| When laminate floors were
first introduced in the mid 90's, many thought
it was a temporary trend or fad. I recall
speaking to a few store owners a few years after
their introduction when there were dozens of
manufacturers trying
to get a piece of the
action. Most claimed..."it's a fad, you'll see a
shake-out." It did not happen. In fact much has
changed in recent years. Most thought laminate
floors would not last past 5-10 years in an
average home.
In earlier days laminate floors were downright
boring! Same old look. Sure if you wanted a
butcher block looking floor, laminates were the
way to go. After a few years I began to lose
interest in doing installations for two chief
reasons; they were extremely sensitive to
moisture, and a pain to install using glue.
Often the edges would swell because of the glue
after installation regardless of what was done.
More than likely a case of too much glue but the
manufacturers insisted on a liberal amount, that
in effect would seal the edges.
Photos below are laminate floors! I hadn't
looked at these floors for years and the changes
are really
noticeable! Not only has the construction
improved, but they are less resistant to
moisture while offering hardwood like
appearances. This actually looks like a hardwood
floor with pillowed bevels. It's so deceiving
but there are not any bevels at all. The boards
are however, contoured and highlight the scraped
look. Brand line name is the Quick Step Country
Collection.
Quick Step laminate floors are by far the best
in the industry in my opinion with Wilsonart
Laminate coming in a close second. Chances are
if you talk to any laminate installer that has
handled numerous brands, these two names will be
at the top of the list. Today all laminate
floors are glue less with many trying to copy
Quick Step's patented locking process.
Installation of this floor was not the easiest
according to our guest installer, but it sure
looked cool when completed. Add the Quick Step
underlayment and it feels almost feels like a
solid hardwood floor providing the sub floor is
flat. Four out of five are also surprised they
are walking on a laminate floor and not
hardwood.
"This is a Laminate Floor?"
Another snapshot included shows a Wilsonart
Laminate with a micro bevel edge look, called
Burnished
Maple in the Red Label Hand Scraped Line.
Laminate floors today offer random length strip
3 inches wide all the way up to seven inch wide,
one face planks that really do look like
hardwood floors. There are several types of
bevels, exotic looking floors in more unusual
species such as Wenge, Elm, Brazilian Chestnut,
and Doussie to name a few. Bamboo laminate? Yup,
it's available too.
Want the aged look...no problem. Wire brushed?
That too. Designs are becoming a close runner to
hardwood while quality is going up the scale for
the leaders in the industry . Sure I see it all
the time, 99 cent laminate floors everywhere.
They do have their limitations so don't expect
them to perform as well as a quality laminate
floor. Retail prices are generally in the five
to six dollar per square foot range for the ones
shown above.
Would I put laminate floors in my home? Sorry,
I'm a hardwood flooring bigot, but I'm sure
costs would impress many that want to save a few
dollars a square foot if they are seeking a
hardwood look-alike.
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