When you are trying to choose between laminate floors or wooden floors, you must learn a bit about how each one is installed and how to keep them looking their best so you will be able to decide which one will fit into your lifestyle easier.

There are different types of wooden flooring. Remember all wooden floors react to moisture whether they are pre-finished or unfinished. When you look at wooden floors, you will notice there are Engineered Wooden floors, or Factory Pre-finished Wooden Floors. There are also many different types of finishes you can choose from such as UV-cured, polyurethane, acrylic-urethane, aluminum oxide, acrylic impregnated and of course unfinished. Whenever you are choosing a natural wooden floor or oak flooring, you must remember that you have to take care of these wooden floors. They will take a bit more care than other types of flooring. However, if the wooden floors are installed properly and you care for them correctly, they can last a hundred years and look as awesome; as they did the day they were installed.

If you choose oak flooring or any type of wooden floors for your home, it would be best to talk with a professional to ensure that your wooden floor is installed properly and that it will be able to shrink and expand with the moisture so it does not buckle. It the wooden floors buckle you will have quite a mess on your hands trying to repair the damage.

Laminate floors are becoming very popular mainly because of the ease of installation and care. Laminating floors are an interlocking system that is installed on top of the existing substrate. It can be easily installed and does not need a professional.

Many laminate floors mimic the look of traditional woods; however, you can also find several today that have the look of stone and marble patterns.

The major reason many people are choosing laminate floors over wooden floors or oak flooring is the ease in installing, they are hardwearing and not as expensive as wooden floors. Laminate floors are commonly referred to as a floating floor since they do not actually attach to the sub-floor. The planks are just clicked together, which makes them very easy to install.

This system is the Quick-Step Laminate Flooring. The system is the UNICLIC system and all that one has to do is place the tongue of one plank into the groove of another at a certain angle and press down. There is no waiting for the finish to dry. You can walk on your new Quick-Step Laminate Flooring as soon as you are finished with installation.

Choosing between oak flooring, wooden floors, laminate floors or Quick-Step Laminate Flooring is a matter of personal choice. You can decide which one fits with your own personal lifestyle to create the home of your dreams.

Many homeowners tend to make the mistake of not giving enough thought to flooring options. The right flooring can make a big difference in a kitchen. For instance flooring with light or neutral tones creates an impression of light and space. Stronger colors might work in a small kitchen, but not in a larger one.

The kitchen flooring is the foundation which your kitchen literally rests. By failing to give more consideration to your flooring options and selecting the wrong flooring will insure that an otherwise outstanding kitchen will look only average, and become dated sooner.

When selecting kitchen flooring, it is a good idea to select something that has elements of beauty and durability. Kitchen flooring can accent the counters, cabinets, and appliances. It must also be able to stand up to everyday wear, such as spills and heavy foot traffic.

When it comes to choosing materials for your kitchen flooring be sure to take into consideration both your budget and lifestyle. The choice of kitchen flooring material can be quite broad. Among the choices are vinyl in sheet or tiles, ceramic tile, wood floors and new laminate materials. How to you decide the best one for your kitchen flooring?

You need to do your own research and get the best advice you can from professional contractors and kitchen designers.

Popular Flooring Options:

· For durable and more cost-effective flooring materials then look into vinyl or ceramic tiles.

· Vinyl is durable, inexpensive and available in sheets or tiles, in smooth or knobby. It is the most popular choice when it comes to kitchen flooring, and is available in a large selection of styles, colors and patterns. Vinyl kitchen flooring is generally popular all over the country.

· Laminate kitchen flooring is also popular across the country as well. This is a new product that has grown out of the countertop business. It is created by laminating a photograph of wood grain, stone, or other surfaces, directly to the flooring material. It has the advantage of a quick installation time and is very durable.

· Ceramic tile is beautiful and sturdy, and is the ideal material to clean up spills. Another thing to consider is that some of these choices are probably more common in one part of the country than others. For instance ceramic tile is used for kitchen flooring in the West and South. Wood floors are more prevalent in the Northeast and Midwest.

· Stone type is a good choice if you are looking to create a unique, beautiful kitchen floor. However because stone tile is cut out of boulders, they generally come in odd and inconsistent sizes and shapes, and they are expensive.

· Hardwood kitchen flooring lasts much longer than many options, however it does need to undergo refinishing from time to time. It is available in a wide variety of colors and grains and it can be installed in strips, planks, or parquet squares.

