Laminate Flooring

It has perfectly acceptable to substitute the expensive original for an inexpensive imitation when it comes to flooring options. With today's advancements in design you can even get the imitation option to look so much like the real thing you have to look twice to know for sure. In this case I'm talking about laminate flooring.

It was originally designed by the Pergo Company in Europe. That's why its often referred to as simply "Pergo", even though a variety of other companies manufacture the same thing, including Armstrong Laminate. It' a clear case of the brand name being used more often than the product name. It's a tongue in groove flooring design that allows you to quickly and easily snap together uniform planks of composite pieces to make one large floor. It sits or "floats" on the subfloor. You trim the other pieces to fit around cabinets and corners and then finish it off with a nice piece of floor trim. The planks can be glued or simply snapped together. In evironments where moisture is more likely to be present, such as kitchens and bathrooms, it's recommended that you glue them together to prevent moisture from seeping under the laminate and ruining the subfloor or warping the planks from the underside.

Laminate floor installation of this type is truly a snap (pun intended.) The one big requirement is to leave a small gap of at least 5/16" between the edge of the floor and your wall. This will allow it to expand naturally without buckling.

For those who don't want the look of a wood floor you're in luck. While simulated wood is the most common appearance for this type of flooring, they also come in the appearance of marble and granite. They're remarkably easy to clean and maintain, they're often less expensive then true hardwood flooring and it's a very common material used in houses today so buyers wouldn't be at all surprised to see it installed. It no longer carries a stigma of cheap, as they are very sophisticated products now.

The core of the floor planks are not truly waterproof in themselves. Its recommended that you install them in high water areas like a bathroom or basement, but if you must then you'll need to glue the planks together. If water gets between or around the planks and seeps underneath them, that trapped water can soak up from the bottom and cause warping and rotting of the planks themselves. While the upper layer is water resistant and can be damp mopped, you want to avoid excessive moisture for that reason.

Another huge benefit is that they require almost no ongoing maintenance. True wood floors need to be sanded and refinished occasionally. Laminate never needs that. With proper care and cleaning it will look the same 10 years from now without ever doing anything to it.