In response to a reader’s email -

Laminate flooring is a term dealing with a flooring product sent and installed in pieces, made to lock together with edges which snap in place. First developed in 1977 by Pergo, a Swedish company and since often referred to in a generalized way as “Pergo”, laminate flooring has rapidly developed as a sensible flooring product which is far more durable than standard wood flooring and which is also easy enough to install that a homeowner himself can do so.

Laminate flooring has the virtue of being stronger owing to the mix of natural and inorganic compositional material, glued together with a highly-adherent glue.  The density and make up of these materials insures a most durable product.

It also comes in an amazingly wide variety of finishes, typically in a wood-like finish but often resembling a tile or natural stone finish as well. In the wood-like finishes, modern technology can allow the strips of laminate to resemble almost any wood, giving a deep Oak or Cherry-like finish, complete with grains and apparent “knots”,  In the tile-like finished, almost any stone can be replicated, including some marble and some slate finishes. While it could be argued that laminate flooring is such a new technology that it is still in its infancy, the sheer amount of attention paid to the field has delivered some astoundingly interesting results, both in the appearance and in the durability of this deceptively simple product.

Ideal for high traffic walkways and surfaces, laminate flooring was embraced by many architects and designers as a completely satisfactory solution to both the expense and durability issues involving flooring finishes.  It therefore picked up steam as a flooring alternative and resulted in a fast-paced research and development search for yet more solutions.

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