High Quality, Stylish Flooring
Laminate is a great alternative to hard and softwood or travertine flooring. It is available in a wide range of colours and styles, including stone or wood-effect. It doesn’t discolour from liquid spillages and can be fitted in almost any part of the home.
Benefits of Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is one of the most resilient and durable floor surfaces available. It is a popular flooring material due to its ease of installation, low maintenance requirements, and long life.
This material can also be printed to simulate a wide variety of natural flooring materials include hardwood planks, and slate and ceramic tiles.
Unlike real hardwood, which comes with many imperfect pieces that need to be discarded or re-engineered, there are no defects in laminate flooring. Every board is of consistent quality and appearance.
Laminate flooring contains multiple layers of material that when fused together make a flooring product that can replicate wood or stone. It consists of a backing layer, core, image layer and wear layer.
Structure of Laminate Flooring
Top Wear Layer
The top layer of a laminate floor is known as the wear layer. This invisible surface rests over the material, protecting it from scratches, heel marks and damage.
Photograph Layer or Decorative Layer
This is the surface that gives the laminate its actual appearance. It is created when an image or pattern is printed a layer that is embedded in resin. The actual image can be almost anything, but typically laminate floors are manufactured to simulate the look of hardwood, cork, bamboo, natural stone, ceramic, or even brick pavers. This is what gives laminate flooring its unique appearance.
Core
This is the heart of the material. The fibreboard core provides the depth, structure, and stability of the surface covering. It is generally comprised of wood chips or sawdust ground into a very fine powder, coated with resin, and pressed into flat sheets.
Back Layer
Many laminates will have a moisture barrier back layer. This works with the water resistant wear layer on top to sandwich the fibreboard and picture layers of the laminate, creating a water tight seal around the core material.
Underlay
Laminate flooring must be installed over an underlay. This is most often cork or foam rolls. An appropriate underlay can also reduce the hollow noise that occurs when walking on some laminate floors.
Why Choose TVCF for your Laminate Flooring?
When you choose Thames Valley Carpet & Flooring for your home flooring fitting, you'll get the widest choice of styles, as well as our expert advice and installation.
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