Posts Tagged ‘Wood laminate flooring’

What You Should Know about Wood Laminate Flooring

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

If you are thinking about installing wood laminate flooring for your home, you first need to learn more about this type of flooring. Your floor is an important feature of your house and it is only necessary to play close attention to the kind of flooring that you want to install. Laminate or floating wood tile is made up of compressed paper boards, wood scraps, shavings, and fiber board materials that are coated with a layer of protective film to prevent the core from being exposed to moisture and scratches.

To give you enough information about this type of flooring, you should check out the following paragraphs.

Benefits

Wood laminate flooring has a lot of benefits which is the main reason why they are becoming extremely popular in the world of interior designing and home renovating. These are cheap substitute for solid wood flooring that can cost you thousands of dollars. On the other hand, you can buy laminates for as low as $1 per plank. They also look like wood, which means they also look elegant when properly installed.

Laminate floors are also easier to clean than carpeted flooring. Vacuum is not necessary because you can sweep the floor or you can use a damp mop to clean the surface. In case of liquid spills and hardened dirt, just wipe off the spill using a dry piece of cloth and remove the dirt using a clean damp cloth.

Buying Tips

When buying laminates, you have to get the area of your room to know the size and number of laminate planks you need to buy. You should also read the box to know which items are already included in the item or whether you need to buy other materials necessary for installation separately.

You should also check the AC hardness of the laminates. If you see AC1 on the package, this means that this type of laminate is suitable for rooms where there is very little traffic, like bedrooms. AC2 hardness is appropriate for moderate traffic in residential rooms like dining room and living rooms. AC5 is durable and is ideal for public places like department stores and commercial shops.

Installation Tips

You can choose whether you want to install the flooring by yourself or hire a professional installer who can do a much better job. The difference is in the cost and quality of installation. If you are sure that you can do this kind of installation, go ahead and install the planks on the floor. However, just make sure that you follow the instructions on the package.

Care Tips

It is easier to care for this type of flooring. Regular sweeping will keep its shine and smoothness. You should also prevent pointy objects, like high heeled shoes or legs of furniture to create indentations on the surface. You can put felt protection underneath the furniture legs and avoid stepping on your laminate floor when you are wearing stilettos.

Learning about these useful tips and information will help you pick the right kind of laminate and will also help you make your wood laminate flooring last for a long time.