When selecting materials for kitchen flooring, you must consider materials that are both beautiful and durable. Kitchen flooring can be used to accent the counters, cabinets, and appliances. However kitchen flooring must be able to take everyday wear and tear such as spills and heavy traffic. It’s important to select the right material when it comes to Kitchen Flooring. Are you looking for the beauty and durability of travertine or the warmth of hardwoods? By making the correct decision now you can guarantee that a quality kitchen floor will keep its beauty and last a lifetime.

When designing your ideal kitchen remember that light or neutral tones emphasize the impression of light and space, just as darker shades can create feelings of warmth and intimacy. A floor’s finish can even effect perceptions of size and space. A high gloss finish can contribute to the perception of spaciousness. A more subdued or a matte finish can make a space look smaller.

Ultimately the best way to make the decision on kitchen flooring material to look though free samples from warehouse wholesale industries and showrooms in your area. Feel the materials they have and see the quality they offer.

Ceramic Tile brings a texture, richness and color to a room that Linoleum has yet to truly mimic. Tile floors can be installed in any room, however they are most frequently seen in Bathrooms and Kitchens. I particularly like them in entryways, where they serve as a transition point from the outside to large carpeted or hardwood floored rooms. They make for easy clean up and are impervious to water damage.

Tile Types

Ceramic tiles come in two basic types. Glazed and Porcelain. Glazed holds up the best for heavy traffic areas and porcelain works well in bathrooms. Porcelain is typically more expensive, so consider your budget and the size of the area you want to tile. Tiles also come in many shapes and sizes. For flooring, however, I would suggest using larger tiles up to 12″ x 12″.

Underlayment

For proper installation the base foundation or the underlayment is critical. Typically it consists of ¾” to 1 ¼” of plywood. Tiling over Linoleum or existing tile is also feasible, as long as it is solid. I also recommend when Tiling over Linoleum that you first apply ring nails or screws 6″ on center over the entire area. Tiles can also be installed directly over Concrete. Make sure in all cases that the floor is level and free of dust and debris prior to installation. There are leveling compounds that you can apply before applying tile if necessary.

Preparing the Site

Before actually installing the tile, it is best to lay it out in the room to see how it will look. Pay close attention to how it runs out toward the walls, in the corners and next to cabinets, tubs and toilets. The trick is to lay the tile out such that stubby tiles do not show up in highly visible spots. Once you have completed this, make two marks with a pencil outlining the most centered tile. These lines should be perpendicular to each other. Also take note of the wall that is most visible from all the others. Now remove the tiles. Next draw or snap a line perpendicular to this wall that is in line with one of the marks you made on the floor.

Then, draw a perpendicular line to this first line. This second line should be centered with the first line and fairly in line with the second mark you made on the floor. Once you have completed this task, re-layout some of the tiles along the perpendicular lines and observe if they run out in a way that will limit cutting and stubbed tiles. Once this is completed, remove the tiles and prepare for the actual installation.

Installing the Tile

Again, make sure the area is free of dirt and dust. Next apply the ceramic adhesive or mastic to the flooring, starting in the center, where the two perpendicular reference lines intersect. Apply enough material to cover 6-10 square feet, if no cuts are required. If cuts are required limit the amount of mastic application to about 2-4 square feet. When applying the mastic, first spread it with the flat end of the trowel. Lay it on relatively thick, approximately 1/8″ to 3/16″thick. Then turn the trowel around and run the notched edge over it. This creates ridges in the mastic that helps to hold the tile down more securely. The larger the tile, the larger the notches should be. For example, I use a ¼” notched trowel for 12″ x 12″ tiles.

Note: Only make up enough ceramic adhesive for 30 minutes, as this material has the tendency to harden up rather quickly.

Once the adhesive has been applied, begin installing the tiles working from the center outward. On larger tiles you should back butter them. Basically, apply a thin coating of mastic to the back of the tile prior to laying it on the floor. This will help ensure a good bond.

As you near the walls or edges of cabinets, tubs and toilets, you will need to cut some of the tiles. I highly recommend the use of a Wet-Saw. A Wet-Saw will allow you to make very accurate cuts, both large and small. You will also save money, as you will waste many fewer tiles with bad cuts or broken tiles. Wet-Saws are not that expensive and once you see your finished product you will certainly be installing more tile. Wet-Saws can also be rented as a cheaper alternative.

When applying Tiles, you may want to use Lugs. Lugs are effectively spacers that come in various thicknesses. I typically like to have no more than a ¼” space between the tiles. Employing Spacers will ensure uniformity with your tile spacing.

Grouting

After the Tile has been completely installed, allow it to sit for 24-48 hours before applying grout and walking on it. Grout comes in many different colors and is very easy to install. Simply mix the grout with water or a special bonding agent and apply with a rubber trowel. Run the trowel on a bias when going over tile corners.

