wood flooring, was sold in European markets.
The success of laminate flooring is recent in the United States. The invention by the Swedish company Perstorp reached the American market in 1994. However, it was in 2006 that the decoration industry had a boom, and laminate flooring became popular.
The first advantage of laminate flooring is that it is cheaper. Regarding the material cost in square feet, laminate flooring is 50% cheaper than hardwood flooring. On the other hand, hardwood flooring needs monthly maintenance and extra care to maintain its beauty.
On the other hand, the laminate floor is more resistant; it does not require monthly maintenance or a particular type of cleaning. It does not stain easily, and it’s simple to keep clean. Suppose you want the look of a hardwood floor. In that case, laminate wood flooring is an option: it’s perfect for daily activity and has wood-like designs.
Laminate flooring fits most spaces in your home: you can use it in basements and attics and install it over wood or concrete. In fact, most laminate flooring manufacturers make it easy for it to be installed on different types of surfaces.
The only place in your house where it is not advisable to install laminate flooring is in areas with high humidity, such as the bathroom or laundry room. However, you can install laminate flooring in the kitchen.
Choosing the ideal laminate flooring has more to do with the design and your personal tastes than the material itself.
You can find laminate flooring with more or less thickness. The thickness level of the laminate flooring goes from 6mm to 12mm, and as a rule of thumb, it should be at most 8mm. The thicker the laminate flooring, the stronger it will make and the better it will insulate sound from the floor under the Laminate.
Regarding laminate floor finishes, we recommend laminate floors with a low-gloss finish because any kind of scratch or damage on the surface will be harder to spot.
To choose a quality laminate floor, check the floor sample in the store closely; you should see an even finish throughout the piece. In addition, high-quality laminate floors lock together seamlessly, creating a flat surface. If you see that laminate flooring has uneven edges, they were not cut with a good quality machine, look for a laminate floor with perfect finishes and trims.