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The History of Laminate Flooring
A Scandinavian Heritage
Laminate flooring represents the most significant
flooring entry in the past twenty-five years.
The product we know today as laminate flooring was
originally developed as another possible use of high-pressure melamine
laminate. This occurred in
Sweden in the early eighties.
A product was created with a base of several layers of paper
impregnated with special resins which were pressed together under high
pressure into a highly wear resistant composite material.
The decorative paper determined the design.
The finished laminate was then glued onto a carrier and cut into
sections with extremely exact dimensions.
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Decorative laminate was a product that was widely
used on kitchen countertops, tables or wall paneling, but obviously not
as yet for floors. This clearly created an opportunity, but a flooring
application brought new technical challenges. The initial concern to be
solved was the wear factor. It
is obvious that floors are walked on and therefore suffer a lot more
normal abuse than furniture or counter tops. A laminate floor clearly
had to be more durable. A
reinforced laminate that was approximately ten times stronger than
counter tops was created and the first flooring began to be sold.
As research grew, the relative strength of flooring laminate
increased dramatically to at least twenty times that of countertops.
Important parallel developments were also taking
place during these early days. Packaging
was one. Wood flooring at the time was normally sold in long strips of
approximately eight feet and installed only by a skilled professional.
Laminate flooring was different right from the beginning.
It was packaged eight planks to a carton that was approximately
half this length (about four feet).
The easy to handle carton was fairly lightweight and could be
transported by car or in an elevator with ease.
Its carton contents equaled approximately twenty square feet (two
square meters). Because of
these revolutionary factors and ease of installation, a large do-it
yourself market was created in Sweden that exists today.
In fact, over ninety percent of laminate flooring in Sweden still
is self-installed!
Reasons for Acceptance
The system of gluing, using a tongue and groove
method that, when done properly, creates a single unit that is
impervious to normal household spills or tracked in rain or snow.
This single unit expands or contracts with changes in humidity.
(This movement, by the way, cannot be seen).
The strength of the bond in creating the single unit permits
heavy objects, such as refrigerators or bookcases to be placed directly
on the flooring.
Provided that the glue is applied correctly, there
is no problem with gaping. This
process of installation is called a floating floor.
The laminate floor can be laid or “floated” over the existing
floor without being glued to the surface.
This system also encapsulates the original floor.
In most cases, (with the exception of textile), the older floor
is not removed. This
further saves time and installation costs!
Both the professional installer and the
do-it-yourself customer
quickly embraced the floating floor method because of the
simplicity of installation and removal as compared to a glue down (to
the sub-floor) floor. An
easy removal process replaces the laminate floor at which point it can
be destroyed with no danger to the atmosphere.
Laminate floors contained insignificant
quantities of elements that affected indoor air quality, plus it
could be installed in a minimum amount of time.
The final success ingredient (and an important one)
is in the aesthetics of the floor.
In the beginning virtually all the floors replicated were wood
species. Why? Simply
because these patterns were desired by the public.
As laminate flooring grew in popularity, other looks were
introduced, including marble and stone.
One of the interesting aspects of laminate flooring is that the
designs are limited only by the imagination of the producers. This has
resulted in a product that is now recognized by the design and
decorating community for its ability to create an atmosphere of great
beauty along with durability.
The European Spread of Laminate
Flooring
Three important attributes - durability, design and
installation ease now assured the popularity of laminate flooring in
Europe. Following the early success in Scandinavia, other northern
European countries, primarily Germany and the Benelux countries began to
market laminate flooring. Distribution
then spread quickly throughout the rest of Europe and continues today.
Standards in Europe are being created by the CEN (Comité
Européen de Normalisation or The European Committee for Standardization)
group and will have the force of law.
NALFA maintains a relationship with this important committee as
well as EPLF (European Producers of Laminate Flooring).
The interchange of ideas and technical data is viewed by NALFA as
one of the most important areas of contribution
Into
North America
Laminate flooring crossed the Atlantic to North
America in the early nineties and was brought quickly to the market.
The results of this introduction surpassed even Europe.
The North American consumer discovered that he
could have a product of beauty with incredible wear and unmatched stain
resistance. American
and Canadian kitchens quickly became the primary room for laminate
floors. Our consumer
found out that virtually nothing could stain this beautiful floor, nor
would sun or ultraviolet cause fade; and wear patterns were a thing of
the past. And yet there
were more discovered benefits. The
resistance to indentation from heavy objects or shoes was far greater
than popular existing wood or vinyl floors.
The floor was incredibly easy to clean - vacuuming or damp
mopping are needed. There
is no need for waxing or stripping of the old wax buildup.
The retailer enjoyed unexpected ease of stocking
and servicing. Dye
lots, found in ceramic or textile, are non-existent in laminate
flooring. This retailer
benefit also assured the consumer of exact match in tone and color, even
if additional matching flooring was purchased and installed a year
later!
Besides importers, US and Canadian manufacturing
operations began to produce the product.
Laminate flooring was on its way to another success.
North America took to this new category of beautiful flooring
with its remarkable qualities in unparalleled numbers.
Today, laminate flooring continues its remarkable
growth. Virtually every
room of the house, including bathrooms is benefiting from a laminate
floor application. The
commercial marketplace is now exploring the aspects of laminate flooring
for its demanding situations.
Thanks to NALFA
(North American Laminate Flooring Association for the above information! |
