Quick-Step Lagune laminate shipdeck planks are a brand new flooring collection which offers the irreplaceable charm of wood but is suitable for use in bathrooms and other wet areas.
Here are some of the styles available in the Quick-Step Lagune laminate flooring range:

Quick-Step Lagune Merbau Shipdeck Laminate Flooring - UR1032

Quick-Step Lagune Grey Teak shipdeck Laminate Flooring - UR1205

QuickStep Lagune Black Varnished Pallisander Shipdeck Flooring- UR1225

Quick-step Lagune Vintage Oak Dark Varnished Shipdeck - UR1035

Quick-Step Lagune Natural Varnished Oak Laminate Flooring- UR946

Quick-Step Lagune flooring has a black seal strip that clicks into place between planks to make the flooring joints waterproof. This makes the Quickstep Lagune range the perfect laminate flooring for wet areas and Bathroom floors. To top it of Quickstep also give this product a 25 year guarantee!

These are the 5 styles available:

Quck-Step UR946

Quick-Step UR1032

Quick-Step UR1035

QuickStep UR1225

Quick-Step UR1205

Until quite recently, most UK homes have featured carpet throughout. However, laminated wood floors have become very popular in recent years and for good reason - it looks good, is inexpensive, can be easily installed, is easy to care for and is guaranteed for life. Essentially it gives you the look of solid hardwood flooring which was traditionally associated with expensive larger properties. Laminated flooring though can be bought at a fraction of the price and the without the expense of professional installation. There are extensive ranges of laminate designs and popular finishes include English oak, Rustic French oak, Antique oak, Beech, English Cherry, Maple, Birch, American Pine, Walnut, American Black Walnut, Norwegian Maple, Chestnut and Nevada Larch. However, these days you can also get more funky designs as well, including stonework and tile finishes. So whatever ‘look’ you’re going for in your house, whether it’s contemporary and minimalist, or a more traditional style, there will be a laminate design which will be perfect for your needs. Another benefit of laminate flooring is that is increasingly seen as the flooring style of choice by many people, and many estate agents will say that it is definitely a selling feature of any home.

Laminates in kitchens and bathrooms
Until recently, laminates were not recommended for use in ‘wet’ areas like kitchens and bathrooms. But the quality has improved so dramatically over the last few years, that there are now products available that can be used in these most important rooms of the house - and they still carry a lifetime guarantee (or a twenty year guarantee for the bathroom). This new generation of laminates is being snapped up by homeowners who love the versatility of having them - easy to clean and lovely and warm underfoot.

Installation
Unlike traditional solid wood flooring which needs an expert carpenter to lay it, laminate flooring is very easy to install. With help from a fact sheet, anybody (even somebody who wouldn’t class themselves as a DIY-er) could make a good job of it. The flooring has been designed to make installation as easy as possible, and it because it just ‘clicks’ together, once started, a room can soon be covered. Therefore, if you’re looking to do a quick and spectacular transformation of a room, laminate flooring is definitely a good choice.

Laminate flooring: what is it?
OK, some technical information. Laminate flooring is made up of four layers - a base layer which stabalises the product, a second layer which has an HDF core, followed by a photographic paper image of the finish (oak wood planks for example) and then finally, an extremely hardwearing and durable laminate coating. The thinner the laminate (from 7mm) the cheaper it is, but all products these days are hardwearing and offer a lifetime guarantee or twenty year guarantee when specifically designed for the bathroom.

So whether you’re choosing a floor for a family home that you intend to live in for a long time, or refurbishing a property for rental or sale, you can be assured that laminate flooring is a good choice.

Floor coverings can make a major change and impact to the look and feel of any room space, so this makes the decisions we make in selecting materials, styles and colours of the highest importance.

For hundreds of years hardwood has been used for flooring. Over the past decade there has been a massive increase in its popularity. It’s desirable appearance and versatility will bring out a beautiful vision for any room space. With most of the hardwoods lasting in excess of a hundred years, this material has most certainly earned the label of durability.

