Take the look of a real timber floor, add scratch resistance, long-term durability, affordability and you have laminate. You will be surprised with how real they look!
Enjoy the beauty of a real timber look floor, without the maintenance and at a fraction of the cost. With today’s technologies, a good laminate floor can even fool the professionals.
There are many reasons why laminate flooring may be the best choice for your home. Laminate flooring offers the look of real wood or stone at a fraction of the cost, presenting an extremely economical option for many homeowners. Laminate flooring is easy to install, clean and easy to maintain. Laminate is an exceptionally durable product and resists both staining and fading. Laminate hand-scraped floors are actually scraped prior to applying the wood looking laminate visual, thus creating a realistic look and texture. Another new laminate flooring trend is long plank floors which are hand-scraped with an oiled finish and the look of hardwood.
Laminate floors are always installed as a floating floor over the top of a damp resistant underlay. This assists with protecting the planks from moisture that comes up through the subfloor. Good underlays can also help with footfall noise reduction, warmth and insulation. There is no specific subfloor that you can or cannot have for a laminate floor as long as the sub-floor is flat, dry, clean and stable.
To achieve the best looking finish, laminate flooring should be installed before skirting boards go on, or existing skirting boards removed ready for the floors installation. If this is not possible, undercutting may be required which is not aesthetically ideal, as it can change the size and height of the skirting.
It’s often a good idea to order a small amount of extra planking above and beyond what is needed for your installation. This can be retained and used for plank replacements in the event of repair in the future.
