Easy to install, glueless laminate flooring uses the tongue and groove interlocking method instead of glue. Laminate floors are sometimes referred to as floating floors because they are not actually connected in any way to the subfloor. These floors can be installed over existing ceramic floors as well, which can be a huge time saver.
Another nice things about laminate wood flooring is that it expands and contracts as a whole. Since it is connected to itself but not the floor beneath, swelling and shrinking is hardly noticeable. For this reason you never want to connect your floating floor with any fixed object in the room. If you do the expansion could cause buckling and rippling throughout your floor.
Obviously glueless floors will be less messy to install than a glued laminate covering, but the difference in installation time is amazing. A typical tongue and groove glued floor will take roughly 8 hours to complete a 400 square foot area. With glueless floors you can complete the same area in close to half the time.
Because they are engineered, laminate floors come in a variety of patterns and styles. Some looks more like ceramic tile than wood and other types look almost exactly like real wood. There are some offered now that actually come with a real hardwood veneer, so the top part of your laminate is actually real wood!
Most glueless laminate floors need a moisture barrier of some kind beneath them. You can get just a simple plastic underlay sheet and that would provide adequate protection. You could spend a bit more and get a noise reduction underlay that would protect your flooring from moisture and also help prevent squeaking. This costs only slightly more and is a much better investment in your floors future.
Glueless laminate flooring is easy, durable, fashionable, and affordable. You can easily go wrong with hardwood and be stuck with it. Laminate is easy to remove if you decide later on that it's not for you.
The author is a cabinet maker and he serves in a company which provides services on plumbing and roofing.
Posted under laminate flooring
This post was written by admin on February 23, 2010
Quick-Step laminate flooring is the leader in innovative laminate flooring products. Quick-Step is the creator of the Uniclic system, a tongue and groove interlocking system that revolutionized the industry. View their website at http://us.quick-step.com to find a retailer in your area.
For more information on their innovations, go to http://us.quick-step.com/?dir=install&page=floorInnovation
And, I second the books things. I hate books treated as decor. One solution a friend of mine tried was to buy lots of sheets of the same color paper to cover the books with. He laser printed simple titles onto the same color paper and glued it onto the spines for identification. It looks beautiful AND its functional.
I need to comment that this was a really informative article! I have been painting concrete floors for a long time, but I learned a few things!