Oak is far in advance the most popular and desirable colour for the consumer. It’s natural and varied finishes enhances any room space. This is where Atkinson & Kirby Crème De La Crème Collection range really shines and comes into its own.

Crème De La Crème Collection Range is all Oak, a mixture of European and American Oaks available in 20mm Solid or 15mm and 22mm multi layer. Finished with the finest coloured oils to give 8 distinctive colour finishes.

This beautifully finished coloured range from Entrancing White Oak Russian, Opulent Golden Dream to the dark Alluring Black Russian. Crème De La Crème Collection is finished with a mixture of 3 coats of natural oils. (coloured, clear or a mixture of both) Beautifully finished in matt, in keeping with the massive trend in the market.

Author Sian Deacon. I hope you find this information given helpful, over the past 25 years I have gathered information on the flooring sector. New ranges are always being launched. Every now and then you get something extra special. Crème De La Crème Collection is exceptional quality and sumptuously finished to such a high standard that you can’t help but get excited about this exceptional flooring range.

When people think of a ‘wooden floor’, they often think of a solid wood floor, perhaps one that they’ve seen in an old house or perhaps in a grand banqueting room of a hotel. There’s no doubt about it that solid wood is the ultimate luxury floor. They have been a dominant feature in period homes for centuries, and homeowners and designers alike have been keen to take advantage of the traditional properties of a solid wood floor and combine it with a range of looks, from traditional, country, ‘shabby chic’ and ultra modern.

• Ultimate luxury floor
• Extremely hard wearing
• Range of beautiful finishes
• Choice of widths to enhance your design

What is a solid wood floor?

A solid wood flooring is supplied as planks that are taken from one piece of timber. The tree species that are normally used for flooring include oak, beech, maple and walnut and they are available in an amazing range of colours that vary from very pale to almost black. They come in a range of widths and thicknesses which also make a surprising effect on the ‘look’ of a room. Very narrow planks in a big room, will give a very different result than wide planks in a smaller room, and vice versa.

Are they easy to install?

Unless you are a very experienced person who is comfortable dealing with advanced DIY projects, laying a hardwood flooring is almost certainly best left to the professionals. A solid wood floor is a luxury product, and when laid by a carpenter or joiner will look stunning. However it is a natural product and its characteristics need to be taken into account. For example, the wood planks need to acclimatise in the room where they are going to be used - real wood ‘moves’ according to temperature and humidity. So your floor needs to adjust to your central heating habits, but it will also expand and contract according to the weather. This is why it is important for an expansion gap to be left around the outside edge of the floor. Solid wood floors are generally fitted by ‘secret nailing’ or being glued to the sub-floor. Individual manufacturers often supply particular tips on fitting.

How do you maintain them?

A quality solid wood floor that is well looked after will pretty much last forever. And as the popularity of them has surged in recent years, manufacturers are making it easier for their floors to look good at the beginning and for them to maintain their looks. Wood needs ‘feeding’ with oil, but most wood planks are now pre-finished at the manufacturing stage.

Dirt, dust and grit are the main enemies of wood floors as they grind away at the surface underfoot and make thousands of scratches, so regular brushing and vacuuming is essential. In fact, it’s best to try and ensure that as little dirt as possible actually makes it into the house - put good quality door mats outside and inside doors to the exterior, to try and keep this to a minimum.

Assuming over a period of time, the floor does actually get dirty, you can use specialist wood soap cleaners that will lift the dirt from the surface. This are excellent and are used in the just the same way that you would mop a tiled or lino floor, but you must use the water sparingly - an excess of water will soak into the floor and cause it to swell and possibly stain - not what you want!

Periodically (depending on what sort of traffic you have through your rooms), a wood floor will benefit from being oiled again. When the wood is ‘fed’ with oil it will look as good as new again, which is one of the main advantages of a solid wood floor. Any damage can be sanded away, stained, waxed and oiled and again, it will be back to its original condition. A solid wood floor is an investment that you certainly won’t regret. Enjoy!

