10 Common Laminate Flooring Questions: Answered
When looking for a brand-new floor to revitalise your home, all the options and jargon can often feel a little overwhelming. Let’s help answer any questions you have regarding laminate flooring and make your future purchase quick and easy. So, in no particular order, let’s go through the top 10 most common laminate flooring questions.
1. What is laminate flooring?
First, let’s work out what we’re actually talking about. Renowned for its durability and tough nature, laminate flooring is the perfect all-rounder for your home. A multi-layer synthetic flooring, it gets its name due to the lamination process that fuses the layers together. Thanks to an incredible number of different options and styles available, you’re bound to find the perfect floor for your next project. Check out our ‘What is Laminate Flooring’ blog for more information.
2. How much is laminate flooring?
Depending on your budget and what you’re looking for in a laminate floor, there are tonnes of different options to suit. If you’re looking for a budget friendly floor that will easily deal with the rigors of day-to-day life then our Mega Deal range is perfect. Starting at only £9.99 per m2 and found in a variety of different wood effect styles, they are ideal for any room except bathrooms or wet rooms.
For increased durability and a different, stone effect tile look, then check out our City range. With sensational contemporary styles, this laminate flooring pairs perfectly with any stunning modern design.
If you’re looking for a premium water-resistant option, then look no further than our Aqualock or Audacity range of laminate flooring, as they provide 24-hour and 72-hour water resistance respectively. Both provide additional peace of mind and their impressive durability ensures a longer lasting perfect look. Our Audacity range also comes equipped with a backing pad attached, so no underlay is needed, saving both time and money in the installation process
3. How to lay laminate flooring
Installing laminate flooring is very quick and simple. All our laminate flooring use a quick click installation system that is both intuitive and secure. You can also glue down your laminate flooring for a more secure finish, but most can simply float on top of the underlay making it a fantastic flooring option for those looking to do a little DIY. You will have to acclimatise your floor and ensure your boards a cut to size before laying, but for a complete run through on how to lay laminate flooring check out our ‘How To Install Laminate Flooring’ blog.
4. How to lay laminate flooring
Before purchasing your laminate floor, save yourself time and money by learning how to measure for laminate flooring. To do this, simply grab the measurements of the room and multiply them together to find out the m2 you’ll need. If you have a more complicated room you want to lay the flooring in, then you’ll have to break this down into smaller sections. Check out our ‘How To Measure A Room’ blog for more information. We also recommend adding an extra 10% onto the room’s area to allow for any wastage. Once you’ve worked out the area of the room then you’ll know how much flooring you’ll need – all our laminate flooring comes in m2 packs and remember, always measure twice, buy once.
5. How to cut laminate flooring
Just like laying laminate flooring, cutting it is quick and simple as well, as long as you have the patience and tools. There are three kinds of saws you may want for different reasons:
- Hacksaw – Perfect for cutting laminate planks to size, measure how long you need your plank to be, draw a guideline and simply saw away.
- Jigsaw – Best used when you want to cut out shapes from your board to fit around furniture, such as sinks and toilets. Jigsaws provide greater control and as such can cut more intricate lines.
- Crosscut saw, plunger saw, or table saw – These are ideal for achieving the perfect angle cut in your boards to ensure they can fit around corners, or in interestingly shaped rooms.
6. How to clean laminate flooring
The good news is that laminate flooring is a relatively low maintenance floor and as such, you can keep it looking brilliant and clean for longer. Simply a quick vacuum, dusting, or wipe down with a damp cloth will do to keep it looking its best. Keep in mind, laminate flooring isn’t completely waterproof, we do have water-resistant flooring such as our Aqualock or Audacity range but using too much water can damage your floor. For a full run down on maintaining laminate flooring check out our ‘How To Maintain Laminate Flooring Blog’.
7. Can you paint laminate flooring?
In short, you can paint laminate flooring, but it is labour intensive project and may not be your best option. If your question is “can you stain laminate flooring”, then again, that is also possible, but quite laborious. Painting or staining your laminate floor can revitalise your flooring without fitting something completely new, but as the process is quite tricky, quite often purchasing a new floor is easier and potentially just as cheap.
If you are set on painting or staining your floor, then you will have to ensure you have a latex-based paint, an oil-based primer, and a very high-quality sander to remove the top layer. Remember, laminate has a thin design layer, so you want to be careful and not sand too far down, as you will easily ruin the build of your boards. Choosing the right paint is also necessary, deciding on a matte finish can create a soft look, whereas a glossy finish can create a bright shine.
Our laminate ranges come in a variety of different colours and styles, from bright, classic wood effects to stone effect tiles, or stunning stained wood effect planks. If you’re looking to revive your floor, consider purchasing a new, easy DIY laminate floor instead.
8. How to remove laminate flooring
If you’re looking to get into installing your new floor yourself, you’ll certainly need to know how to lift the old one. If your old laminate flooring was simply clicked together and left to float on top of the underlay, then this can be quite simple. If your flooring was glued down, then a little extra force may be needed.
Before you begin, ensure you have the correct safety equipment on to lessen the chance of injury. This includes wearing thick gloves to protect your hands from any sharp edges, as well as safety glasses to stop any potential splinters flying into your eyes while you’re pulling the boards up. You will also need a crowbar and chisel to help lift the boards and make your life easier.
Initially you will need to remove any skirting, scotia, or profiles to help you reach the edge of the laminate. Once exposed, place your crowbar underneath, and apply some pressure to lift the outer layer. Once you have removed the first row of planks or tiles, you can easily use a chisel to lift the rest before using your hands and a little strength to lift the rest.
9. How to repair laminate flooring
Quite often, simply replacing a single plank of laminate is quicker and easier than repairing one, especially if a large chunk has unfortunately come out of it, but for smaller scratches or cracks that can appear with everyday use, repairing is always an option.
For small scratches and cracks, you can purchase a colour matched repair kit to simply fill in any imperfections. For anything larger, like buckling, you may need to look a little harder as to why that happened in the first place. Buckling can occur if you haven’t acclimatised your flooring prior to installation or provided a sufficient expansion gap around the edge. It can also be caused due to water being absorbed by the planks. If this is the case, then you will likely have to replace the boards.
If you do need to replace any laminate planks or tiles, the quick and easy click installation of all our laminate options means simply lifting the damaged planks and installing new ones is swift and simple. Check out our ‘How To Install’ blog if you need more information.
10. Do you need underlay with laminate flooring?
Underlay is recommended with laminate flooring to help even out the subfloor and ensure the planks are more evenly distributed. The likes of our Audacity range do include a built in backing pad that negate the need for underlay, but for the majority, to provide a more even surface, protect against moisture and ensure your new laminate flooring stays looking its best for longer, installing an underlay is certainly recommended.
