Laminate

How to choose laminate

The twelve laminates in this range are one board in twelve designs. The board is 8 mm thick and 193 mm by 1204 mm; its melamine wear surface sits over a printed decor on a high-density fibreboard core; it clicks together, has micro-bevelled edges, is rated AC4 and listed as compatible with underfloor heating, and each box covers 2.32 square metres under a 25 year manufacturer's warranty. Because the specification is the same across the range, the whole decision is the printed design, organised in the subcategories by tone: beige and light browns, mid browns, dark browns, greys and white.

What laminate is for is dry rooms with traffic. The melamine surface is the hardest of the three floor types here against abrasion, harder than a vinyl wear layer or an oiled oak, which is why a laminate holds up under chair legs, toy cars and dog claws. The laminate standard, quoted below, grades that resistance in abrasion classes from AC1 to AC6, and every board in this range is AC4. It is the floor for bedrooms, landings, living rooms and home offices, and the usual answer for an upstairs laid as one floor.

What it is not for is water. The core is wood fibre, and the same standard excludes areas subject to frequent wetting, bathrooms and laundry rooms among them, because the core takes on water and swells. A kitchen is a judgement about how much water reaches the floor; a bathroom is not a judgement at all. For the same tones in those rooms, the rigid vinyl range carries them on a core that takes on no water, and the comparison guide sets the two side by side.

The boards are laid floating over an underlay, and the underlay decides more than most people expect: it levels small imperfections in the subfloor, protects the boards from residual moisture in the base, and sets how the floor sounds and how much heat gets through from underfloor heating. The industry association's account of those jobs is quoted below, with the expansion gap it recommends at the edges of any floating floor. The trade's position on floating against full-surface gluing is quoted as well, and it is not what many fitters assume.

A printed laminate reads more even than the timber it follows, which suits a modern room and can look flat in a period one; from standing height a good print reads as wood, close to it does not, and it is honest to choose it as a printed floor with a hard surface rather than as an imitation. The formaldehyde class for wood-based boards is the last fact below, for anyone specifying a floor for a bedroom.