Pros and Cons of Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring was a modern day inclusion the history of home flooring. Earlier home makers had to go through a classic and traditional but otherwise tedious process of choosing the right kind of wood and its proper processing till it suited the ambience, color and the overall fashion of the house. The days of hardwood flooring has been replaced by carpets, linoleum, quarry tiles, resilient flooring, cork, bamboo and laminate. Here we take a look at the various pros and cons of laminate flooring.

 

The Pros of Laminate Floors

 

• Durability – Laminate flooring has a very long lifespan and is easily more durable to external damage that normal wood flooring. The melamine resin used for making the laminate sheets gives it the resistance to fight wear and tear. Laminate sheets can also be used outdoors and do fade out when exposed to direct sunlight.

 

• Cleaning – Laminate flooring is stain resistant to stains and can be cleaned with a simple cloth or a mop. As they are resistant to water, they can be easily used kitchens and dining rooms as well.

 

• Defect free – Laminate sheets are designed on computers and the printing is done with the help of large printers. Thus, they never get any defects and unwanted cracks that is common in normal wood flooring.

 

• Array of Design – Laminate flooring is available in a huge array of designs. These designs can be personally created by the user as well. It also save a lot of time money that goes in to the processing of wood.

 

The Cons of Laminate Floors

 

• Hardness – wood always has a soft feeling attached with it which is highly missing in case of laminate floors. Even though they have foam in the lower layers, they do not have the ability to insulate the room the way wood flooring can.

 

• No value addition – Flooring is considered a style statement is homes across the world. A home with laminate flooring is not considered classic and fashionable and does not add value to the house. It is considered as an inexpensive, rather cheap way of doing the floors.

 

• Safety issues – there have been reports that laminate flooring ha often caused a slippery surface. It is also susceptible to wear and tear faster than wood.

 

• Look – wood can be polished and processed to give it a new look whenever needed. But in case of laminate flooring, it has to be peeled off in case the look gets old.