Laminate flooring types – Easy Install?

The main reason people choose to put laminate floors into their homes is because installation is fairly easy and minimal setup work is required. Laminate floors get installed by “floating” the planks over the majority of substrates like concrete slabs, OSB, plywood, and certain types of floor coverings that already exist. The tongue and groove design lets you lock the tiles or planks together making for a solid floor surface. Keep in mind that the laminate floors are not attached to the sub floor directly. Laminate floors, for the most part, are glueless and just snap securely together for a tight fit. Do-it-yourselfers appreciate the glueless installation technique of laminate flooring making it quick and easy to accomplish. There are certain types of laminate flooring that come from the factory already pre-glued. Just put a slightly wet sponge on them to get the adhesive surface sticky again. Since laminate floors are susceptible to water damage, many experts recommend not installing them in bathrooms or kitchen areas unless you fill the grooves in the floors with a special waterproof glue. Laminate floors have padding underneath to help keep them quiet and comfortable to walk on. The spacers that come in the laminate flooring kit will help guide you through the process of how to fit the pieces together in a professional style. The most popular laminate flooring brands are from Pergo, Wilsonart, Dupont, Mohawk, Shaw, Armstrong, Witex, Alloc, Mannington, and Quick-Step. Once your laminate floors have been installed, they should last for years with minimal care. Make sure you NEVER polish or wax these floors, just vacuum often with a brushless vacuum. The one big advantage for laminate floors over hardwood flooring is that laminates are fairly dent resistant compared to hardwoods. I have hardwood floors in most of my house and have found that certain types of woods are more suspectible to denting, please check with your local store or contractor on the best dent resistant hardwoods or laminates. Some laminate flooring is as cheap as $.59 square foot but many of the varieties we found are closer to $1.20-$1.75 (like the Pergo Red Oak Laminate Flooring). Pergo laminate flooring is probably the most popular brand available and we found several homeowners that bought them at Ikea stores. Armstrong laminate flooring is another top selling brand with several styles available on Fastfloors.com from $1.29 SQ FT to $3.20 SQ foot. You may not know it, but Amazon carries a bunch of laminate flooring products in their home improvement department – Armstrong, Pergo, Wilsonart, Vintage Home.

Best Laminate Flooring:

When choosing a laminate floor, keep in mind the “AC” rating that all floors have. They rating is a basic # assigned to the floor for how durable it is. For example, an “AC1” rating means it has the lowest durability level and would be best used in low-traffic residential areas (perhaps a bedroom). AC5 ratings are for commercial environments with heavy traffic. An AC3 rating is best for heavy traffic areas in residential homes and what most consumers go with. The DuPont Real Touch premium laminate flooring is a popular choice offered at Home Depot stores nationwide. With their exclusive Interplank Design the laminate floors have “virtually seamless joints” and the MicroBevel technology will bring your floors to life with added depth. The glueless laminate flooring from Dupont will prolong the life of your floors and it’s called Joint Guard. The floors come with pre-installed foam underlayment so that the comfort level is raised and the noise levels are reduced. They give you a 30 year warranty on the floors. Pergo’s Vintage Home Special, Witex’s Basis, and all of Stepco’s product lines carry an AC3 rating which is more than enough for residential use. The Pergo Vintage Home Traditional laminate flooring is about $3 per square foot while the Witex Basis is close to $1.50. The Stepco laminate flooring runs from $1.40 to $1.75 per SQ Ft. and they offer a no-glue, click together Laminate Loc planking design for easy installs.

Dupont vs Shaw vs Mohawk:

When it comes to laminate flooring, the competition has increased dramatically over the last few years as the popularity of the product has risen ten fold. Mohawk is a reputable name in the carpet industry and they have solidfied their place in flooring by offering a quality laminate floor product. Many of their styles range from $1.75/sq ft to $3.75 per square foot. Shaw laminate flooring is what my brother went with in his house as they offered a nice variety of finishes like cherry, maple, oak, pine, and stone. They are a touch more expensive than Mohawk with many Shaw laminates going for well above $4/square foot. You can research more on Shaw at Shawfloors.com and Mohawk at Mohawk-flooring.com/laminate-floors. We read lots of consumer reviews online in forums at Gardenweb.com and Doityourself.com. There were plenty of owner opinions listed at Fastfloors.com which say that Pergo has the best name (as it’s synonymous with laminate floors), but Dupont, Shaw and Mohawk provide better quality flooring.

Laminate Floor Installation Tips:

If you are going to take on the task of installing laminate floors in your house, make sure you are prepared so the job gets done in a timely manner. The first part of measuring and determining just how much flooring you will actually need. Many contractors warn do it yourselfers to order 10% more as a safe buffer. Also, buy the right type of padding that will go underneath the flooring to keep sound to a minimum. In terms of tools, keep your handy tape measure on hand at all times, a pencil, a level, a miter saw, skilsaw, and hand saw. An exacto knife works well on cutting the padding and a crowbar works well on removing old trim. Do some test cuts on your laminated boards to make sure they don’t get chipped and if they do try cutting them upside down to eliminate obvious flaws in your work. Try to imagine the overall layout of the flooring before you start so you can make the most of the pieces before you lock them into place. Spacing near walls and doors can become a hassle if you don’t plan for it. Lots of reviews we read online of people who had tackled the installation of a laminate floor said that the classes offered at Lowes and Home Depot will save you lots of time and anguish.