Why You Should Choose Laminate Flooring ~ Savvy Tips for a Beautiful Home!

Why You Should Choose Laminate Flooring

If you’ve always dreamt of having hardwood in your home, but you are now realizing how expensive it really is – don’t worry; the cost to install laminate flooring is much cheaper than hardwood floors. Laminate wood installation looks, feels, and acts just like that of a real hardwood, but for the fraction of the cost.

Lamination is also a good option for bathrooms because as long as you don’t have standing water on the floor, it can be quite durable and tough when it comes to dampness. It can even take the toughest of stains and can stand a lot of foot traffic, depending on the rating that you get for each room. Another great thing is that you’re always likely to find sales on laminate flooring, meaning you’ll probably save a tonne of money compared to wood!

Installing Yourself VS Hiring an Installer

If you’re handy, this is actually an install you can do on your own, and save a lot of money. Many of the manufacturers who make this laminate these days have an interlocking system which means you don’t need any nails or carpentry skills. Some of the laminates do require an adhesive – either you/the installer will glue it down, or some laminates already have glue on them, you just have to dampen it to make it adhesive. This entire process is still quite inexpensive (even if you hire someone) versus if you had real hardwood installed. But, if you can do it on your own you will be saving even more.

Cost of Laminate Flooring

The overall cost for laminate flooring is going to cost you around $1 to $4 for per square foot, which if you’ve been looking at other materials, is quite inexpensive, however, this is uninstalled. If you can install it yourself – go for it, if not, then it might be time to call in a professional for a consultation to see how much it’s going to cost for the installation, labor, etc.

Technology Driven Flooring

With today’s technology, you can have your floor laminate look like just about anything i.e. different kinds of wood, ones with grains showing, knots showing, or an antiqued look. You can even use laminate floorings to mimic just about any other material too for example, natural stone tile, man made tiles like the ones made with porcelain and ceramic etc. Here is a list of Best Tile Cutters that you can use to improve the overall flooring experience. Beyond that, there are also so many colors, styles and design options available in laminate flooring. It’s a really great way to customize your plank flooring so that it matches your personality or your home decor style.

Incredibly Durable

Hardwood does not belong in the bathroom. It can bend and crack, and get deformed over time with even just a little dampness or steam. But, laminate wood is not like this, it’s actually quite moisture-resistant which makes it perfect for any room, even for the bathrooms. As mentioned earlier, you just need to make sure you don’t have any standing water issues like under the sink, the tub, or behind the toilet. If you do, the water will seep into the seams of the laminate and ruin it. Thankfully, it’s easy enough and cheap enough to fix, but nonetheless, it might not just ruin one plank of wood (if the water gets underneath the flooring and spreads), you might have to get more planks removed than you bargained for. This is why it’s a good idea to place a bath mat next to the bath and a floor mat next to the sink for those accidental spills.

Easy to Take Care Of

Wood laminate is a lot like hardwood in terms of cleaning and taking care of it. You should be sweeping or vacuuming it regularly – the vacuum works the best because it gets to all those little seams and crevices where a broom cannot, but you can use either depending on what you have. The daily cleaning will get rid of dust, but also smaller dirt particles that can scratch the floor over time. If you have any deep cleaning that needs to be done, you can and should use a dampened mop – not a sopping wet one. Microfiber mops work really well because they are soft against your floor and you can also use a dry one to shine the floor and “wax” it.

Great for Families with Allergies

To understand how amazing laminate is, you have to understand how it’s constructed. It uses 4 layers of material. The top layer is the wear layer, the next layer is the high-resolution photo of the material you want it to mimic. Underneath that is a really dense core board and on the very bottom is another backing layer. This type of flooring is resistant to mold, mildew and other allergens, which makes it absolutely perfect for people or families with allergies and asthma. You don’t have to worry about allergens growing on the wood, let alone under the wood.