Laminate flooring can give you the appear and feel of a real hardwood surface with the added advantages of straightforward installation, bigger sturdiness, and reduced maintenance. Rooms that see lots of traffic are the ideal location for laminate flooring. Laminates are designed to hold up under the sort of abuse they are likely to see from kids, pets, spills and all of the other things that occur in a busy home.
Many laminates are so well made nowadays that it can be tricky to understand which floors are laminate and which are real hardwood. Laminate floors will use a thin layer of paper which shows a photographic image of natural wood grain which is placed under a stupendously difficult layer of protective film and then adhered to a high density backer board. This gives you the look of real wood for a much lower cost and higher level of durability.
There are many different brands of laminate flooring on the market these days. The two main processes for creating laminate flooring are High Pressure Laminate ( HPL ) and Direct Laminate ( DL ). HPL uses a two step process to form the finished product. The paper image, protecting film, and core material are joined using heat and pressure and then these layers are attached to a high density fiberboard backing. With DL all of the layers are joined together at one time.
When choosing which sort of DIY laminate flooring is right for you the main thing to think about is the level of traffic the floor will see. One of the biggest advantages of using laminate flooring is its durability. Because of the way it is made it is resistant to all types of punctures, stains, scuffs, and gauges. It is straightforward to install laminate flooring over existing flooring including wood, vinyl, linoleum, and tile. Most laminate flooring systems are floating floors that means that they don’t seem to be attached to the plywood subfloor but instead interlock above it.
Tags: backer board, flooring systems, high pressure laminate, high pressure laminate hpl, laminate flooring, natural wood grain, paper image