Choosing Laminate Flooring for Your Home
When it comes to new flooring, choosing laminate flooring for your home could be one of the best decisions ever! It looks amazing, durable, easy to clean and if not abused it could easily last for as long as you own your home! Not only that, your kids will love the hard surface because it serves as a perfect base for lego building and their toy cars and trucks will glide effortlessly over the smooth laminate floor surface.
If you’ve already decided to choose laminate flooring you’ll want to know what types of laminate to consider before moving forward. Pricing starts out very reasonable but depending on the type of laminate selected the prices can change dramatically. No worries though, because we’ll explain the differences as shown below.
Two Styles of Laminate Flooring
There are two primary types of laminate flooring but they look quite similar so one is not easily distinguished from the other. This is one of those things where it all looks good on the outside, but it’s what is inside that makes the difference. Generally, all laminate flooring is available in planks and are about 1/4″ thick.
- Engineered Wood Laminate Flooring is manufactured using multiple layers of real wood. The top, or visible layer is usually a high quality hard wood with an acrylic finish on top. Obviously, this laminate flooring looks most like real wood but it does scratch and dent. On the plus side, it can be sanded and refinished at least a couple times throughout it’s life span. This type of material can easily be twice as expensive as the plastic laminate option. Still, if you are into that “real wood” look, this might be the floor for you. Be careful though because we do NOT recommend using this flooring in “wet” areas of your home.
- Plastic Laminate Flooring This is a synthetic material with melamine on the bottom, a resin fiber center and the top, visible layer is usually a wood print with layer of clear plastic on top. The top surface will look like real wood but it’s highly durable and stands up to moisture. In fact, plastic laminate manufactures have really advanced this product and your guests won’t know the difference and they will think it’s real wood floor. Even though this flooring cannot be sanded and refinished the lower cost for replacement makes it a winner! For a busy family, we usually recommend this plastic laminate flooring. It’s less expensive than the engineered wood too!
When it comes to home value, the engineered wood might be the better choice. Some buyers appreciate the real wood look but of course, that’s only if it not scratched and damaged.
Subfloor Condition Affects Laminate Flooring Installation
When installing any type of plank flooring you must be very careful about your subfloor. The biggest mistake DIY’ers make is not evaluating and preparing the sub floor or slab BEFORE installing the laminate flooring. We have seen beautiful laminate floor with wide gaps and the planks buckles, simply due to being installed on top of a floor that was not properly prepared. Believe me, this is a huge topic in itself and we’ll cover it later, but be sure to only use a qualified flooring installer. The problem is, you might not be aware your subfloor needs leveling until your old floor is removed first! Ask your installer to include an allowance for a resonable amount of sub floor preparation work, so your not hit with a huge additional cost later!
Moving Forward With Your Laminate Flooring
Now that you’ve done your homework perhaps it’s time to get started. Best Flooring SCV offers free in-home estimates and there’s absolutely no obligation. We have the experience and training to handle any flooring job and laminate flooring is no exception. We apprecaite the opportunity to be of service. Please contact Casey Gordon at 661-607-9509.
