Laminate floors are very practical and easy to install solutions, and adapt perfectly to most domestic environments, from the living room to the bedroom of the little ones. Sold in planks of different sizes and thicknessesperfectly imitate the different essences of wood.
In this article we will discover the advantages of this material, the factors that make it a sustainable choice and we will try to understand how to identify the best one for each room in your home.
Laminate floors: what they are
When we talk about laminate floors we are referring to floors made with laminate planks, a multi-layer material composed of a lower part in plastic materiala power station made up of wood fibres subjected to pressing and a superior and visible one made with a printed material. This surface is finally protected byoverlaya protective and transparent film, which makes the surface resistant to scratches and wear.
Visually similar to parquet planks, laminate ones should not be confused with them. The main difference lies in the fact that, while the former are made with a layer of noble wood at least 2.5 millimeters thick, the latter do not have this noble layer, but only, as seen, a central part in pressed wood. Naturally, this difference means that the two materials have very different characteristics and require different types of maintenance.
What benefits do they offer?
Moving on to analyze the advantages offered by laminate floors, it is impossible not to mention, first of all, the big one ease of installation and the possibility of place the planks on a pre-existing floorwithout the need to remove it. These two advantages make laminate a perfect choice for those who want to replace the old floor quickly and cheaply, giving the room a totally new look without major renovations. In addition to this, it is useful to know that, if you have sufficient manual skills, it is also possible to assemble the new floor yourself.
Other interesting advantages concern the high level of resistencemainly dependent on the quality of the protective overlay layer. Thanks to this, laminate floors can last a long time and resist perfection to trampling, abrasion and scratches. Some models are also durable too to water and humidity and, for this reason, they can also be installed without problems in kitchens and bathrooms.
The advantages are certainly not limited to ease of installation and resistance, but also concern the ease of maintenance and cleaning of the surfacewhich does not require the use of particular products and can be carried out with normal floor detergents, and thewide choice of wood effects available.
Because laminate is a green choice
As anticipated in the introduction, laminate floors, in addition to offering countless advantages, are also eco-sustainable. This characteristic derives, first of all, from the presence of wood fibres pressed, recyclable And also obtained from processing waste. The greenest products are recognizable thanks to the international certifications acquired, relating to the use of wood from forests managed in a careful and sustainable way.
The laminate planks can therefore be installed by interlocking without the use of gluesthey are even more ecological. To top it off, the best products turn out too safe for health and have a very limited impact on air pollution in domestic environments.
How to choose laminate planks for your home
Having reached this point, it is natural to ask which aspects can be useful to evaluate to identify the most suitable planks for the individual rooms of your home.
The choice must take into account the specific needs of each room. For example, in the case of bath and the kitchen it will be appropriate to focus on moisture-resistant plankswhile for the living room it will be appropriate to prefer a typology first resistant to trampling. As regards the children’s roomRather than the choice of planks, it could be the installation method that makes the difference. In particular, to reduce noise, it may be useful to place some under the floor sound-absorbing mats.
To easily identify the right ones, you can use the web and, in particular, carry out a search on well-stocked online shops such as Leroy Merlin. These sites offer a wide selection of laminate floors different in colour, thickness, technical properties and certifications acquired. To discover the characteristics of the boards you are interested in, it is sufficient consult the technical data sheets in which very important data are reported such as the size of the planks, resistance to water and humidity, anti-slip and sound insulation properties, fire reaction classification, level of resistance to trampling and scratches, and more Still.
