The Ultimate Laminate Flooring Buyer’s Guide Give Away Rights Ebook

Table Of Contents

Chapter 1 – What Is Laminate Flooring?
Chapter 2 – Why Is Laminate Flooring A Home Improvement Winner?
Chapter 3 – How To Judge Laminate Flooring Pricing
Chapter 4 – How To Avoid Quantity Calamities
Chapter 5 – How To Fit Laminate Flooring Tones And Textures Into Your Design
Chapter 6 – How To Plan Your Laminate Flooring Installation
Chapter 7 – Invest In The Back-Up Of A Reputable Brand
Chapter 8 – How To Avoid Warranty Pitfalls
Chapter 9 – How To Choose Environmentally And Health Friendly Flooring
Chapter 10 – How To Interpret The AC Rating?
Chapter 11 – Learn How To Look At The Locking Mechanism Of Laminate Flooring
Chapter 12 – What Is Underlayment And Why Do You Need It?
Chapter 13 – Tools Of The Laminate Trade
Chapter 14 – How To Maintain The Good Looks Of Your Laminate Floor

Sample Content Preview

Chapter 1

What Is Laminate Flooring?

Laminate flooring installation is creating an unheard of do-it-yourself buzz in the home improvement industry. Thanks to the glueless, easy installation technology, home remodeling rookies turn into flooring aficionado’s overnight. However, the diversity of ranges, qualities, designs and pricing structures can fluster a weakkneed novice trying to decipher laminate flooring lingo.

The first question you may ask, is what exactly is laminate flooring? Laminate flooring tiles or planks look very much like hardwood planks. It usually consists of four or five bonded or fused layers. For the bottom layer, melamine is used as reinforcement. This substance is partly responsible for the stability of the floor. It’s other main function is to protect the all-important core of the floor from moisture.

The second layer is the medium or high density fiberboard core with a thickness of between 6 and 12mm, impregnated with sealing substances or resins. These resins give the plank the hardness that makes the innovative tongue and groove technology possible.

In the third layer you will find the design. This is a detailed photograph that gives each plank its authentic real wood or stone tile appearance. The final layer of the laminate tile or plank is what is known as the wear layer. Here you will find a mixture of cellulose paper and melamine plastic resins. This combination gets a durable aluminum oxide coating. You want the best wear layer you can afford, as this is where the resistance to staining, moisture, scratches, and fading comes in.

In some instances, such as with the laminates in the Alloc Flooring range, an extra thick Kraft paper layer is fitted between the design layer and the core of the laminate flooring tile or plank. In this case the core is a uniquely engineered Aqua Resist fiberboard that has superb moisture resisting properties.

Two types of pressure is used in the manufacturing of a laminate flooring tile or plank. Direct pressure of around 300 pounds per square inch comes into play in the less expensive ranges. With the direct pressure method all the layers are fused together in one step.

If you have the budget for it, rather opt for high pressure planks where a slightly different process is used and pressure of up to 1300 pounds per square inch is applied. Here the craft paper sheets are glued together along with the design layer. This is then glued to the core of the plank. Only then is everything fused or bonded together under high pressure. With this method you can be sure of a more durable plank with improved moisture resistance.