Ready to replace your floors?
Have you been wanting to update your floors? Now is the perfect time to update your flooring. European Parquet Inc. has over 20 years of experience supporting homeowners, general contractors and apartment building management companies throughout the Lost Angeles area with updates to their home and flooring.
What is Laminate Flooring?
How do you get that gorgeous wood look without paying a pretty penny for solid hardwood?
Easy – laminate flooring.
A low-cost alternative to standard wood or stone, laminate is a durable floor that comes in many attractive styles. Laminate is a popular flooring option in rental homes and condos but is also ideal for families and businesses. The realistic wood and stone looks along with the low-maintenance cleaning routine make laminate a flooring favorite.
Laminate was kind of the pioneer for realistic wood-look flooring, and other types of flooring have caught on and have begun releasing their own realistic wood looks. But laminate holds strong as the go-to wood-look floor for several reasons.
LAMINATE FLOORING INSTALLATION
What’s Inside Laminate Flooring?
Like a sandwich, laminates are made up of layers (although they are not as tasty):
Backing: This is the backbone of your laminate plank, helping provide stability for the floor and helping to keep water from penetrating the flooring from underneath. This would be your bottom piece of bread in our flooring sandwich.
Core layer: On top of the backing layer, a core layer gives the floor its durability and stability. This layer is typically made of compressed high density fiber board (aka HDF) and is resistant to water, but not necessarily waterproof. This is essentially the hearty “meat section” of the floor.
Image layer: This holds the pattern or print, making the laminate look like wood (or, now, stone, metal and more!). The image layer can include rougher, more natural looking scrapes and knots just like the real deal. It’s literally a photo (a really sweet, high-res photo) of the material being printed on your floor and, it is shockingly convincing. Think of the image layer as perhaps where the mustard or condiments would go, to dress up your sandwich and give it some more flavor.
Wear layer: The wear layer is what protects the floor from scratches, dents and staining and provides the realistic look and feel of the floor. It’s the reason that 10 years from now, after the wear and tear of everyday life, your laminate will still look great. Imagine it as the protective shield to your floor or, in our sandwich, the top piece of bread.
Improvements to each of these layers is what gives us the strong, durable and beautiful laminate flooring we have today.
What Are the Benefits of Laminate Flooring?
Durable: Laminate flooring’s supreme durability makes it a good option for high-traffic areas or homes with kids and pets.
More scratch resistant than vinyl: Laminate has a strong wear layer that protects the floor from scratches, dents, wear and staining, all the things pets love to test our floors on.
Realistic wood and stone looks: Laminate floor planks often have some surface detail to further mimic a natural hardwood look and can have the look and feel of a hand-scraped hardwood, embossed wood, distressed hardwood or come in textured or smooth. Unlike real hardwood, you’ll see consistent quality across all laminate flooring boards.
Realistic wood and stone looks: Laminate floor planks often have some surface detail to further mimic a natural hardwood look and can have the look and feel of a hand-scraped hardwood, embossed wood, distressed hardwood or come in textured or smooth. Unlike real hardwood, you’ll see consistent quality across all laminate flooring boards.
Can be installed over radiant heating systems: You won’t find this feature with most hardwood flooring options.
Easy to clean and maintain: Simply mop or sweep up messes as needed. No floor waxing is ever necessary.
Easy to stand on for longer periods of time: Most laminate installations include underlayment, which can make the floor feel more comfortable under foot.
Cost effective: Laminate floors are an affordable alternative to hardwood floors. Lower price and lower maintenance? Yes, please!
Easy to install: Laminate flooring is designed to be installed as a floating floor, meaning that it is not secured to the ground underneath, but rather “floats” by the means of an interlocking design.
Laminate Flooring Health & Safety
Before you go filling your home with something as big as an entire floor, you want to be assured your family won’t be breathing in toxins for years to come.
The standard that is presently in effect by the California Air Resources Board – known as CARB2 – requires that laminate and other composite wood materials emit no more than 0.05 to 0.13 parts per million of formaldehyde.
The laminate flooring products of our supplier are completely free of formaldehyde and comply with CARB2. With our flooring, y’all can breathe easy knowing your family is safe of health hazards… from your floor at least.
