Tampa Laminate floors offer exceptional durability

Check out some of the floors below that are usually in stock or available within 1 day:

Armstrong | Bruce park Avenue | Tarkett Journey's End | Captiva Collection | Southland Floors | Quick Step | Duravel
Berry Lounge | Kronotex

Click here for 1650' Laminate Floor Installation Video

Click here for our Armstrong Grand Illusions Afzelia Laminate Installation Slideshow

Whether you are remodeling or building a new home, laminate floors have become a popular choice for active areas within the home. If you love the look of real hardwood floors but are concerned with the upkeep, then laminate flooring could be your answer. If you are concerned with tearing up your old floor or you don't want to spend the additional money for a real hardwood floor, then a laminate floor may be a great alternative for you.

Originally from Europe, laminate floors have become a major flooring category with North American consumers. Today, consumers can find a wide selection of laminate flooring brands in many different designs, sizes and colors. The floors come in many different plank widths and square tile sizes. The stylish designs range from realistic stone, tile and hardwood visuals.

Laminate flooring manufacturers use sophisticated, computerized technology to create realistic designs. The top wear layer is incredibly durable and easy to care. It is also impervious to most stains, spills, burns and extremely scratch-resistant.

Laminate floors are installed by floating the planks over most substrates including plywood, OSB, concrete slabs and some existing floor coverings. The planks and tiles have tongue and groove edges that lock them together. These floors are never secured directly to the sub floor. Most laminate floors require no glue to secure the planks and tiles together, they just snap together.

Some of the most popular laminate flooring manufacturers with American homeowners are: Quick Step, Bruce, Mannington, Mohawk, Shaw, Armstrong, Pergo, Wilsonart, Alloc, BHK, Tarkett, Suncrest, Captiva, Kronotex, Southland Floors, Lamett, Duravel, Ark, Artisan Mills, Berry Floors and QuickStyle.

Laminate flooring comes in either planks or square tiles. They are designed to replicate real flooring materials - such as wood, stone or ceramic tiles. These laminate floors are actually several different layers of various materials that are pressed together to form each plank. A printed film gives the floor the look of a real wood or tile and is protected by a tough, durable wearlayer that goes on top of the print layer. The resins used in the wearlayer are said to be almost as hard as diamonds and provides unsurpassed wear and stain resistance.

The inner core is generally made from high-density fiberboard and also forms the tongues and grooves for locking planks together. The core is also the base that all the upper layers and the backing material are fused too. Some laminate floor manufacturers treat the inner core with melamine resins or water-resistant sealers to help protect the inner core from moisture.

The laminated planks are usually fused together in either a one or two step process. In the two-step process several layers are first glued together and then these layers are combined with the remaining materials and than glued and fused into a plank. This method is called High Pressure Laminate (HPL). The other method is where all materials are fused together in one step and this is called Direct Pressure Laminate (DPL).

The planks have tongue and grooved edges on all 4 sides to secure the planks together. Today, most laminate floors use some sort of glueless locking system, often referred to as "clic" floors.

The two main glueless locking systems either involve a tongue and groove that is reinforced from underneath by an aluminum, mechanical locking system or a tongue and groove locking system built right into the middle core that allows the planks to snap or clic together.

For more realism almost all laminate floor manufacturers are now offering a micro-beveled edging on certain styles. Others have added texturing to their surface layer to give their floors more realism and enhance the overall appearance of the laminate planks.

Designing with Laminate Floors

The tradition of hardwood floors dates back hundreds of years, their beauty and warmth have graced the halls of castles and brought elegance to many a modern day dining room. Whether it’s casual or formal, the natural beauty of hardwood can bring warmth and character to any room and suit any décor. Hardwood floors are however porous, resulting in a weakened structure that is both easy to stain and scratch. This in part has lead to the invention of laminate flooring.

While capturing all the beauty and elegance of hardwoods, laminate flooring is both durable and easy to maintain. Its machine made construction will not stain, warp or buckle and the Aluminum Oxide coated surface gives it a high degree of scratch resistance that is perfectly suited to heavy foot traffic. Unlike hardwood, laminate floors have water resistant cores and wax impregnated edges making them resistant to topical water spills, and allowing for installation in kitchens and bathrooms.

Laminate flooring is highly stain resistant and requires very little routine care and maintenance, freeing up your time to relax by the pool. Simply sweep the floor daily with a soft bristled brush and damp mop as required. As a precautionary measure, place foot mats at external doorways, thus preventing the tracking in of dirt, and furniture pads under the feet of furniture in order to prevent scuffing and scratching.

Laminate flooring is available in a plethora of styles and designs. Each wood species displays its own unique characteristics, each lending itself to a different design aspect. Choose the grainy appearance of Oak to add charm to any rustic interior, or utilize the grain-less consistent landscape of Maple to bring continuity to modern décor. Remember to use light colors to visually expand a room, while adding dark color for a more intimate feel.

Choose the laminate floor supplier who will take into account your particular decor and lifestyle in addition to offering many different manufacturers. Since all manufacturers utilize their own specific colors and designs, having to choose from one or only a few manufacturers will limit the options you have in regard to color and style. Suppliers who offer many different manufacturers are more apt to be more concious of the customers needs.

SILENT BLUE™ - You won't find a laminate pad with more sound or moisture control...

SILENT BLUE™ laminate flooring underlayment delivers the best sound control (value) for the money. Many laminate flooring underlayments claim results but no other (product) laminate pad can give you all the benefits of SILENT BLUE™.

New cross link construction yields greater tear and tensile strength, while flexible enough to overcome small sub floor imperfections. Other laminate flooring underlayments are too rigid and can not contour to sub floor irregularities; thereby creating hollow sound boxes.

Finally, the proof is in the product. Independent tests showed both sound transmission and sound impact ratings to be above architectural and egineering requirements. No other flooring underlaymnet can deliver a 3mm thick laminate pad with ratings of IIC=72 dB and STC=73dB.

Zero Complaints, Zero Warranty Issues, Zero Claims!!! SILENT BLUE™ is selling at a rate of nearly 1 million square feet per month and yet we've never heard of a claim, defect or any complaint whatsoever having to do with product quality.

Highest Sound Ratings Available: Tested by NGC Testing Laboratorys. They actually called us and couldn't believe that such a thin pad had such high ratings. A thicker pad means nothing. Results are the only significant factor; you can't see the pad after it's installed and will never again be able to say "See, look how thick it is!" BEWARE... Thicker pads can create more movement which means less stability and the sensation of walking on an unstable floor, as well as, causing the loss of joint integrity in a floating floor.

Moisture Proof: Closed Cell Construction; moisture can not penetrate SILENT BLUE™ Underlayment. Just make sure the seams are taped with a continuous run of either a polyethylene tape or Silent Blue™ Tape.