Tag: laminate

Bathroom Remodel

Laminate Flooring Vs Hardwood Flooring – What Should You Choose?

Laura

It’s come to that time. You want to upgrade the flooring in your home and you’re weighing up the options. You don’t want to bother with carpeted floors because they’re a nightmare to maintain, love gathering dust, fleas, and dirt, and just don’t have the modern feel that wooden flooring brings.
Your options have boiled down to laminate flooring and hardwood flooring because they both achieve that modern look you’ve always wanted. However you’re torn between the two and want some advice. Well, welcome to this article, where we’ll look at a couple of key differences that may help you reach a conclusion.
The price
Price is often an important factor when making a purchase of any kind. If money is no object then you may as well skip to the next section. However, if you’re part of the price conscious majority, then you should know that laminate flooring is much cheaper than hardwood. Typically, it will cost you twice as much to install hardwood flooring over laminate flooring. Sometimes, it can cost even more than this.
Installation
Now, depending on how much of a handy man (or woman) you are, will influence whether you choose to take the DIY route or enlist the help of flooring specialists. If you like DIY, then you’re going to have an easy ride with laminate flooring. Most laminate floors are designed to be easy to install, with no need for nails, and in most cases, no need for glue.
Hardwood, on the other hand, will require a particular level of expertise for a pain-free installation. Unless you really know your stuff and are a genuine handy man or handy woman, then you should use a professional for installing a hardwood floor.
Longevity
The longevity of your flooring will be another important consideration when you’re weighing up your options. Well, in this department, both flooring types are pretty good. Both laminate and hardwood floors can last for decades if looked after. However, laminate floors tend to be a little more resistant to scratching and fading than their hardwood companions. Nonetheless, a slightly faded and scratched hardwood floor can add a little personality and character to your home. So, in that respect, it is really down to your personal choice.
The looks
As expensive as it can be, there is no denying that hardwood flooring looks beautiful. It really brings that natural yet modern feel into your home. Although laminate flooring can also do its bit at making your home look tidy, hardwood flooring wins hands down in the aesthetic department. If you’re one that likes to impress, then hardwood flooring will be the sensible choice.…

Kitchen Remodel

Laminate Floor Cleaning & Maintenance

Laura

Laminate flooring has emerged as an extremely popular alternative to traditional wood flooring. When you take into consideration the beauty of these floors, cheaper cost, and its ease of installation, it is easy to see why.
Laminate flooring is pretty easy to maintain. The most important weapon in your arsenal is a trusty broom or vacuum (with beater bar turned off!). This is true for any floor surface in your home. Side note: If you ever hire a professional cleaner (carpet, tile & grout, etc.) always ask what their first step is. If they don’t vacuum or sweep first, then you need to immediately look for a more “Professional” cleaner. Once you have gotten all the excess “dry soil” off your floor, then basically all you need to do is a quick mopping. I highly recommend a microfiber mop, as they are perfect for these floors.
For weekly maintenance you can just use water. Make sure you ring out the mop as much as possible, as you want to avoid too much moisture. The pad should just be damp. You should also avoid vinegar on your laminate floors. I see a lot of people on the internet that recommend this as a budget cleaner, however, vinegar is an acid. If you repeatedly expose your floor to acid it can potentially damage the aluminum oxide coating of the laminate, thus dulling your floor. If your floor requires more cleaning power than a damp pad, then there are cleaners available that were engineered specifically for that.
Avoid waxes and polishes as well. Again, there are other products available that will restore your shine without any of the adverse effects. Finally, there may be no better defense for your flooring than a strategically placed mat or mats. This can make a huge difference, especially if your laminate floor is by an outside entry point.
Perhaps a bigger problem for laminate floors are scratches from pets or furniture. The reason scratches give laminate floor owners such a headache is that a laminate floor is actually a picture of wood placed on melamine which is placed on a particle board and coated with aluminum oxide. The aluminum oxide coating – which is the top surface (wear layer), is very thin. Unlike wood, laminate cannot be sanded down and refinished. Therefore if you get scratches your options are limited. At this point you basically have 3 ways to go. You can replace the entire floor, buy a special repair kit and try to fill in the scratches by hand, or buy a laminate cleaning product that can hide those scratches. Obviously this will also depend on the severity and frequency of those scratches, but needless to say replacement is the “if nothing else works” option.
Laminate flooring does require some special attention and care, but all in all, it is a very easy to maintain flooring option. They are designed to last up to 20 years, and with the proper care and maintenance, there is no …

