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A Beginner’s Guide To Laminate Wood Flooring
by AJ Fanter
Refacing Cabinets Columnist
In addition to being more affordable than traditional hardwood floors, laminate flooring is quite durable and easy to care for.
What is Laminate Wood Flooring?
Designed to replicate real hardwood flooring, laminate wood flooring is usually made from multiple layers of high-density fiberboard pressed together to form the inner core of each plank. Typically, these inner cores are treated with melamine resins and water resistant sealers to enhance moisture resistance and increase stability. Each plank is then covered with a special printed film that gives the appearance of real wood. Finally, the planks are covered in a strong and durable layer of resins, known as a wear layer. This super strong protective layer not only keeps your laminate wood flooring safe from the effects of sunlight, but also makes the flooring quite resistant to stains, scratches, and impact.
Laminate Wood Floor Considerations
While laminate flooring can be used anywhere in the home, including your kitchen and bath, the moisture in those rooms can affect the floor’s overall performance. And, while you never need to worry about waxing or polishing laminate flooring, they can be fairly loud to walk on unless you have noise-reducing padding installed. Finally, while laminate floors are exceptionally tough and far more scratch resistant than hardwood, they are not scratch-proof. While there are touch-up kits and chip repair kits available, they can be difficult to find, so it's good to avoid dragging heavy objects around on your laminate wood flooring.
Laminate Flooring Installation
Laminate flooring is installed by the floating installation method. In other words, laminate floors are not secured to the materials below. Instead of being nailed, glued, or stapled down, your laminate wood flooring rests on top of a thin special padding known as the underlayment, which is placed on top of your existing vinyl flooring, plywood, concrete slab, or oriented strand board (OSB). Then, using each plank’s tongue and groove locking system, the planks are either "locked" together and secured with glue or, if the flooring features a glueless locking system, snapped together.
About the Author
Amy Fanter is a freelance writer based in Reno, NV. She holds a BA in English from Colby College.
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