
Floating Laminate Flooring
Laminate floor is undeniable as one of the
easiest flooring materials to take care of, mainly because of
its distinctive composition. In addition, a laminate floor is
made of various layers that
are joined together to form a flooring board. In laminate
floor, there are four prime layers which are balancing layer
(at the top), the processed wood core, the pattern layer and
last, the wear layer.
A scratch resistance layer and moisture barrier is usually
built in within these layers. These different layers are joined
into one using high pressure to make sure that the materials of
laminate flooring are long lasting. Moreover, the high pressure
also ensures that the layers remains together and have a
superior look in the future.
Before the development of floating flooring boards, these
laminated floors had to be stick on to the sub floor.
Nevertheless, with the new introduction of the tongue-groove
method, single plank can be linked to create the flooring bed
as well give a clean finish. That is why this tongue-groove
method is known as floating, which means placing it over on the
previous floor.
Furthermore, maintenance a floating laminate floor is way
easier than the traditional laminate floor. Floating laminate
floor is tough and long lasting as a hardwood floor. Apparently
it is quite shock that floating laminate floor are gaining
confidences of worldwide homeowners.
Consumers, like always, the first things they consider when
buying a product is price. However, price is not compulsory as
a marker of quality. As we know, you can find lots of brands
for laminate flooring through Internet. You might as well be
able to get it at less than a dollar for a foot square.
Nevertheless, you will need to be careful since these products
might be second hands or rejected products, or even, you might
have to buy in big quantities to get these low price
products.
Let’s delve into the case of rejected (discontinued)
products. In the future, if you ever want to remove and change
a small area of your flooring, there will be a low chance for
you to have the same style you have on your flooring now. At
this moment, you will realize that your deal on the rejected
laminate flooring was not a good deal at all since you have to
change the whole floor for new laminate floor just because of
these discontinued products. For a fair quality of floating
laminate floor, the price mostly ranges in between $1.50 and
$3.00 for a square foot. However, these laminate flooring can
cost more than $8.00 a square foot. Why is this happening? The
reason is quite simple. Not everyone can meet the expense of
the best. As a result, most manufacturers of top quality
floating laminate flooring provide wide ranges of option to
suit most consumers’ budget.
On the other hand, if you prefer floating laminate flooring
that were manufactured in Europe, you will most likely to find
that these floating laminate flooring has an AC rating. AC
ratings are measurement of standard that are developed by the
EPLF (which is also known as the Association of European
Producers of Laminate Flooring). The AC rating has 5 categories
of standard. The lowest will be AC1 and the highest is AC5. AC5
represents the highest durability level. Laminate flooring that
has AC1 class mostly are used in low traffic area such as
bedroom while AC5 rated laminate flooring are widely used in
heavy traffic area such as shopping complex and offices. Here’s
the basic idea of actual ratings. A Stepco’s, Witex’s and
Pergo’s Vintage Home Special product line has an AC3 rating.
Clearly, these manufacturers’s products are designed especially
for moderate commercial and heavy residential use.
Some laminate flooring manufacturers market their laminates
floor based mainly on the level of abrasion resistance.
However, their products might be rated by traditional test
method. Consumers must be aware of purchasing these types of
float laminate flooring since these products might be less
resistant compared to its high abrasion level. Indeed, warranty
is the most significant aspects to consider when buying
floating laminate flooring. It is best not to buy laminate
flooring that has less than 15 year warranty. However,
you also do not want to be fooled by a high number of warranty
years since the price would be much more expensive than you
expected. Make sure that the period of the warranty offers
protection against any fading, staining and premature wear.
The best way to have the best quality floating laminate
flooring for the lowest price is by surveying the rules of
supply and demand. Any brand that has a household name will
always be the one that consumers will first look for whenever
they go for survey or shopping. As a result, the manufacturer
will increase their products’ prices. Price is not always an
indicator of the product’s quality. There are many more brands
of high quality floating laminate flooring
available at affordable prices.
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