Once the grout has been applied, immediately wipe the tile of excess grout, using a wet sponge and a bucket of water. Wait 30 minutes and again wipe the tiles down of any residual grout. Wait another 60 minutes and repeat. If grout is left on the tiles to dry, you will have a great deal of elbow work scraping it off.

Let the grout sit up for 24 hours and it is ready for use and admiration.

Laminate Flooring has made the most significant change to the flooring industry in the last 25 years and continues to make tremendous changes and improvements over is hard surface counter parts.

In Europe they have been enjoying its features and benefits for several decades but not as laminate flooring as we know today. Decorative laminate was really the origins and the beginning of what now is known as laminate flooring. The decorative laminate was widely used in kitchen counter tops and furniture. As the technology evolved in the counter top laminate industry it clearly became apparent that with the endless number of decors that could be created, could also be created and used on the floor.

The idea of laminate flooring was born. There have been many technical challenges the first of which was how can you take a simple counter top laminate and create a flooring product, the flooring product will take far more abuse by being walked on and a wear layer was created.

There has really been no stopping the technical tidal wave of improvements and ideas that followed. Led mainly by the European countries laminate flooring gained more market share year after year, no market experienced such rapid growth as North America. Massive marketing campaigns led by such brands as Pergo who are now synonymous with laminate flooring introduced laminate flooring to the American Public in the early 1990s.

The actual history of laminate flooring is quite short in North America, because Pergo had achieved household recognition with the new flooring products Laminate flooring in North America was widely referred to as “Pergo” floors again the synonymous status and the ‘holy grail’ of all brands.

In 2000 laminate flooring was a glue product; even so the market share within the flooring industry in North America continued to grow at a double digit pace. Many of the other US traditional floor covering manufacturers of carpet and vinyl added laminate flooring to their portfolio of products.

Then so was born the private label laminate. Laminate flooring was easy to private label you simply changed the insert or the packaging and then that created another brand or line of flooring. This was especially useful for the hardwood and carpet manufacturer’s to get on board with this new product. The traditional manufacturers of carpet and hardwood have huge distribution networks and with their own branded line of flooring were able to place thousands of new flooring displays in a matter of months and new brands started appearing everywhere. This continued to drive the growth in the USA.

As traditional US manufacturers of carpet and vinyl presented themselves as laminate flooring manufacturers, advertised the products, placed laminate flooring displays and drove sales.

Time Line in the US Market The next stages of growth were equally fast and I will break them down chronologically:

2000 was particularly painful for the Carpet Manufactures in Dalton, Georgia they were completely blindsided by the aggressive marketing of laminate flooring against their carpet and that is where the laminate took most of their market share from touting the Laminate Flooring product as hypo allergenic and showing close ups of carpet mites and bugs did nothing to help the domestic carpet manufacturers.

All hard surface flooring companies benefited. It was an exciting year for laminate flooring salesmen, even with terrible installation demonstrations and glue together flooring.

2001 Every year that preceded 2000 involved new, exciting and innovative changes to the laminate flooring market. The first change really started in 2001 glue free laminate. This was first introduced with metal clips on the back and during sales presentations as you tried to put it together you almost needed a sledge hammer, it was more difficult than the glue together method. Not very popular but the concept was created all we needed was the design and solution.

2002 A year later the technology of glue-less laminate flooring arrived, introductions of glue-less laminates began again revolutionizing the floor covering industry. Unilin Industries of Belgium introduced Quick-Step into the US market. Quick-Step utilizes the patented Uniclic joint system. Several other manufacturers bought licenses to use the Uniclic joint technology thereby acknowledging Uniclic as the industry standard for Glue-less technology.

Still 95% of the USA market was using glue together laminate, it took yet more aggressive marketing and this time mainly led by the home centers with names like ‘Easy-Lock’, ‘Quick-Lock’, ‘Speedy-Lock’, etc, to drive the consumer towards the exceptionally friendly D.I.Y. glue-less laminate flooring ranges.

It was predicted in 2002 that buy 2004 100% of the laminate flooring industry will be glue-less.

2003 This again proved to be a dynamic year within the laminate flooring industry, sales of the product per square foot continued to climb, but lawsuits with regards to patents over the locking system and who created and who could use it surfaced and would continue on for many years. Aside from the lawsuits the technology now happy with the glue-less free install and now a particularly D.I.Y. friendly product focused on creating the product to be as realistic as hardwood as possible.

2004 This saw some dramatic changes in the quality of the laminate product itself. The standard glue-free laminate flooring product was 7″ wide by 54″ long and it had a light ‘ticking’ effect, the panels went together with glue-less free locking system. Mostly all of the products were imports and mainly from Europe.

