Laminate flooring is one of the biggest inventions in the building industry over the past century. The cheap, prefinished, durable and easy to install floor finish is one of the widely sort after floor finish lately. Buying laminate floor is not so easy, especially if you hope to buy what you truly have in mind to use for your home or project. As a buyer, you need to think of the style, the type to buy, the grain, the usability and several other factors. The cost alone is not enough a factor to consider in buying laminate floor type. This article will, at best, open your eyes to other factors to be considered before buying laminate flooring.
STYLE
Laminate flooring is of two major types of one quarter snapped planks. Engineered woods are made using real wood of a thin layer at the top and then bonding it to other materials glued together perpendicularly to maintain stability. Plastic laminate floor is, on the other hand, different from engineered hardwoods because it is totally artificial with wood grain print on top, resin saturated fireboard in the middle and melamine at the bottom of the composite. The top wood grain print is usually protected with a clear hard plastic because that is the part that receives most pressure.
Plastic laminates are usually reasonably cheap compared to the engineered hardwood floors. Purists who prefer the natural look always go for the engineered hardwood floor and they pay more. Engineered hardwood floors an get stained, can be scratched or even dented, but all in all, it can be sanded and re-finished back t its original state more than 3 times in its lifetime, and so it lasts longer than laminate floors especially if it is used where there is less water splash and pressure. Plastic laminate floors can be used almost anywhere, especially where water splashes everything, like the bathroom and even where there is so much pressure and abuse. Plastic laminate floors are very durable because of the hard top coat and the composites in the internal layers. The wood grain look atop the plastic laminate floors nowadays look more realistic than ever before, so the real hardwood can be seen on the floor everything, only that that it doesn’t feel like one.
LUXURY VINYL FLOORING
If you are in search of durability and ease of installation, then you should look on the other side of the table, the luxury vinyl tile or the luxury vinyl planks. Both flooring types are well designed and are extremely water resistant, resilient to dirt, weather and even pressure from use. You can use it for un even floors because it is so pliable.
UNDERLAY
All laminate floor need an underlay. It cannot be skipped when installing laminate floors. It prevents the floor from clicking on the subfloors and makes the laminate floor feel a bit softer since the top layer is always hard plastic. Whatever the sub floor is made of, there are usually a lot of inconsistencies and irregularities on it, but with a foam underlayment, there irregularities are evened out. Most underlay foams have adhesive tape already installed on them and all you need do is just to press it hard to the subfloor while others need separate tape .
INSTALLATION
Most laminate floors have clicked together designs that simply lock in place easily. The installation of laminate floor is so easy and that is why anyone can buy and install without any fore-knowledge of floor installation. Other types may require little adhesive to glue them in place. The installation reduces the amount spent on flooring and therefore makes laminate floors cheaper than even the engineered hardwood flooring.
DURABILTIY
To truly know if a flooring type is cheap, one will need to think about the cost of purchase, installation and even durability of the flooring material. Although the laminate floor may be cheap when buying and installing, it is will wear out over time and will need total replacement. When the material is to be replaced, it is easy to get them removed and replaced again. Laminate floors will only need to be pried up a little and then lifted out of place one after the other, unlike the nailed hardwood floors and the cement mortar joined floors that will require a professional to remove.
MAINTENANCE
When choosing a laminate floor type, have it at the back of your mind that the material chosen will need maintaining over the course of its life time. It’s a good thing that laminate floors have a hard plastic surface keeping dirt and debris off its smooth top. Cleaning laminate floors should only include regular vacuum cleaning, sweeping and mopping. Always maintain the floor by cleaning every bit of water splash on the floor as soon as possible. Do not allow water to form a pond on top of the floor else, it will damage the laminate floor internally over time. So if you know your floor allows water to form pond, then do not go for laminate floor.
FLOOR FINISH
In buying a laminate floor, choosing the finish at the very top of the laminate is very important. The type of finish on a laminate floor cannot be changed over time, and so, it is very important to choose the right finish that will last long on the floor of your home. If you have a house with pets and children and you always have lots of visitors, then it is best to go for a laminate floor finish with varied grain patterns. This is because even when scratches occur, it will not be noticeable until most of the floor is damaged. Monolithic grain pattern will embolden small damage or scratch in the eyes of visitors and you wouldn’t like that.