At first glance, it can sometimes be difficult to spot the difference between hardwoods and laminate flooring. The Laminate Flooring takes on the look of traditional floors while offering you easy installation and lasting durability. The look that appears to be a natural wood grain design is actually a thin layer (a photographic image) of decor paper under the resilience of a tough protective film that is glued and pressed to a high-density backing board. Laminate Flooring comes in an assortment of wood effect styles and shades, as well as ceramic and stone options.

Laminate flooring advantages are the easy installation, as well as its versatility easy maintenance and hardwearing layers, it also makes this floor an inexpensive option to give you the look and surface feel of the real wooden floors

Majority of Laminate Floors fit together with a clicking system. This is an extremely easy and fast way to fit. Also this makes it an easy option for the D I Y fan. Once the floor is correctly fitted you are able to walk on it straight away.

When you are laying Laminate Flooring over a concrete sub-floor you will first be required to lay down a (DPM) Damp Proof Membrane. This helps protects your Laminate Boards from moisture, and is usually around 5mm in thickness. Over the top of this you need to lay a foam underlay that helps even out any minor irregularities in the sub-floor, also it will act as a sound absorption.

Laminate Flooring has seen a massive growth in the past few years. Laminate has been around Europe for around 15 years.

How Laminate is graded.
Apart from the different warrantees that the manufacturers offer the other details to look for are the standard load and traffic categories. These are broken into two different categories and are as follows:-

Residential

Class 21 - Moderate loads, ideal for bedrooms etc.

Class 22 - Normal loads, ideal for living rooms etc.

Class 23 - Heavy loads, ideal for anywhere in the house (Bathrooms will be stated on individual products)

Commercial

Class 31 - Moderate loads. Hotel Rooms. Meeting Rooms, etc.

Class 32 - Normal loads. Offices, Waiting Rooms, etc.

Class 33 - Heavy loads. Large Offices, Shops, Public Buildings.

Connect Flooring Maintenance
Connect flooring is ready to use as supplied with a hard surface. You should not apply or use wax, polish or varnish. Do not clean the floor with impregnated clothes as these contain oil-based products, which will leave a residue on the floor. This residue will allow dirt to stick to it and make cleaning of the floor very difficult if not impossible.

Regular Dry Maintenance
You can clean the floor as often as you want with a soft brush and pan and the Richard Burbidge Active Dry Fibre mop. Connect flooring is manufactured specifically with this in mind, regular wet cleaning is totally unnecessary and can make cleaning harder and damage the floor.

Occasional Wet Cleaning
Depending on the degree of dirt and dust and the area of use your floor can be cleaned once a month or as little as once a year. Before wet cleaning remove as much dirt and dust as possible as described for regular dry cleaning. Use the Richard Burbidge floor cleaner dissolving 1 cap of cleaner with 5 litres of cold water. Always use a well wrung out cloth out even if you think there will not be enough water. Start at one end of the floor and once finished start from this opposite end and clean a second time, finishing in the original starting spot. By mopping a second time you will achieve a better distribution of cleaner as your mop or cloth may have had too little moisture towards the end of the floor during the first application. Rinse the floor by using a mop or cloth in cold water only again making sure the cloth or mop is well wrung out. Finish by wiping the floor with a clean dry cloth. Do not use other cleaners as these may contain abrasives, which can damage the floor.

Maintaining The floor
To keep the floor looking its best relative humidity should be between 55 to 60% and room temperature between 15 to 20°. Always remove liquids from the floor as quickly as possible, never use too much water during occasional wet cleaning and use effective doormats at all external doors to remove dirt, sand and water from shoes. Protect the floor form impact and scratching by using felt pads on the bottom of all furniture and chair legs. Never use wax, polish or other on Connect flooring and clean only with Richard Burbidge Floor cleaner, do not use other cleaners that may contain abrasives. Wheelchairs and castors should be made of soft rubber suitable for laminate floor use, if they are hard rubber do not use as thy will damage the floor.

