LAMINATE GUIDE

Laminate floors have become a popular choice for active families and lifestyles. Originally manufactured in Europe, laminate flooring has quickly become a major flooring category in North America. A wide selection of designs and colors are readily available in flooring stores.

Laminate floors are durable, easy to care for and come in a wide variety of realistic stone and wood flooring designs. If you love the look of real hardwood but don't want to bother with the upkeep, then laminate floors are the answer. If you are looking for ways to save money by installing yourself, then laminate flooring is a great and economical choice for you.

Laminate flooring manufacturers use sophisticated, computerized technology to create realistic and fashionable designs that are well protected by a tough outer coating that is impervious to most stains, spills, burns and is extremely scratch-resistant. Laminate floors are never secured directly to the subfloor, instead they are floated over the subfloor. This allows laminate flooring to be used over a wide variety of subfloors, including wooden subfloors, existing floors and concrete slabs.

Perfect for the do-it-yourselfer, most laminate floors have a specialized, glueless, tongue and grooved locking system that makes installation a snap! No messy glues to apply and easy to fix if something does go wrong.

Laminate flooring textures offer the realism of hardwood graining and natural tile etching. Choose from natural colors, dark wood grains as well as warm or cool color tones to compliment any room decor. Many hardwood plank designs are offered, including rare, exotic wood species. Stone and tile patterns will give you the elegant look of tile, but without the concerns about grout cleaning or cracking tile. Laminate flooring offers the best of all worlds - a variety of colors and looks, easily installed, easy upkeep.

Laminate flooring comes in several different forms:

Glueless laminate flooring
No mess, glueless installation makes these floors quick and easy-to-install. They come in a variety of ceramic and wood designs and colorations, as well as some manufacturers offer a real, hardwood veneer instead of a printed layer. These floors come in both planks and squares. An thin, plastic underlayment is needed to seal out moisture from below.

Laminate flooring with attached underlay
These floors come with several different types of tongue and grooved locking systems and an attached underlayment to reduce noise levels.

Glued laminate flooring
These are the original laminate floors that do require a special formulated glue to be applied to the tongue and grooved areas for each plank. Once the glue is dried the planks are almost impossible to pull apart. These floors are offered in both planks and squares.

Pre-glued laminate flooring
No mess, because the glue is already applied to the tongue and grooves which makes these floors quick and easy-to-install. An thin, plastic underlayment is needed to seal out moisture and prevent the glue from sticking to the substrate.