Towards the end of 2004 laminate flooring factories (though not fully integrated and small in comparison to the European counterparts) started appearing across the USA. The larger US manufacturers of carpets invested in laminate flooring facilities though they were not fully integrated (we can explore the importance of vertical integration later). But this showed the US retailer and distributor that the product was here to and it was time to start backing a horse.

This led to more innovation from overseas, the first was a wood grain texture – the laminate itself had heavier wood texture but it was random and not too realistic in effect a modest upgrade, at first all manufacturers tried to sell this improvement for $0.20SF to distribution but the reality was their was no manufacturer cost increase to produce this texture – it was just a different pressure plate.

2005 The lawsuits over the locking system continued, incidentally the locking system lawsuit is not about the easy angle long joint of the laminate flooring, all the law suits focus on the end locking joint.

The chase to create an exact wood replicate of hardwood flooring continued and this led to a technology called ‘Register and Emboss’ or ‘Embossed and Registered’. The idea of this was for the pattern of the oak for example to be perfectly indented into the wood panel, so the grain of the Oak or Cherry was realistic to the touch.

All the manufacturers soon chased this technology, it required a relatively simple process, create the correct paper (décor pattern) and then have a press plate and the end of the manufacturing process to match that paper décor and then you have the grain embossed.

Legal arguments over who came up with that technology all ensued.

2006 The year of branding, distributors with ‘own brand’ tried to position themselves as manufacturers – one of the biggest being a vinyl manufacturer tried to position themselves as market leaders. Acquisitions also followed, Mohawk Industries bought Unilin ‘Quick-Step’ in 2006. This also became the year of the home center business, where having your labeled product in one of the three main US home centers was the ultimate goal.

One of the major carpet manufacturers and distributors with there factory in Dalton gained the business with Home Depot. Pergo was well positioned with a vinyl manufacturer you had private labeled their laminate line into Lowes Home Improvement Stores. Being a vinyl manufacturer and not a laminate manufacturer create a major problem and a crucial weakness as Lowes Home Improvement shifted their purchasing policy to ‘only’ buy factory direct.

A major Swiss group and manufacturer of laminate flooring also with the world’s largest factory in Heiligengrabe, Germany had been quietly building a factory in Barnwell, SC and at the right time were able to replace the vinyl manufacturer as supplier to Lowes Home Improvement.

2007 This really saw the legal issue on the locking system end as two legal systems emerged, one under Valinge Innovation and Uniclic Licensees each with approximately 100 partners paying royalties of roughly $0.04SF to $0.07SF. Licensees were granted all over the world and this led way to the re-emergence of Chinese laminate flooring.

In the mid 1990 China was one of the fastest growing laminate flooring markets in the world and most of this was supplied by shipping in container from Europe, there were huge distributors in China 100 containers a month in size – or 2,400 pallets a month. It did not take long for Chinese ingenuity to copy the process and buy 2001, China had a slew of factories (with large Government subsidies), some of this product came back as imports in to the USA, but the legal issues with locking systems and potential freezes of stock, cease and desist letter flying about scared off most distributors.

2008 China was back, this time the large factories had license agreements and were legal, the machines that made the laminate flooring were from Europe and the product quality was excellent.

There market tactics were equally excellent, instead off going after the low end dog fighting market of the 7mm and 8mm, they created a new look. A narrow plank and beveled the edges, this new narrow plank was approximately 5″ wide compared to the standard 8″ from Europe, the 5″ wide was a one plank look and combined with the bevel, register and embossing they had created the ultimate flooring.

This was it, everything over the last 25 years culminated to this point a flooring that had a narrow board look 5 inches wide, beveled or micro beveled on all four side, realistic textured surface and a lifetime warranty.

The European’s adjusted, but they were for once on the back foot, China instead of going after the low end market aimed high with a high quality, the highest quality laminate you could buy and they could make it and make it affordable to the US market.

2009 It is not clear where we can go from here, but the same was probably said in 2005, laminate flooring is now so good in appearance that you cannot tell it apart from real hardwood, the only clue is the price laminate flooring is far less expensive than real wood with more color choices. 2009 will be a difficult economic year and so will 2010. Consumers will focus on quality and price. Brand will become less important as the consumer becomes more educated. The huge price fluctuations four sided beveled and narrow plank from one distributor priced at $5SF and from another $0.89SF and yet absolutely no technical difference in the product. Consumer will research and the gap will close.

Laminate flooring in the US market is a remarkable story of growth and ingenuity. I do not think that a couple of tough economic years will have much impact on its future survival. It is an excellent product and with some effort and research by the consumer you can get incredible value.