What underlays do l need?
For all ground floor installations including both concrete and timber floorboard subfloors use the Richard Burbidge Polythene underlay and Richard Burbidge Connect foam underlay. The polythene underlay acts as a vapour barrier and prevents moisture from penetrating the backface of the flooring. Connect foam underlay helps level out the subfloor, reduces levels of sound, aids impact resistance and takes stress off the joints during and after installation. For first floor installations such as bedrooms over normal domestic areas such as living rooms and kitchens use the Connect foam underlay. For rooms over ground floor garages use both underlays, polythene first followed by the foam underlay. Woodfibre underlay is normally only necessary to level uneven wooden subfloors and should be used inconjunction with polythene and foam underlays.

How soon after purchase can l install the flooring?
Before installing Connect flooring it must be acclimatised for 48 hours in it’s original packing in the room it is to be installed. Stack the flooring flat in the centre of the room. Never stack the flooring on it’s edge or in the corner of a room or against an outside wall.

Can l fix Connect flooring directly to the subfloor?
No. Connect flooring should only ever be installed as a floating floor. It should never be fixed to the subfloor by fixing onto battens or gluing.

Why do l need an expansion gap?
Connect flooring is manufactured mainly from natural materials such as wood fibres. Because the humidity of the room can vary, it is essential that the floor has an expansion gap of at least 9mm around the full perimeter of the floor. The floor must be able to freely expand and contract on ALL sides. If the floor is installed against a restriction such as a door-frame, hearth or staircase riser, when it expands it will do so back on itself leading to ‘peaking’ joints and in extreme cases a bouncy effect as if there is a volume of air beneath the floor.

Do l need to have an expansion gap between rooms?
Yes, it essential that you leave an expansion gap across a door threshold/archway. Each room can have it’s own humidity and temperature that can differ from room to room. Never continue the flooring through doors and room thresholds. When installing in more than one room leave an 18mm expansion gap between the two floors (9mm for each floor) and cover the gap using the floor to floor threshold.

Can l use flooring in a bathroom?
Some of our Connect ranges can be used for bathroom installations. Extra care must be taken when using due to the increased risk of water damage. Make sure the bathroon has adequate ventilation and a relative humidity of 50 to 60% and a temperature of 15 to 20°C. The floor should be installed as normal, with both polythene and foam underlays and a minimum expansion gap of 9mm. All expansion gaps should be filled with a flexible bathroom silicone sealant which can then be covered with skirting or suitable coverstrip. To protect the floor from water damage use a drip mat when getting in and out of the bath and wipe up any water immediately. Under no circumstances should the toilet, bath or sink pedestal ever be screwed directly through the laminate flooring to the subfloor. As the floor must be able to expand and contract freely correct installation is to fix the pedestals to the subfloor and then install the flooring. The expansion gap around the pedestals can be covered using a coloured flexible bathroom silicone sealant.

The elegant look of a solid wood floor can add warmth and character to any room in a home. The natural characteristics of wood add depth and a visual appearance that many other types of floors try to duplicate. With the demand for hardwood flooring growing manufacturer’s are enhancing their ranges to meet this demand, with better quality finishes and superior construction techniques.

Hardwood floors come in a wide variety of wood species, colours and widths. Besides the classic hardwoods (like red oak, white oak, maple and ash) many manufacturers now offer exotic hardwood species from all over the World. Exotic hardwoods give homeowners the chance to better express their own personal decorating tastes with a more unique looking floor. With so many different types of hardwood flooring now available it is sometime hard to choice which is best suited to you.

Different Types of Wooden Flooring

Solid wood floors are one solid piece of wood that have tongue and groove sides and come in either pre-finished or unfinished styles. Solid wood flooring is sensitive to moisture and it is not recommended to install these floors below ground level, or directly over a concrete slab. These floors are for nail-down installations only. You can refinish, or recoat solid wood floors several times, which adds to their appeal and to their long life. There are solid floors that are over 100 years old and are still in good condition.

All solid wood floors will react to the presence of moisture. In the winter heating months, moisture leaves the wood causing the floor to contract which leaves unsightly gaps between each plank. In the summer months when the humidity is higher the wood will expand and the gaps will disappear. If there is too much moisture it may cause the wood planks to cup, or buckle. This is why it is important when installing a solid strip floor to leave the proper expansion area around the perimeter and to acclimatize the wood prior to installation.

