Durable Laminate Flooring

About Durable Laminate Flooring

Looking for a budget-friendly flooring option that looks like your favorite natural material and stands up to your active lifestyle? Durable laminate flooring may be your answer. It's been gracing homes and commercial spaces since its debut, delivering your dreams of an authentic hardwood, natural stone, and stunning tile aesthetic within a resilient and affordable flooring solution.

What Is Durable Laminate Flooring?

While laminate might be your top option for a myriad of reasons, have you ever wondered what it is that makes it so durable? Laminate flooring provides a strong, resilient surface composed of three man-made layers. Each laminate plank starts with a thicker base layer made of fiberboard or plywood. It's topped with an image layer that features a realistic photo of hardwood, stone, or whatever design you choose. Finally, a clear wear layer, known as melamine, seals and protects the plank. 

Appearance

Durable laminate flooring is a beautiful wood floor alternative. Planks can mimic different species like ash, oak, walnut, and maple, as well as natural stones and tile. Laminate comes in dozens of colors, hue, and grain textures, making it easy to match the design aesthetic of your home.

Durability and Maintenance

The best part about laminate flooring is that it was built with durability in mind. The high-density, super-compressed base layer and wear layer provide a rigid, strong structure that can easily handle your busy home of growing children, a gaggle of pets, and the occasional get-together. What durable laminate flooring won't handle well is standing water, which can damage the base layer if it seeps in. You can easily avoid this by installing laminate in the dry parts of your house like the living room, bedroom or home office.

The good news for you is that with laminate, you’ll spend less time cleaning. Strong laminate flooring requires minimal maintenance beyond routine cleaning and sweeping. To avoid water damage, you simply need to dry any spills or accidents as soon as possible. 

Lifespan

With the most durable laminate flooring, you can expect years of life before needing a replacement. The actual length of time your laminate flooring will last depends on several factors, including:

• The quality of the installation and materials used
• The amount of wear and tear it receives
• How well it's maintained and if it sustains any damage from heavy impacts or water
• Whether you follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer

An additional way to ensure maximum longevity is with solid warranty protection, so you can sit back and enjoy your new investment without worry.

Installation

Installing strong laminate flooring is a surprisingly straightforward job, which is why some people attempt to do it DIY.  The laminate planks click into place, floating on top of the subfloor and underlayment, usually without the need for adhesive. 

Although this process sounds simple, installing laminate on your own can put your product out of warranty, and if it's installed incorrectly, it can cause further issues down the line. Plus, you don’t want to forget any steps, such as  acclimating the laminate flooring for at least 48 hours to the room where you'll be installing it. For these reasons, we recommend you leave it up to our professional installers, who will ensure the project is completed properly and efficiently. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Durable Laminate Flooring

What advantages come with the purchase of durable laminate flooring? Laminate flooring durability is one of the top reasons, along with its:

• Resistance to scratches from pet claws, furniture, and rowdy kids
• Incredibly realistic wood look at an affordable price

On the flip side, there are a handful of other considerations. For instance, laminate can lose its durability in high-moisture environments, particularly if water permeates its inner wood-based core. You can prevent this by simply avoiding installing laminate in water-prone areas like your kitchens and baths. For areas of your home that might see water from time to time, consider waterproof laminate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is more durable: laminate or tile? 

Are you debating between tile-look laminate versus actual tile flooring? There are a few differences worth knowing. For instance, ceramic tile flooring is naturally more durable than laminate. With tile, both ceramic and porcelain tiles are impervious to water and incredibly strong.

What is more durable: laminate or vinyl? 

Laminate and vinyl flooring will both hold up well to your busy household, which probably sees lots of activity and wear. And with laminate flooring being more economical, you might be leaning toward this option. If you're looking for flooring for high-moisture areas like bathrooms, though, vinyl is more durable. 

What is more durable: wood or laminate? 

Laminate flooring is more durable than hardwood. The melamine wear layer is more durable than a urethane or aluminum oxide layer.

How can you tell good quality durable laminate flooring? 

One way to determine quality is by the abrasion class rating, or AC rating, of each product you're interested in. You can look for the North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA) certification seal, which identifies durable laminate flooring that's passed an array of quality assurance and stress tests. 

What is the strongest laminate?

Determining the strongest and most durable laminate depends on several factors, such as:

• Wear layer 
• Abrasion criteria (AC) rating, which tests for durability, abrasion, and impact resistance
• Thickness - The greater the thickness, the more impact resistant, quieter, and durable it will be.