Date: 8 Nov 2009 Comments: 0

Laminate flooring can give you the look and feel of a real hardwood flooring with the added advantages of simple installation, larger sturdiness, and reduced upkeep. Rooms that see lots of traffic are the best location for laminate flooring. Laminates are designed to hold up under the sort of abuse they’re likely to see from children, pets, spills and all of the other things that occur in a busy home.

Many laminates are so well made nowadays that it can be tricky to know which floors are laminate and which are real hardwood. Laminate floors will employ a thin layer of paper which shows a photographic image of natural wood grain which is placed under an extraordinarily hard layer of protective film and then adhered to a high density backer board. This gives you the look of real wood for a significantly lower cost and higher level of durability.

There are many different makes of laminate flooring on the market nowadays. The two main processes for making laminate flooring are High Pressure Laminate ( HPL ) and Direct Laminate ( DL ). HPL uses a 2 step process to form the completed product. The paper image, protecting film, and core material are joined using heat and pressure and then these layers are attached to a high density fiberboard backing. With DL all of the layers are joined together at one previous point.

When choosing which sort of DIY laminate flooring is perfect for you the important thing to think about is the level of traffic the floor will see. One of the biggest advantages of using laminate flooring is its durability. Because of the way it is created it is resistant to all kinds of punctures, stains, scuffs, and gauges. It is simple to install laminate flooring over existing flooring including wood, vinyl, linoleum, and tile. Most laminate flooring systems are floating floors that means that they are not attached to the plywood subfloor but instead interlock above it.