and Czars of flooring.
But before you purchase or install your laminate flooring, make sure that you know everything that you need to know about laminate flooring…which we’ve handily included below.
Everything you Need to Know About Laminate Flooring
We’re about to give you a crash course in laminate flooring, so buckle up. In this complete guide to laminate flooring we’ll offer up the most critical-to-know information, along with our expert tips of what you truly need to know before selecting, purchasing and installing laminate flooring in your home…
Laminate flooring comes in a range of thicknesses, from 7mms up to 12mm. The thicker the floor the better the sound absorption. Also, the thicker the laminate the more dent-resistant it will be. So thick = good.
Not all warranties are created equal, and they generally range from 10 years to lifetime. Pay close attention to what the warranty is, and then compare that with the life expectancy you need from your floor.
Laminate flooring’s AC rating tells you how wear-and-tear resistant it is. The ratings are from 1 to 5, with 1 being for extremely low-traffic areas and 5 being for commercial- and industrial-grade use. An AC rating of 4 is the highest rating recommended for home use as it looks significantly better than laminate with 5 ratings.
You have a number of textures to choose from when selecting your laminate flooring. They include embossed, embossed in register and handscraped. Each has a distinctive look, which means it boils down to personal preference and taste.
An underlayment is important to your floor’s moisture barrier, sound absorption and in the elimination of minor imperfections in the subflooring. If you’re installing laminate flooring on top of cement/concrete then you’ll absolutely require an underlayment. Ditto for floors that are below ground level. In our opinion though, an underlayment should be used on pretty much all laminate floors as it creates a higher-quality laminate floor job.
When you change your floor you will likely want to replace your mouldings as well (since you’ll likely have to remove them throughout the process ), so, while purchasing your flooring also purchase any quarter round, t-mouldings, thresholds, reducers and wallbases you’ll need to ensure your mouldings match your floor. Buying your mouldings at the same time helps you to choose a design that matches your floor.
While laminate flooring is relatively low maintenance, to preserve its condition it will require some care and maintenance, including: mopping up any spills immediately, not over-watering the floor when washing, buying a specially-formulated cleanser for laminate flooring, sweeping regularly, using rugs or mats in extremely high-traffic area, using pads on furniture and trimming the nails of any pets.
Now that you know everything you need to know, as a consumer, about laminate flooring—call the experts at Tony’s Flooring for a quote, or with any lingering questions you have about buying and installing laminate flooring.]]>
