All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

The carpet must be dry and flat. And the carpet thickness must be less than 3mm, otherwise the laminate flooring is easy towarp when people walk on it as the flooring will sink and change too much when people step on it and the carpet is too thick.

Laminate flooring(LF) and bamboo flooring(BF) are both of wood flooring. But they have their own features.

1. Abrasion resistance
LF is strong abrasion resistant. AC4 and AC5 rating LF can be used for heavy commercial purpose. It can be used in many high traffic indoor places such as gymnasium and supermart. Bamboo flooring is not strong abrasion resistant. It can� be used in high traffic place.

2. Price
LF is much cheaper. The prices of bamboo is usually 3-4 times higher than that of BF.3. Moisture resistance Both of the products are strong moisture resistant. But BF is much better. BF even can be used in kitchen. The swelling rate of BF is very low.

4. Durability
Regarding durability, BF is better than LF. LF can�t be repaired if the top layer, abrasion resistance, is broken as there is no layer to protect the decorative layer and support material. BF still can be used if its surface is broken because there is still bamboo under the surface.

5. The content of formaldehyde
BF is mainly made up of glued bamboo planks, while the support material of LF consists of glued wooden fiber. So the content of formaldehyde in LF is times of that in bamboo. But laminate flooring(LF) is also safe as long as it meet the standard of formaldehyde release.

6. Colors available
Almost all the colors can be available to LF: pine, oak, birch, beech, cherry, oak, teak, walnut, ceramic tile, granite, marble and even including bamboo. But the colors for (BF) are just natural color, carbonized color and several other colors.

7. Appearance
BF gives a natural, elegant and comfortable feel. It makes your house more valuable. Common LF can� t offer such feel. But now there is some type of LF with hardwood like appearance such as V groove type and hand scraped surface.

8. Noise.
LF is of a floating type. There is some noise when people step, while there is only a little noise from BF as its installation method is quite different from LF. It is not a floating type. But attached underlayment on the back of LF can reduce most of the noise

Many people like laminate flooring due to its features. But they have a doubt: Is it safe? Unlike marble, granite, ceramic tile and concrete, this product doesn�t contain radioactive substance. The key factor is its content of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is contained in not only laminate flooring but also furniture, paint, glue and other interior decorative materials.

Formaldehyde is a kind of chemic gas. If formaldehyde release exceeds some extent in the air, it will harm people�s nose, eye, respiratory system, etc. and conduce to dermatosis, rhinopharyngocele, leukaemia, etc.

The formaldehyde for laminate flooring is contained in its support material. It is used to make aniline-formaldehyde resin which has strong capacity of agglutination. This kind of resin acts as mucilage glue for the support material. It is cheap. And it can add to the antisepsis, hardness and insect resistance. So it is the first choice of agglutination materials for veneer.

The formaldehyde in the support material will not come out at once. The release period is up to different conditions of temperature, humidity and the quality of the surface. The period will last at least 12 years. So many countries have relevant regulations for formaldehyde release of veneer. For example, EU set us 3 grades for formaldehyde release: E1 ((≦10mg／1 00g),E2 (≦40mg／100g) and E3 (≦100mg／100g). E1 rating products can be used for interior purpose directly. E2 rating products can be used after the treatment of surface. In fact, minim formaldehyde release can�t do harm to people�s body. So you can feel free to use eligible laminate flooring.

The standard name of laminate flooring is laminate floor covering.

laminate flooring is usually made up of four layers: top layer which is named abrasion resistance layer; second layer which is named decorative layer; third layer which is consists of HDF, MDF or flakeboard; bottom layer which is named balance back layer. The four layers are incorporated into one product by heavy pressure and high temperature.

The fist layer mainly consists of even AL2O3. AL2O3 is main material of manmade diamond. So you can see how tough the surface is. The strength of top layer is decided by the density of AL2O3. If the density is too high, it will affect not only the flexility and durability, but also transparence and polish of the surface. For domestic purpose, 4000-6000 turns are enough.

The second layer is made up of decorative paper which has been dipped in melamine first.

The third layer, core, is the main part of laminate flooring. Most manufacturers use HDF or MDF for the core because HDF or MDF has many advantages which solid wood doesn�t have such as even density. The core color is green or brown. Green core is a bit more moisture resistant.

The fourth layer is usually made up of polyester material which can resist vapor from the subfloor and balance other 3 layers.

Now there is a new layer for choice: silence layer. The layer consists of cork or foam. It is attached to the back of balance back layer to reduce noise. Laminate is a floating type of flooring. There is some noise when people walk on it. The silence layer can remove most of the noise. It main colors are black, brown and blue. The thickness of the layer is usually 2mm and 3mm.

The main finishes for laminate flooring are big embossed surface, middle embossed surface, little embossed surface, silk surface, crystal surface, mirror surface, V groove, feather grain surface and hand scraped surface. Embossed surface, silk surface and feather grain surface are rough surface. Mirror surface and crystal surface are of smooth. Little embossed surface and crystal surface are the most popular finishes.

The usually dimensions are as follows: length: 807mm and 1214mm; width: 90mm, 126mm, 143mm, 163mm and 193mm; thickness: 7mm, 8.3mm and 12.3mm. The most popular size is 1213*193*8.3mm or similar one.

Laminate flooring is fitted together with normal tongue and groove before. Now most laminate flooring locks together with locking system. The most popular locking systems are double click, single click and round click.

As long as the ceramic tile is flat, there shouldn't be any problem.

It depends on different places in the house.

For international purpose, , the price can't be cheap due to the the transport fee.

Concrete is easy to crack if there is no reasonable expansion space.

You need to take the planks apart first and then paint it.

Both laminate and carpet have their own features.