Laminate Flooring

A type of flooring that’s gained a lot of popularity in recent decades is laminate flooring. It offers many advantages that should be considered by home owners.

Laminate Flooring

Laminate floors are often confused with engineered wood floors. Laminates are a synthetic product. The North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA) defines them as “comprised of a hybrid of materials fused together through a unique lamination process”. The decorative, high definition photographic top-layer simulates wood, ceramic tile, or stone, and is located under a transparent, wear-resistant overlay. The inner core layer is a high or medium density fiber board. Bonded to the inner core’s underside is a melamine layer which acts as a balancing backing for stability.

With its realistic textures and imagery, laminate flooring offers a level of variety wood floors can’t match. There is near-limitless design potential here; it serves a wide range of taste. It’s durable, dent and scratch-resistant, hygienic, and easy to maintain. Laminate floors can be installed above, below or on-ground over every type of non-textile, structurally sound, flat, dry, and clean subfloor.

Laminate Flooring Installation

Laminate flooring is basically planks with modified tongue and groove, which can be clicked into one another by angling the planks together until they lock in place. This glueless locking system is referred to as “click installation system.”

Laminate floors are also referred to as “floating” floor systems; such flooring isn’t physically attached to the subfloor. Installed laminate floors are durable surfaces that “float” atop an underlayment which is laid over subfloors. The underlayment increases impact resistance, provides walking comfort, has sound-reducing properties, and can prevent moisture from accruing. Some laminates have pads attached to the plank backing so that no extra underlayment is required.

As with all hard surface floors, the expansion space left between the edges of laminate flooring and the fixed vertical objects and surfaces they collide with (walls, columns, cabinets, etc.) must be covered by trim (baseboard and/or shoe molding). Unlike trim, transitions cover the spaces where the edge of the laminate floor meets the edge of another floor.

Laminate can be installed on stairs. This requires the installation of planks with options for both treads and the risers or on the treads only (as other material could be used for the risers). A matching stair nosing goes on the outside edge of the step where the tread meets the below standing riser, causing the steps to look sleek and function properly.

Your Laminate Flooring Installation Project

Laminate floors are popular among DIYers, but self-installation may give disappointing results. Purchasing the desired design and following manufacturer instructions may seem easy, but the installation of these floors presents unique challenges that may be hard for the layman to overcome. When improperly installed, unexpected problems arise. We advise you to steer clear of this risk.

Those interested in professional laminate flooring installation in and around San Diego, CA can take advantage of our no obligation, free, in-home analysis. We install laminate flooring and stairs with exacting attention to detail. As a laminate flooring installer with over fourteen years of experience in residential and commercial flooring, we serve our customers with exemplary dedication and expertise (read our customers reviews here). Collaborate with us to find the best way to make your dream of laminate flooring a reality. Request a free, non-obligatory, in-home estimate now!