Home Remodeling

Hardwood Laminate Flooring

Laura

Hardwood laminate flooring is a flexible floor covering that provides you with the feel of having hardwood floors, devoid of the large expense. Hardwood laminate surfaces are highly valued for their toughness as well as their aesthetic beauty. This beauty has the capacity to express warmth and character to most any kind of room and will fit with almost any decor.
Despite the fact that hardwood laminate flooring really does resemble hardwood, it is not constructed of solid wood. It’s produced from a number of materials bonded together under extreme pressure. Made from many layers of ply laid cross ways, it is truly as tough as real hardwood. This machine created product will not stain, warp or even buckle. The coated surface provides it a high degree of scratch resistance. This flooring is tough!
A main benefits of laminate flooring are not simply its replication of genuine hardwood and its intense toughness, but the ease with which the flooring may be installed and maintained. It can be installed very quickly. After you observe the initial number of tiles going together, it is possible to finish the project yourself. The introduction of glueless laminates has changed the flooring business, opening a door for the “do-it-yourself” market.
Hardwood laminate floors are exceptionally stain repellent and requires only minor routine maintenance. A vacuum cleaner can certainly perform the task in most instances. Mopping hardwood laminate flooring with a hot damp mop, along with a gentle cleaner can remove just about all filth and grime. Always read the manufacturers cleaning recommendations prior to washing your floor, since they may fluctuate from brand to brand.
Laminate hardwood flooring comes in many types and designs. This kind of flooring can replicate essentially any wood floors, such as mahogany, oak, bamboo, cork, and pine. All wood varieties have their own particular features, so a style, texture, and color of laminate can easily be found to go with just about any decor. Hardwood laminate flooring will increase the value of your home without breaking the bank. Laminate flooring can be bought and put in for a portion of the price associated with authentic hardwood. Even though the labor might be time consuming, as well as a bit tough on ones knees, you most likely can save about 40% of the total job cost as a result of installing the floors yourself.
The hardwood flooring “look” is one which is always classic. Umpteen flooring fashions have come and gone (remember shag rugs? ) but the classic hardwood flooring look will always be in fashion. Since hardwood laminate flooring emulates that “wood look”, your floors will always be chic!…

Home Contractors

How Laminate Flooring Can Transform Your Room

Laura

If you want to change the look of your room one of the best things you can do is take a look at laminate flooring. Although this style of flooring is not actually genuine wood, it is very strong and scratch resistant, and also in most cases is UV resistant, meaning it will not change color even though it is left in open sunlight for a long period of time. It can be a great choice when you are renovating your home because it is inexpensive in comparison to genuine wood flooring, and can be installed fairly quickly.
Laminate flooring is made from both synthetic and genuine wood materials, which are pressed together using high-pressure to make for a really hardwearing and durable flooring surface. In most cases the laminate is finished off with a polyurethane covering, which is a protective layer that will stop the wood surface from being scratched. This makes it ideal for places where it is possible for damage to occur, and is especially useful for people who have children. Due to the fact that it uses synthetic material, this kind of flooring also goes some way towards protecting the environment due to the fact that it does not use genuine hardwood.
This kind of flooring can be installed in most rooms, although you do need to make sure you do not install it in place where water can be present, such as the bathroom or in places that are near to sinks, perhaps in the kitchen. If water gets into laminate flooring it can damage the core of the wood, and then the planks will need to be replaced.
As mentioned above, this type of flooring is an excellent choice for people who have children, and it is an excellent choice for high traffic areas such as the hallway or the kitchen, since it is durable enough to stand up to a lot of wear. And now that modern technology has improved the look of this wooden flooring comes close to that of a genuine hardwood flooring at nowhere near the price.…

House Improvements

Laminate Floor

Laura

A laminate floor offers more options than any other type of flooring. It’s often seen as the best choice for flooring needs, regardless of price, mainly because of its superior selection and the ease of installing laminate flooring. You can be sure that laminate floor will give you the look you want for your home, and probably at a considerably lower cost than what it emulates. With options like walnut, cherry, beech, maple, merbau, and oak laminate flooring, there’s sure to be something you’ll want. Laminate wood floors are a lot more durable than the so called real thing, and are very easy to clean as laminate floor cleaner can be found nearly anywhere and is not terribly expensive.
Introduced to the US market around ten years ago, laminate floor is still fairly new to us. Even so, it has already become one of the most popular types of floor in the US today. Durability, low prices, and ease of installation are among the reasons that laminate floors are so popular. Homeowners throughout the country have purchased billions of square feet of laminate, and even more has been sold worldwide. Wood laminate floor is often placed in new homes in many new subdivisions, but it can also be used as a replacement floor in older homes to modernize their interiors.
Flooring manufacturers have picked up on the wood laminate floor trend quite quickly, and are already producing laminated planks and tiles in a dizzying array of textures, styles, and colors. Installation formats also vary, including click lock, glue down, and floating, just to name a few. With there being so many options as far as installation formats, pretty much anyone can install their own laminate floor, should they so choose.
The companies Armstrong and Pergo have become household names through their laminate floors. Lots of other manufacturers are also making names for themselves by bringing to market surprisingly high quality discount laminate flooring and finishes that would delight any customer.
Armstrong likes to tout their SwiftLock laminate flooring which, like Quick Step laminate flooring, is marketed on ease of installation. Both companies seem to be betting on lots of people peforming their own laminate floor installation. Pergo is quite proud of their walnut laminate flooring, though their maple laminate flooring is also quite popular.
Because of the myriad of choices available to them, buyers often become confused when trying to pick the correct laminate floor for their needs. AC Ratings and various groove and tongue systems make decisions even harder. As laminate floors have not been around for all that long, the options will surely expand and become even more confusing as time goes by. No matter how complicated it gets, though, there will always be someone willing to attempt their own laminate flooring installation.
Wood laminate flooring is available both from the Internet and from your local hardware store. It would be wise to check around so you can see just how affordable it can be, and the hardware …