Engineered wood flooring - These floors are constructed from several wood plies that are glued together. The centre core is generally a softer wood material and is used to make the tongue and groove. A hardwood finish layer is glued on top of the centre core and another softer wood ply is attached underneath the core. This top ply is also called the finish layer and can be constructed of almost any wood specie.

Wood always wants to expand in a certain direction. In the presence of moisture solid wood planks will always expand across the width of the planks, rather than down the length of the boards. To avoid this problem, manufacturers of engineered flooring place each ply in the opposite direction of each other. This is called cross-ply construction. Once the wood layers are glued together the plies will counteract each other which will stop the plank from growing or shrinking with changes in the humidity. Engineered wood floors are designed for the floating installation and can be glued together or some now come with a click system.

Veneer wood floors are very similar to laminate floors. The only difference is that with a veneer flooring to top wear layer is a thin piece or real hardwood instead of a photographic image as in laminates. Veneer flooring is usually around 8mm in thickness with the top hardwood layer being around 0.7mm. Advantages of a veneer floors are that they are fast and easy to install and you have a real hardwood floor.

Factory Pre-finished Wood Flooring

Most factory finished hardwood floors have several coats of finish applied to the wood’s surface. As example, many wood floor companies are applying 5-6 coats of a ultra-violet (UV) cured urethane. This would be extremely difficult for someone to duplicate on a job site finish, not to mention how many days it would take. This is one of the reasons why many flooring mechanics, flooring retailers, and builders are pushing pre-finished hardwood floors. Instead of taking several days to install and finish a new hardwood floor a pre-finished hardwood floor is generally done in one day. The most common finishes are:

UV-cured - Factory finishes that are cured with Ultra Violet lights versus heat.

Polyurethane - A clear, tough and durable finish that is applied as a wear layer.

Acrylic-urethane - A slightly different chemical make up than Polyurethane with the same benefits.

Aluminium Oxide - Added to the urethane finish for increased abrasion resistance of the wear layer, which is becoming extremely popular on the better grade wood floors.

Acrylic Impregnated - Acrylic monomers are injected into the cell structure of the wood to give increased hardness and then finished with a wear layer over the wood.

Unfinished Wooden Flooring
If you want a custom stained hardwood floor, or a wood floor to match existing trim than a unfinished hardwood floor is your answer. Unfinished means you start with a bare hardwood floor and than the floor is sanded, stained, and finished in the home. This can be quite a mess and the process does take several days, but your floor will have a finish to you requirements.

Installation Options

Nail Down - Secret nails are used with a wood flooring nailer and mallet to attach the flooring to the sub floor. Solid Strip floors or Plank floors can only be installed on wooden sub-floors or on batons.

Glue Down - Engineered wood floors and parquets can be glued down. This is when you spread the recommended glue all over the sub floor and lay the flooring into the glue.

Floating - This is when a thin underlay is placed between the wood flooring and the sub floor. A recommended wood glue is then applied in the tongue and groove of each plank to hold the planks together. Engineered & Veneer floors can be floated. This is a very fast, easy and clean method of installation.

Please consult the manufacturer installation instructions before installing any flooring.

Species

Ash

White to light brown, occasionaly with irregular dark streaks. Course textured grain, fairly straight, however decorative effect achieved when plain sawn. Good quality Ash is outstanding for toughness. Ash undergoes a medium degree of colour change over time by ambering to a more straw tan colour as it ages.

Beech

Whitish to plain brown, occasionally with a dark coloured core. One of the strongest European timbers. Usually heavy and straight grained and of plain appearance. European Beech undergoes a medium degree of colour change with a slight orangey ambering over time.

Birch

Curly grained and strongly figured. Sometimes marketed as white or red birch, colour varies from light to dark reddish brown. As flooring it is highly resistant to wear.

Cherry

Pale, pinkish brown which darkens somewhat on exposure to light. The grain is straight and a fine and even texture. A very decorative wood, especially in a natural grade. Cherry undergoes a fair degree of colour change from it’s fresh milled pale pink colour to a darkish reddish colour when fully aged.

