While affordable, easy to install, and easy to clean, laminate flooring has to be replaced once it's damaged since it can't be refinished or sealed like other floor types it may resemble. Water damage in laminate is often indicated by warping, which can lead to cracking, splitting, buckling, and discoloration.
Depending on where the floor is installed, the amount of wear & tear, and the quality of your product, the average lifespan of laminate flooring can be expected anywhere between 5 – 10 years. Your floor is easily the most used part of your home and receives a higher amount of foot traffic daily.
Flooring. You can expect your wood flooring to last about 100 years, or even more with proper upkeep. Vinyl flooring will last about 50 years, while you'll get about 10 years out of your carpet. When it comes to tile flooring, life expectancy depends on the type of tile, maintenance and amount of foot traffic.
Normal Wear and Tear on Laminate
Like other types of flooring, laminate floors can show their age through normal wear and tear. The surface may become scuffed and scratched from excessive foot traffic or furniture. Water damage could also cause small patches of mold to form or the laminate to warp or buckle.
The inability to sand and refinish is a major disadvantage of laminate flooring. If laminate flooring is heavily worn, deep scratched, or grooved, it cannot be sanded or refinished like solid hardwood—it must be replaced.
Heat causes laminate flooring to expand. This expansion is responsible for the gapping as the individual pieces of flooring start to expand at slightly different rates. When the radiant heat turns off because the room is warm enough, the flooring starts to contract as it cools.
Laminate flooring can be installed directly over hardwood, often with no preparation necessary. If your laminate has a built-in underlayer, you may install it right on top of the hardwood.
The truth is, it is almost always cheaper to refinish your floor than to replace it. When replacing, you must consider the cost of the new wood as well as the installation, plus the cost to haul your old wood floors away.
The wood composite core gives laminate a more realistic wood feel and touch than vinyl plank. And, with modern printing techniques, it can look quite realistic and close to the real thing. Vinyl plank, on the other hand, is made of vinyl, or plastic.
How long does it take to install laminate flooring? Installation in a typical 10-by-20-foot room is four to five days with an extra day added for each additional room. Laminate flooring needs at least two to three days to acclimate to the environment of a room to prevent problems like particle board expansion.
The answer is both yes and no. Laminate flooring that's 8mm with a medium density fibre (MDF) core is used by a lot of big retail stores and builders that work on big-volume projects. It's essentially a mass-market product and is popular.
In high-traffic areas it can show wear and tear, and laminate can't be sanded or refinished for an updated appearance. Because of its lower price point, laminate also won't do much for your home's resale value.
The short answer is that there isn't any laminate flooring on the market that's totally scratch proof. It's just a fact that any flooring material, from natural wood to engineered timber or hybrid flooring, can be damaged.
You certainly do not want to attach or glue your new floor right to the existing one, as your new installation will only be as sound as the one before it, and most manufacturers will void their warranty if you do so. In short, layers can cause problems.
Installing a laminate floor costs $8 to $15 per square foot for labor and material. For the flooring alone, expect to pay between $2 and $6 per square foot. Laminate floors can mimic the look of stone or tile, but most have a wood appearance. The type of wood changes the cost.
Cost to Install Laminate Floors: Labor Cost
The average labor cost to install laminate flooring is $1,500. Installing laminate flooring for a 1,000 sq. ft. floor costs $800 to $2,800 per square foot on average.
Insufficient underlayment: The underlayment goes beneath the hard surface laminate flooring, sandwiched in between the floor and the subfloor. If the plywood underlay (or plywood sheathing) is lacking, the two floors may be rubbing against each other. The friction between them makes noise when you walk over your floor.
You can fix minor chips and scratches in a laminate floor with filler products. But if the damage is severe, you have to replace the plank (you did save a few from the installation, right?). It's a job you can do yourself in about two hours.
The quickest and easiest way to fix a squeaky floor is to put some talcum powder down into the joints surrounding the area that is squeaking. This will buffer the pieces as they flex under foot traffic; rather than rubbing against each other and thus squeaking and creaking, the pieces rub against the powder.
Most modern laminates are coated with aluminium oxide, which prevents fading. However, some cheap laminate flooring installed near a large window that receives strong sunlight for prolonged periods may show signs of fading.
Laminate floor lifting or buckling can be caused by changes in temperature and humidity levels. Use a hammer and chisel or putty knife to remove baseboards or molding near the damaged boards. If spacers were used between the wall and the board closest to it, replace them with smaller spacers.
But do they increase your home's value? Yes, they can. If your current floors are old and falling apart, then almost any flooring is going to increase its value. However, in general, laminate floorings are not going to give you as high an ROI as hardwoods.