So, what exactly is a laminate floor?

Laminate flooring has been around for quite some time, but today's flooring is not your grandmother’s old laminate. Engineering and technology have been applied to this flooring design to make it more durable and aesthetically pleasing. What’s not to love?

The basics

Laminate is essentially a printed picture of either hardwood or tile mounted on a robust and sturdy backing and then covered with a protective wear-layer. That may not sound glamorous, but we think you will change your mind when you see some of this flooring, some of which is even textured to enhance the illusion that the floor is generating.

Here are some significant improvements over the years regarding the wear layer and the core material that the picture is mounted upon: wear layers have become thicker and more durable over the years, and new materials have been added to prevent abrasion. Some laminates are designed for commercial applications with a core made up of either a medium-density or a high-density fiberboard. This resists denting and helps even out any imperfections in the subfloor.

The beauty

Laminate floors are essentially the tried-and-true workhorse of flooring, but that would not matter a great deal if these floors were not attractive to the eye. The fact is that, as the appearance of this flooring is essentially a picture, they can be made to look like a wide variety of flooring from wood to tile. These floors look so good that often your guests will not know that you don’t have the real thing. Laminates are a fraction of the cost of stone or wood. When you add to all of this the reality that they are highly water-resistant and easy to clean, what more could you want?

At Hillside Floor Covering, we recognize that seeing is believing, so come down to our showroom in Puyallup, WA, and let us give you a tour of our vast selection. We serve the broader area of Puyallup, Tacoma, Sumner, Bonney Lake, and Spanaway, WA, and we would love to help you as well. As your laminate flooring store, we offer the widest variety and best quality materials around, along with professional installation.