Hevea

A golden straw colour with flowing speckled graining. The timber of Hevea Brasiliensis has been planted in Malaysia for the past hundred years mainly for its latex. Since last 20 years Hevea tree has became a valuable source of timber besides produces latex. Hevea tree is harvested for its timber after attaining the age of 25 - 30 years old.

Iroko

A very strong and durable timber of attractive appearance. Colour varies from a pale yellow to dark brown with a pronounced darkening from it’s colour to a medium brown colour as it ages. This valuable structural timber is ideal for flooring.

Jatoba

The heartwood is salmon-red to orange-brown, becoming russet to reddish-brown when seasoned. The grain may be straight but is more commonly interlocked. the hardwood is frequently marked with dark streaks and sometimes shows a golden lustre.

Kempas

A rich brick red colour that will darken to a red-brown when exposed to sunlight. Can have numerous yellow-brown streaks, which are associated with the pores of the wood.

Maple

Creamy white in colour with a reddish tinge. Less expensive grades have dark brown markings. Grain is usually straight and of fine and even texture. Maple undergoes a medium degree of colour change, with slight ambering from a cream/white to a more golden cream colour over time. A timber with good strength properties and resistance to wear, it makes excellent flooring.

Merbau

Yellowish to orange-brown which darkens to a medium to dark red-brown on exposure to light. A timber of very good appearance and generally free from defects which makes it very suitable for good quality flooring.

American Red Oak

Red Oak is America’s most popular wood floor choice offering a medium range of colour variability from lighter tan tones with pinkish highlights to darker browns. Red Oak undergoes a medium degree of colour change over time with a slight ambering of the pinkish tan brown colour you get when freshly milled.

American White Oak

White Oak has a medium high degree of colour variability and ranges from light tan colours to medium tan colours with a grayish cast to medium brown colours. White Oak undergoes a medium degree of colour change, with a slight ambering over time.

European Oak

Oak is one of the most widely used timbers for flooring in the UK. Renowned for its durability and decorative appearance, Oak makes an ideal floor. Its colour ranges from a light tan to a deep brown and undergoes a medium degree of colour change with a slight ambering over time.

American Walnut

Growing in popularity due to its stunning appearance American Walnut has a wide range of colour variability from a contrasting cream coloured sapwood to tan to medium brown to chocolate brown heartwood.Walnut exhibits a medium high degree of colour change with the dark brown heartwood lightening over time to a more golden brown with the muting of the colour variation found when freshly milled.

You can buy wholesale hardwood flooring directly from the major manufacturers such as Dupont, Armstrong, Mohawk, Hartco and others. Usually hardwood flooring at a wholesale price is reserved just for wholesalers or for flooring retailers. However, many companies do offer their customers the chance to purchase wholesale hardwood flooring at prices far below the retail price, even though they may not actually be as low as wholesale.

One of the ways you can save money by buying wholesale hardwood flooring is to look at the selection of laminate hardwood flooring. The difference in the price of laminate flooring as compared to solid wood will make it seem as you are buying wholesale wood flooring. With the recent advancements in the manufacture of laminate flooring, it is much harder to tell the difference between laminate and hardwood. You can kill two birds with one stone – you get the flooring you want at a wholesale price and you get the look of hardwood that you always wanted.

Hardwood flooring wholesalers often offer customers the chance to buy hardwood flooring at a wholesale price. These events are usually an annual event when the wholesalers want to clear out their warehouses to make room for more stock. You buy the wholesale hardwood flooring as is, which could include some damaged boards or there may only be a small supply of certain woods or finishes. You do need to make sure that you buy enough hardwood because if you do spoil a few boards or run out before you get the room completed, you may not be able to get the hardwood to finish it.

Even when you are buying wholesale hardwood flooring, the sales staff will help you choose the right colour to suit your furniture. If you are not sure how to calculate the amount of hardwood flooring you need, hardwood flooring wholesalers will do this for you and many of them also have delivery service available as well. Wholesale wood flooring sales usually draw large crowds of homeowners who are either building a new home or considering a remodelling project.

