Laminate flooring comes from a Scandinavian heritage. Laminate flooring represents one of the most significant flooring entry in the past thirty years.
The product we know today as laminate flooring was originally developed as another possible use of high-pressure melamine laminate. This occurred in Sweden in the early eighties. A product was created with a base of several layers of paper impregnated with special resins which were pressed together under high pressure into a highly wear resistant composite material. The decorative paper determined the design. The finished laminate was then glued onto a carrier and cut into sections with extremely exact dimensions.
Decorative laminate was a product that was widely used on kitchen counter tops, tables or wall paneling, but obviously not as yet for floors. This clearly created an opportunity, but a flooring application brought new technical challenges. The initial concern to be solved was the wear factor. It is obvious that floors are walked on and therefore suffer a lot more normal abuse than furniture or counter tops. A laminate floor clearly had to be more durable.
A reinforced laminate that was approximately ten times stronger than counter tops was created and the first flooring began to be sold. As research grew, the relative strength of flooring laminate increased dramatically to at least twenty times that of counter tops.
Important parallel developments were also taking place during these early days. Packaging was one. Wood flooring at the time was normally sold in long strips of approximately eight feet and installed only by a skilled professional. Laminate flooring was different right from the beginning. It was packaged eight planks to a carton that was approximately half this length (about four feet). 
The easy to handle laminate flooring cartons was easy and could be transported by car or in an elevator with ease. The laminate flooring carton contents equaled approximately twenty square feet. Because of these revolutionary factors and ease of installation, a large do-it yourself market was created in Sweden that exists today. In fact, over ninety percent of laminate flooring in the world is is self-installed!
Laminate flooring crossed the Atlantic to North America in the nineties and was brought quickly to the market. The results of this introduction surpassed even Europe in the flooring market. Laminate flooring swept the continent.
The North American flooring consumer discovered that one could have a product of beauty with incredible wear and unmatched stain resistance. American and Canadian kitchens quickly became covered with laminate flooring.
The consumer found out that virtually nothing could stain this beautiful floor, nor would sun or ultraviolet cause fade; and wear patterns were a thing of the past. And yet there were more discovered benefits. The resistance of laminate flooring to indentation from heavy objects or shoes was far greater than popular existing wood or vinyl floors. The floor was incredibly easy to clean - vacuuming or damp mopping are needed. There is no need for waxing or stripping of the old wax buildup. (more…)
Finally we got our flooring shop online. Now we do not sell flooring materials but we help our readers find the best deals on all types of flooring from tile, laminate, hardwood, and more.
