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Laminate flooring basics

 
When choosing a new floor covering for your home, you may wonder if laminate flooring is still a viable option. While there are a great many flooring materials available, laminate is still a very feasible choice for many rooms. This is especially the case if you want the look of real wood, but you’re working with a budget that won’t allow for the real thing.

It’s very important to make sure that you choose the right laminate for the particular rooms you’re looking to cover. It can be placed over radiant heat, and it’s fine to install it at grade, or even below grade, as long as the right type for the job is chosen.

At Carpet Source, we take great pride in making sure our customers get the perfect flooring for their home. Let us help you every step of the way, and we’ll see to it that your satisfaction is guaranteed. We proudly serve the areas of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho. Contact us at your convenience and speak to one of our flooring professionals.

Knowing which laminate is best for your needs can go a long way in making sure that you won’t have to replace your floors prematurely. The Abrasion Class rating can help determine which one you need specifically.
  • AC1 Moderate Residential –best used in closets and bedrooms where the lightest amounts of traffic will be possible.
  • AC2 General Residential –best for livings rooms and dining areas, where only moderate amounts of traffic are expected.
  • AC3 Heavy Residential –can withstand the highest amount of residential traffic

Ratings of AC4 and AC5 are primarily used for extremely high traffic commercial areas, such as cafes, government buildings and department stores.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Since it can be hard to gauge how an entire room will look when you only have a sample to go by, there are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for laminate flooring. Concerning color, it is generally accepted that colors will appear darker after installation, than what the sample might look like. Light colors often reflect light better than dark colors, which tend to absorb it.

Grain is another determining factor that can look much different once the entire floor is installed. Grains can be swirling, bold or appear notched with bird’s eye patterns, while others might seem to have no grain at all. You might like the grain of one particular board, but as that is repeated throughout the room, it might appear quite busy. It’s important to decide up front whether you like a great deal of grain, or a smaller amount.
 
 
 
 
 

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