Wholesale hardwood flooring is available in all grades of hardwood. This is an excellent way to get the best quality hardwood for your flooring needs at prices you would expect to pay for the lesser quality boards. Even if you plan a flooring project in the future, you can buy the wholesale wood flooring and store it until you are ready to use it. However, hardwood flooring wholesalers will not accept a deposit with this type of sale or agree to keep it in the warehouse until you are ready. You do need to have a place in which to keep your wholesale hardwood flooring.

Laminate flooring is becoming increasingly popular and the question we at Flooring Mania are asked time and time again is, how do we measure for laminate and wood flooring. We hope you find this article as a useful guide.

Let us start at the beginning. The first thing you need to do is to find out how much laminate flooring you will need, to do this you will need to measure the width of you room (at the widest points) and then measure the length at the longest point. Right down these two measurements down and then multiply them together, this will give you the area of your room in m2. Once you have got this you will need to add 10% for wastage.

For Example.

Width 5 metres x Length 4 metres = 20 sqms + 10% = 22sqms.
So you will need 22sqms of laminate flooring or wood flooring

You now need to find out how many packs you require. It the laminate flooring you have chosen comes in pack size of lets say 1.243sqms then you have to divide your room size by that number.

Example : 22sqms divided by 1.243 =  17.69 packs.

Round this figure up to the next pack, this means you will require 18 packs.

You will also need to do the above when you require underlay for your laminate flooring.

What Else Do You Need?

If you are laying the laminate flooring over a concrete sub-floor, then you will need to purchase a damp proof membrane (DPM). Most manufactures now have underlay that includes a built in DPM. This is worth purchasing as it saves time and money.

For doorways you will need one of the following transition profiles.

End Cap :  This is used in doorways that meet carpet, ceramic or stone tiles.It can also be used to finish of the flooring against things like a sliding glass door.

Reducer : You use this when there is a difference in height between the laminate flooring and the floor covering you are meeting up with. Like linoleum or vinyl.

T Moulding : This is needed in doorways where laminate meets laminate, or for anytime a hard surface is within 1/8 inch. Of being the same height   as the laminate, you still can use a T Moulding.

With laminate flooring you have to leave an expansion gap of around 10mm anywhere the flooring meets a wall. There are two ways of hiding this expansion gap.

One way is to replace your skirting boards, we at Flooring Mania have skirtings that will match your flooring, this of course adds more cost and time to your project.

The second choice is the most common and is a cheaper and quicker way to hide the expansion gap, with scotia/ beading. This fits up against the skirting boards and covers the expansion gap. All brands offer beading that matches your laminate flooring.

To measure for this you need to measure all around the perimeter of you room where you are going to need beading. You will again need to add 10% for wastage. Once you have this figure you will need to divide it by the length of the beading, most beading comes in lengths of 2.4 meters.

You will also need to purchase a fitting kit. This usually comprises of a tapping block, pull bar and spacers.
We at Flooring Mania hope this information was helpful for you. If you require any assistants with you laminate or wood flooring we are only free phone call away, please don not hesitate to contact us.

Quick step laminate flooring is the market leader in laminate flooring and the brand name that we all know, let’s take time out to compare quick step and Richard Burbidge connect laminate flooring.

Quick Step laminate flooring comes in various thicknesses and in many styles to suite your room. They offer a guarantee with all their laminate flooring but do not recommend there laminate for use in any wet areas such as the kitchen or bathroom and guarantees range from 10 years to 25 years.

Do not be fooled into thinking that they are the only ones with a unique clic system even though their laminate clic system is of good quality, the market is exhausted with it and now people are looking for, and want a change.

Richard Burbidge is a manufacturer and supplier of high quality multi range laminate flooring equal to any of the top names on the market. They do not believe in flooding the market with their ranges as the proof is in their product so only so many suppliers are handpicked to retail this high quality beautifully made Clic Connecting laminate flooring.

