Using laminate flooring installation services is an inexpensive way of reinventing the look and feel of your property. Read this article to learn more.
Laminate Flooring: An Inexpensive Alternative to Hardwood (Header 1)
Over the past few decades, hardwood floors have been popular when it comes to flooring options. With its variety in design and resistance to wear-and-tear, hardwood is an excellent, albeit expensive, flooring material. Because of the high price of hardwood, many homeowners and businesses are starting to search for a more cost-effective alternative. As such, a lot of people are discovering the advantages of using laminate flooring installation services.
What Is Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is composed of a core layer superimposed with a high-resolution image of various materials. This allows manufacturers to create laminate planks and tiles that mimic the texture and look of wood, natural stone, concrete, and more. This product is also protected by a couple of layers that are resistant to scratches and moisture.
Why Choose Laminate FlooringFlooring is an important aspect of any property’s interior design. It serves as the foundation of the aesthetics of your space. As such, the type of flooring you choose can make or break the look and feel of your home or commercial space. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider installing laminate flooring to your property:
Budget-Friendly
Laminate planks and tiles are usually priced between two to six dollars, making them one of the most popular flooring options on the market. With a laminate flooring installation, you can bring the look and feel of hardwood floors to your property at a fraction of the cost.
Versatile
Manufacturers of this type of flooring take advantage of digital imaging. They can take an overlay image of wood or stone and superimpose it on a pressed wood board. Through this process, they can produce laminate floors that come in a vast array of design variations, giving consumers a lot of options. This versatility makes laminate floors easy to match with the rest of your home.
Durable
Although laminate is a low-cost material, it still brings a lot of value for your money. The highly durable top layer of laminate floors is designed to withstand scratches, foot traffic, dents, and sun exposure for a long time.
Choosing the Right Kind of Laminate
Laminate planks and tiles vary in degree of resilience and durability. Manufacturers often use an abrasion criteria (AC) rating to indicate levels. The AC rating of laminate floors tells you what usage they will be best for.
Learn About the AC Ratings of Laminate
AC1 is great for moderate residential use, which makes laminate tiles and planks of this rating perfect for bedrooms. If you’re looking to install laminate floors in living rooms and kitchens, planks and tiles with AC2 rating will work best.
For moderate commercial traffic or heavy residential use, AC3-rated laminate floors are recommended. Meanwhile, AC4 is suitable for general commercial traffic and AC5 is ideal for heavy-duty applications.
How to Take Care of Laminate Flooring
Although laminate floors are resistant to moisture, they are not resistant to water damage. This is why you should wipe them with a damp rag to take care of various spillages as soon as possible.
When removing oil, ink, paint, and other tough stains from your floor, wiping them with a cloth dipped in acetone or nail polish remover is highly recommended. If candle wax or gum is stuck to your planks or tiles, gel solvent or isopropyl alcohol will usually do the trick. For best results, you should clean any remaining residue with a damp rag.
Sweeping and dusting your laminate floor prevents the scratching and dulling of its finish. You can also use an entry mat to prevent dust, grit, and sand from being dragged across your room.
Avoid dragging heavy furniture or appliances across your floor. You should also refrain from using any kind of polishing or buffing equipment. To minimize the risk of indentations from hefty objects, you can use floor protectors or furniture pads.
Things to Consider
As with all materials, there are pros and cons to using laminate. Choosing this over real wood for your flooring may be more economical upfront. However, you cannot refinish it if the overlay image fades. Luckily, because of how easy and economical laminate flooring installation is, replacing damaged planks and tiles is a breeze.