Laminate flooring

Laminate Floors are easy to install and often can be laid over existing flooring hence the term floating Laminate floors.
Pace laminate flooring is high-wear, scratch and stain resistant – making it an attractive choice for both domestic and commercial applications.  Laminate flooring brings practicality and style to any application.

We offer products with a diversity of colours and designs, timber and tile effects, qualities and price points. There’s a laminate floor to suit everyone. Laminate flooring not only looks stylish but are also hard-wearing.

Laminate flooring is a multi-layer synthetic flooring product, fused together with a lamination process. Laminate flooring simulates wood (or stone, in some cases) with a photographic applique layer under a clear protective layer. The inner core layer is usually composed of melamine resin and fiber board materials. There is sometimes a glue backing for ease of installation. It has the advantages that it is durable, as compared with carpet, and attractive, at a lower cost as compared to natural floor materials.

D.Y.I Installation

Laminate floors are reasonably easy for a do-it-yourself homeowner to install. Laminate flooring are packaged as a number of tongue and groove planks - these can be clicked into one another. Installed laminate floors typically "float" over the sub-floor on top of a foam/film underlayment, which provides moisture and sound-reducing properties. A small (1-10mm) gap is required between the flooring and any immovable object such as walls, this allows the flooring to expand without being obstructed. Baseboards (skirting boards) can be removed and then reinstalled before and after laying of the flooring is complete for a neater finish, or small beading trims can be fitted to the baseboards (skirting boards). Saw cuts on the planks are usually required at edges, and around closet and door entrances.

Care

It is important to keep laminate clean, as dust, dirt and sand particles may scratch the decorative surface over time in high-traffic areas. It is also important to keep laminate relatively dry, since sitting water/moisture can cause the planks to swell, warp, etc, though some brands are equipped with water-resistant coatings. Water spills aren't a problem if they're wiped up quickly, and not allowed to sit for a prolonged period of time.
Adhesive felt pads are often placed on the feet of furniture on laminate floors to prevent scratching.

History

Laminate flooring was invented in 1977 by the Swedish company Perstop, and sold under the brand name Pergo. They had been making laminate surfaces since 1923. The company first marketed its product to Europe in 1984, and later to the United States in 1994. Perstop spun off its flooring division as the separate company named Pergo. Pergo is the most widely known laminate flooring manufacturer, but the trademark PERGO is not synonymous for all laminate floors.[2]

Glue less laminate flooring was invented by Belgian company Unilin in 1997. The "unilin" locking system or variants of it which are still covered by the Unilin patent are used wordwide. However in 1996 a Swedish company called Valinge also invented a glue less locking system sold under the names Alloc and Fiboloc for holding flooring panels together.