Laminate Floors Look Like Hardwood. Trends 2012


Laminate flooring manufacturers have made impressive inroads in technology and Hand scraped laminate flooringespecially styles since they first appeared in dealer showrooms almost 15 years ago. Back in the day there was no creativity as all seemed to have the same boring appearance; notably a butcher block look.

The Look And Feel Of Real Hand Scraped Floors

Several product introductions in recent years are really standing out. A few years earlier flat hand scraped appearances began to appear, but now they've taken it one step further by creating an actual feel. This is accomplished prior to adding the laminate surface as the core material from some manufacturers are contoured very similar hand scraped hardwood flooring products.


Longer Length Products

Other standout improvements include longer length material. One line in particular is the Armstrong Rustics Premium New England Long Plank. While there are not many color selections as of this moment, one thing is clear, this seven and one half inch wide plank presents board lengths at seven and a half feet. This represents a major improvement and puts some engineered hardwoods to shame that don't go longer than 48 inches.

Repetitious Looks Fading?

Another improvement worth noting are attempts at reducing the repetitious look often associated with all laminate floors. Rather than having 6 or 7 real patterns or board appearances, Earthwerks has recognized the age old design flaw by expanding the number of patterns to 22. Essentially the chances of seeing a repeat look is diminished. Whether or not other manufacturers follow this substantial change is unknown.

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What Kind Of Styles?

Depending on the manufacturer nearly everything that one would find with today's popular selling hardwoods can be found. This includes floors that mimic a country feel or Laminate flooring with parquet tilescharacter grade appearances with the actual feel and appearance of knotting through the use of embossing technology. Beveled styles can be found along with pillowing and sculpted effects on board edges.

You want random lengths? Some of those to go around. Things have definitely changed with laminate flooring. Along with the improvements come the costs compared to more traditional hardwood floors. While they have increased for many of the more popular styles they are still substantially lower than the real thing. The question remains; will laminates still have that fake stigma or have manufacturers turned the elusive corner?

We've selected some of the more impressive designs of the day along with basic specifications on material lengths, widths, and number of color selections below. Keep in mind these are the tip of what has become a large iceberg.

Long Plank Laminate Floors

Product Name
Length
Width
Edges
Colors
 
Armstrong Rustics Premium New England
89"
7.6"
Bevel
8
Lamett Long Plank
88.5"
5.5"
Bevel
6
Mannington Long Wood
80.63"
7.8"
Micro Bevel
6

Extra Wide Planks

Balterio Grandeur
80"
9.4"
Micro Bevel
8
Balterio Conference
49.6"
15.4
Square Edge
8

Embossed

Alloc Elite
47.4"
5"
V Bevel
12
Mannington Revolutions
50.5"
5.3"
Micro Bevel
25
Mohawk Mansfield Park
47.2"
7.5"
Square Edge
7
Mohawk South Beach
54.4"
4"
MB/SE ¹
8
Mohawk Bellingham
47.2"
7.5"
Square Edge
12
Pergo Elegant Expressions Designer
48.5"
4.9"
Micro Bevel
6

Hand Scraped Distressed

Armstrong Rustics Premium
50.6"
4.9"
Rolled
6
Mohawk Maison
54.4"
6.1"
Micro Bevel
10
Quick Step Sculptique
54.4"
6.1"
Sculpted
6
Quick Step Country
54.4"
6"
Sculpted
10

Textured

Quick Step Perspectives
54.4"
6.1"
Bevel
5
Balterio Tradition Elegant
49.6"
7.5"
Micro Bevel
6

Exotic Appearances

Mannington Revolutions
50.5"
5.3"
Micro Bevel
20
Quick Step Allustra
54.4"
6.1"
Micro Bevel
6
Quick Step Perspectives
54.4"
6.1"
Bevel
5

Parquet

Quick Step Arte ² DISCONTINUED
24.5"
24.5"
Bevel
2

¹ Micro bevel long sides, square edge end
² Can be used for full parquet layouts, borders, room perimeters, or medallions.

What Happened To Glued Laminate Floors?

For all intent and purposes glued type laminate floors have died. Several reasons included the difficulty of the installation that required strap clamping to keep boards tight. Excess or too much glue used created seam swelling on some products. Essentially companies built a better mousetrap when click type and lock and fold variations were introduced.


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Related Pages:

• Hardwood Versus Laminate Flooring
• How To Remove Laminate Flooring - the easy way