laminate flooring
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Laminate flooring (also called floating wood tile in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
) is a multi-layer synthetic
flooring Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface ...
product fused together with a
lamination Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materials ...
process. Laminate flooring simulates
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
(or sometimes
stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
) with a photographic applique layer under a clear protective layer. The inner core layer is usually composed of
melamine resin Melamine resin or melamine formaldehyde (also shortened to melamine) is a resin with melamine rings terminated with multiple hydroxyl groups derived from formaldehyde. This thermosetting plastic material is made from melamine and formaldehyde. ...
and
fiber board Fiberboard (American English) or fibreboard (British English) is a type of engineered wood product that is made out of wood fibers. Types of fiberboard (in order of increasing density) include particle board or low-density fiberboard (LDF), m ...
materials. There is a
European Standard European Standards (abbreviated EN, from the German name ("European Norm")) are technical standards which have been ratified by one of the three European standards organizations: European Committee for Standardization (CEN), European Committee for ...
No
EN 13329:2000
specifying laminate floor covering requirements and testing methods. Laminate flooring has grown significantly in popularity, perhaps because it may be easier to install and maintain than more traditional surfaces such as
hardwood flooring Wood flooring is any product manufactured from timber that is designed for use as flooring, either structural or aesthetic. Wood is a common choice as a flooring material and can come in various styles, colors, cuts, and species. Bamboo flooring ...
. It may also have the advantages of costing less and requiring less skill to install than alternative flooring materials. It is reasonably durable,
hygienic Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...
(several brands contain an antimicrobial resin), and relatively easy to maintain.


Installation

Laminate floors are reasonably easy for a
DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...
homeowner to install. Laminate flooring is packaged as a number of
tongue and groove Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. Tongue and groove joints allow two flat pieces to be joined strongly together t ...
planks, which can be clicked into one another. Sometimes a glue backing is provided for ease of installation. 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 () gap is required between the flooring and any immovable object such as walls, this allows the flooring to expand without being obstructed.
Baseboard In architecture, a baseboard (also called skirting board, skirting, wainscoting, mopboard, trim, floor molding, or base molding) is usually wooden or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall. Its purpose is to cover the joint b ...
s (skirting boards) can be removed and then reinstalled after laying of the flooring is complete for a neater finish, or the baseboard can be left in place with the flooring butted into it, then small beading trims such as shoe moulding or the larger quarter-round moulding can be fitted to the bottoms of the baseboards. Saw cuts on the planks are usually required at edges and around cupboard and door entrances, but professional installers typically use door jamb undercut saws to cut out a space to a height that allows the flooring to go under the door jamb & casing for a cleaner look. Improper installation can result in peaking, in which adjacent boards form an inverted V shape projecting from the floor, or gaps, in which two adjacent boards are separated from each other.


Care

It is important to keep laminate clean, as dust, dirt, and sand particles may scratch the 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. Inferior glueless laminate floors may gradually become separated, creating visible gaps between planks. It is important to "tap" the planks back together using the appropriate tool as gaps are noticed in order to prevent dirt filling the gaps, thus making it more difficult to put into place. Quality glueless laminate floors use joining mechanisms which hold the planks together under constant tension which prevent dirt entering the joints and do not need "tapping" back together periodically.


Advocacy

The North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA) is a trade association of laminate flooring manufacturers and laminate flooring manufacturer suppliers in the United States and Canada. It is a standards developing organization accredited by the
American National Standards Institute The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...
(ANSI) to develop voluntary consensus standards for laminate flooring materials, and it has established testing and performance criteria that are used in North America. NALFA issues a certification mark named the NALFA Certification Seal which signifies that the product has passed 10 performance tests, has been proven to meet these standards by an independent, third-party testing lab, and has been manufactured in North America. The certification review includes: # Static Load – Measures the ability of laminate flooring to resist residual indentation resulting from a static load. # Thickness Swell – Measures the ability of laminate flooring to resist increase in thickness after being exposed to water. # Light Resistance – Measures the ability of laminate flooring to retain its color when exposed to a light source having a frequency range approximating sunlight through window glass. It is not intended to show the resistance to continuous exposure to outdoor weathering conditions. # Cleanability and Stain Resistance – Measures both the ease of cleanability and stain resistance of laminate flooring to common household substances. # Large Ball Resistance – Measures the ability of laminate flooring to resist fracture due to impact by a large diameter ball. # Small Ball Resistance – Measures the ability of laminate flooring to resist fracture due to impact by a small diameter ball. # Water Resistance – Measures the ability of the surface of laminate flooring to resist abrasive wear through the décor layer. # Dimension Tolerance – Measures the dimensional variance between tiles of laminate flooring in a manufactured free standing (unrestricted) shape in respect to thickness, length, width, straightness and squareness. # Caster Chair Resistance – Specifies a method for determining the change of appearance and stability of a laminate floor, including joints, under the movement of a
caster chair A caster (or castor) is an undriven wheel that is designed to be attached to the bottom of a larger object (the "vehicle") to enable that object to be moved. Casters are used in numerous applications, including shopping carts, office chairs, to ...
. # Surface Bond – Measures the force required to delaminate or split away the surface of laminate flooring plank or tile.


Potential health effects and LEED status

Laminate flooring is often made of
melamine resin Melamine resin or melamine formaldehyde (also shortened to melamine) is a resin with melamine rings terminated with multiple hydroxyl groups derived from formaldehyde. This thermosetting plastic material is made from melamine and formaldehyde. ...
, a compound made with
formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...
. The formaldehyde is more tightly bound in
Melamine formaldehyde Melamine resin or melamine formaldehyde (also shortened to melamine) is a resin with melamine rings terminated with multiple hydroxyl groups derived from formaldehyde. This thermosetting plastic material is made from melamine and formaldehyde. ...
(MF) than it is in
Urea-Formaldehyde Urea-formaldehyde (UF), also known as urea-methanal, so named for its common synthesis pathway and overall structure, is a nontransparent thermosetting resin or polymer. It is produced from urea and formaldehyde. These resins are used in adhesive ...
(UF), reducing emissions and potential health effects. Thus
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
v2.2's EQ Credit 4.4 precludes the use of UF, but allows the use of MF. Laminated flooring is commonly used in LEED residential and commercial applications.


History

Laminate flooring was invented in 1977 by the Swedish company , and sold under the brand name Pergo. They had been making floor surfaces since 1923. The company first marketed its product to Europe in 1984, and later to the United States in 1994. Perstorp spun off its flooring division as the separate company named Pergo, now a subsidiary of
Mohawk Industries Mohawk Industries is an American flooring manufacturer based in Calhoun, Georgia, United States. Mohawk produces floor covering products for residential and commercial applications in North America and residential applications in Europe. The comp ...
. Pergo is the most widely known laminate flooring manufacturer, but the trademark PERGO is not synonymous for all laminate floors. Glueless laminate flooring was invented in 1996 by the Swedish company Välinge Aluminium (now Välinge Innovation) and sold under the names of Alloc and Fiboloc. However, a system for holding flooring panels together was also developed in parallel by the Belgian company Unilin released in 1997 and sold under the name of . The two companies have been in a great number of legal conflicts over the years, and today most, if not all glueless locking flooring is made under license from either Välinge, Unilin, or even a combination of both.


References


External links

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North American Laminate Flooring AssociationWorld Floor Covering AssociationThe Flooring Contractors Association
Composite materials Floors Swedish inventions fr:Parquet flottant