Laminate floor |
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Laminate flooring is a fairly new product on North America continent. In United States it was introduced only in 1994. Since then it's getting in popularity and now a lot of homeowners choose laminate over other types of flooring materials due to its durability and affordability. What is laminate floor? A lot of homeowners, when it comes to the flooring, might think that laminate is a type of hardwood, but in fact it’s not. Lamination is a process when the layer of plastic or fiberglass applied on the surface of other layer. Typically laminate consist a few layers. Top or wear layer is hardest – it is actually surface which withstand all the impacts. Second layer known as an image or design layer and make an imitation of a wood, tile or stone. Core layer is usually MDF (medium density fiberboard), or HDF (high density fiberboard) but any kind of material can be used as a core. And the bottom is a balancing layer, which in most cases contains moisture barrier. Depend on the durability laminate floor can be installed in any room of the house, as well as in a commercial buildings. But still due to having wood nature core layer laminate is not recommended to install in a wet areas such as bathrooms. Floating type is used for installation of laminate floor, but stairs are exception. Laminate on stairs has to be glued down and stair nose needs to be nailed to the subfloor. There are advantages and disadvantages homeowners should be aware of before getting laminate floor installed in the house. Laminate is a very affordable in comparison with other types of flooring materials and despite affordability it is pretty much durable product which is very easy to clean and maintain. It can be used in any room in the house, but ones it's damaged it is impossible to repair and needs to be replaced. Laminate is a fairly scratch resistant product, but it cannot be refinished because of its plastic surface. Installation of laminate floor everyone should really consider if the budget is limited and you want to save on flooring. The cost of laminate flooring installation is not high, the product is relatively not expensive and can be easily installed even as do it yourself project. |
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