From the 7mm, 8mm 9mm and 12mm the quality stays the same, Oaks, Walnuts, Maple, Beech, Cherry and tile effects are all made with the same high quality finish that gives the impression of owning a real solid floor. They have laminate flooring for bathrooms and kitchens which is a rarity as most manufacturers tend to shy away from these areas; all but one of their products comes with a LIFETIME GUARANTEE. The laminate boards are made the same way as the quick step brand, but have the added advantage of being able to use most of the ranges in known wet areas. The Clic Connecting system is easy and versatile for use of D.I.Y. Fitting. Some of the Connect laminate flooring ranges also have a built in sound absorbing system for use in bedrooms and apartments.

Connect Laminate flooring gives you the chance of all the looks and textures available, Modern, Authentic, Rustic, Textured, 3 and 2 Strip and Plank finishes. Grooves on two sides and four sides are available which gives the definition of the floor, impersonating the look of spending a fortune where instead you have paid an inexpensive price for an expensive look that you get with solid or engineered wood flooring. All Accessories are available for all Connect laminate flooring to give you the final touches of making a room look special. Pack sizes in the Connect laminate flooring ranges are bigger and the price slightly cheaper and the look FABULOUS.

Does the term laminate flooring include engineered wood products? What about real wood planks? If not then what are the differences between these three products?

Although all three are flooring materials, real wood flooring materials are made out of wood only, cut from trees, these are available factory finished or raw.

Engineered wood flooring material, this is often mistaken for laminate flooring material, but it is not, and the technical process that both materials undergo explains why.
The first layer and core of engineered wood flooring is commonly made of maple, oak or cherry. But the overall product is fortified with the use of technology coupled with better urethane adhesives.

Engineered wood products have become more popular than solid wood planks because they cost less, and they provide the same look, and can easily be re- sanded and re- finished unlike some solid wood planks. As for the installation of engineered wood flooring it is like laminate flooring as it can be stapled, free floated or glued down, which is not the case for real wood flooring.

What is laminate flooring materials composed of. Most quality laminate planks have three layers, with high density fiber board at the core. The first layer is usually clear and made of melamine plastic material that is fused to the core with the use of heat. Todays laminate flooring material can easily handle spillage, stains, chips, dents and scratches.

The second layer is called the design layer. It contains the image of ceramic tiles, stone or wood imprinted on high quality photographic paper. Some manufactures use a fine surface of wood for this layer.

For the better quality laminate flooring materials, expect to find a third layer, which gives the laminate added sturdiness and strength. The thickness of a laminate floor is not an indication of its quality, more attention should be given to the materials used and the process it under went and the pressure applied.
As to the third layer, melamine is more stable than paper, and has the ability to bring the boards back to their original position. During production all three layers are fused together with the use of intense heat, making them stronger and dense.

Laminate floors can easily absorb noise, this is because a padding material is generally placed under the laminate material. Wooden or wood floors do not have this option.
When real wood or engineered wood floors lose there luster, for maintenance they can be polished back to their natural state. Where laminate floors are concerned, you can purchase touch up and chip repair kits. You can also replace the damaged plank, hows that for maintenance.

Change of weather and heavy traffic do not change the quality of the design of laminate flooring. This makes it ideal for heavy traffic areas such as kitchens, dinning and living rooms.

On the other hand great care has to be taken in deciding where to place wood floors, the sun, rain, spillage and excessive traffic can effect the look of real and engineered wood flooring, causing discolouration over time. And while it is true that you can polish and wax wooden floors, you do not have to do a thing with your laminate flooring.
Inevitably, the choice of purchasing engineered wood flooring. Real wood flooring or laminate flooring , lies with you.

Engineered wood flooring has its own special merits. But laminate flooring materials have come a long way from being inferior substitutes. Todays laminate flooring materials have benefitted immensely from superior technology and state of the art processes. The consumer has a wider range of realistic designs, from stone, wood and ceramic to choose from. Laminate floors are durable, easier to maintain, install and repair, compared to the other two products.

When you plan for your floor, consider the quantity of traffic, the desing you want and also your finances.

With laminate flooring you will have the pleasure of aesthetically pleasing floors that also fulfil all you needs. We at flooring mania hope this information was helpful to you .