Laminate Flooring: Advantages and Disadvantages

Laminate flooring can give you the look and feel of wood flooring at a fraction of the price of the real thing. Let’s take a look at its advantages and disadvantages.

Laminate flooring does one thing truly well regardless of anything else: it emulates wood flooring. Wood flooring by itself and genuine wood flooring can be quite the expensive thing to have to buy and to install. Laminate flooring on this front provides a much cheaper alternative. We all love the look and feel of a rustic wood flooring but unfortunately not all of us are blessed with the finances to be able to get this type of flooring and this is where laminate flooring really does come into play and appeal to the masses of people who want wood look alike flooring.

Created many years prior as a reasonable option in contrast to genuine wood, laminate flooring manufacturers of today have increased their game with better quality and many sorts of wood variants. You'll discover everything from American symbols like oak, hickory and heartwood pine to exotics, for example, tigerwood and prado. 

There are natural and antiqued renditions, as well, on the off chance that you need your floor to look as though it's been there for quite a long time. Furthermore, numerous makers toss in an increasingly varied arrangement of stone, tile and metal carbon copies. 

This assortment is because of the photographic cycle used to make the plan layer of laminate — a high-goal picture of real wood that is strikingly similar. The picture is printed and stuck to a center of fiberboard upheld by a base layer that has been treated to deal with damage arising due to too much moisture. It's completely covered by an intense, clear top wear layer that cancels out the risk of scratches and dings. 

With such a wide variety of options that you can choose from, here is our list of advantages and disadvantages of laminate flooring. By taking a closer look at this, you can make an informed decision as to whether laminate flooring is right for you or not. The very last thing that you want to do is to get new tiles, install them and then find out that they are not well equipped for your home or that simply, you do not like how these tiles look and feel now. So, make sure that you properly do research on the type of flooring before you go out and invest in one. The whole process of laying tiles is extremely time consuming and heavy on resource consumption, so make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. 

The Good News 

• Laminate flooring comes as boards or tiles. The edges and closures are intended to snap together so there's no nailing, making installation a decent DIY project.

• The laminate construction gives the pieces security and keeps creases from opening up during changes in humidity.

• Lightweight, snap-together laminate flooring is installed over a slender froth pad underlayment. That makes it a decent possibility for installment over most existing decks — except for cover — nullifying the requirement for tear-out.

• Snap-together laminate flooring kills the requirement for VOC-delivering pastes.

• No old-development or colorful trees are utilized to make laminate flooring.

• The wear layer of laminate floors are very extreme, which makes cleanup and upkeep simple. Regular clearing keeps the surface free from rough coarseness.

The Not-So-Good News 

• Indeed, even the best cover flooring is defenseless against moisture damage and shouldn't be installed in pantries and rooms with sump siphons or floor channels. Installations on cellar floors and sections ought to incorporate a defence against moisture. Laminate flooring in the kitchen is alright insofar as you're constant about tidying up spills and splashes. Laminate flooring in the restroom isn't suggested except if all edges are stuck during installation and the edge is fixed with silicone caulk.

• Laminate flooring can't be resurfaced the manner in which genuine wood can, so whenever it's exhausted, it'll need to be replaced. Check the guarantee of the laminate tiles you're considering purchasing; items with higher guarantees mean better quality and longer life. Maintain a strategic distance from modest laminate flooring.

• It might look genuine, yet as of yet, it is an engineered product that feels unnaturally hard and can be brutal sounding when someone walks on it.

• The wear layer of laminate flooring contains plastic that doesn't degrade in landfills. Some cover materials might be made with formaldehyde and different synthetic substances that ecological specialists state can deliver harmful VOCs, albeit stricter EPA rules have diminished VOC content in laminate flooring.

A Bit More Good News 

In the event that you have your heart set on genuine wood yet are pulled in to the advantages of laminate, then wood laminate flooring may be the answer. This is a type of laminate flooring product that has real wood veneer instead of image and layers of wear. One thing to remember is that it will take an occasional refinish which will depend on the type of laminate and the thickness of the veneer.