Laminate Flooring

Photo: Armstrong World Industries, Inc. Laminate floors use a tongue-and-groove installation system similar to solid wood flooring. Originating in wood-starved Europe, where it has been used in homes for more than 20 years, laminate flooring migrated to the United States for residential use in the mid-1990s. Laminate flooring is similar in construction to laminate kitchen countertops but with a much tougher wear layer.

Laminate flooring is a tongue and groove interlocking flooring system that floats on top of the existing sub floor. The sub floor could be a wood sub floor, a concrete slab, an existing vinyl floor, or any other existing flooring type. Laminate Floor is not attached to the floor underneath. A special polyurethane padding is laid down prior to the new laminate flooring being installed. Some laminate flooring is glueless, it just snaps together. Other brands require a bead of specially formulated, water-resistant, glue be placed between the tongue and grooves of every plank to hold the planks together and to seal all the edges of the planks from moisture.

The product itself is constructed of a hard core material that has a laminated printed layer and a special backing material that is secured to a core material and then saturated in plastic resins. All the layers are bonded together at high pressure. The surface is extremely hard and resists scratching, denting, fading, and even cigarette burns!

Laminate flooring has an exceptional ability to reproduce the look of natural materials such as wood, stone, and tile. Traditional wood-grain patterns are the most popular, particularly oak and maple. Laminate is a good choice for homeowners who want the look of a real wood floor at less cost and with minimum maintenance. Regular vacuuming or sweeping and occasional damp mopping are all that are required. The only drawback to the flooring is that it is noisy. Walking on it is often like walking on a drum.

Most laminate flooring is 5/16 inch thick. Less expensive, thinner laminates are also available but are not as durable. Warranties are a good gauge of quality; they can range from 10 years to lifetime. Most of them guarantee against defects, wear, fading, stains, and water damage. Laminate flooring can be installed on any level of the house, including below grade. There are even water-resistant designs made especially for bathrooms. Check the warranty to be sure what's covered.

Linoleum

Photo: Armstrong World Industries, Inc. Available in new colors and patterns, traditional linoleum requires periodic waxing or polishing to protect the material and maintain its luster. Genuine linoleum is the original sheet flooring material, first patented by Englishman Frederick Walton in 1863. Although some people still call all sheet floors "linoleum," the real thing is quite different from the sheet vinyl floors that gradually replaced linoleum in the late 20th century.

Its name derives from the main ingredient, linseed oil. (In Latin, linum is the word for linseed and oleum means oil.) The oil is boiled, mixed with melted resins, and combined with powdered cork, wood flour, resins, ground limestone, and other natural materials. Mineral pigments provide the color. This mixture is formed into a durable sheet by applying heat and pressure.

Today, linoleum has enjoyed resurgence in popularity among homeowners because of its natural look and physical properties. Linoleum is quiet and comfortable underfoot and contains no synthetic chemicals. The antistatic surface rejects dust and makes it ideal for rooms with electronic equipment.

Linoleum is definitely not a low maintenance flooring. It has maintenance characteristics similar to wood. It is tough and durable but susceptible to moisture and alkalinity. In order to produce its best appearance and to protect it from dirt and excess moisture, linoleum should be cleaned and waxed with products intended for use on genuine linoleum.

Bamboo

Bamboo is actually a grass, but the flooring acts like hardwood. Some manufacturers offer a finish that is warranteed for 50 years. Bamboo is one of the world’s most environmentally friendly natural construction materials. It is not wood. It's a variety of grass. There are over 1,000 species of bamboo growing in most places in the world, even in the U.S.

The bamboo used in flooring grows so fast, (about 1" each hour), that there is no environmental danger to this product. It reaches 90' in height and 8" - 10" in diameter by the time it is harvested. Bamboo is on average 27% harder than Northern Red Oak and 59% more stable.

Bamboo flooring is an engineered product. Most of it is made in China and imported into the United States. Multiple plies of bamboo strips are laminated together to produce planks. These are then finished with a factory-applied coating, much like pre-finished wood flooring products. Some coatings are warranteed for 50 years. Now very limited in color: basically natural and "burnt bamboo", expect more color choices very soon as engineers figure out how to apply enduring color to this very dense material.

Cork Tile

"Cork" is not a word that immediately comes to mind when thinking of materials for kitchen and bath flooring. Cork tile, however, is an environmentally sustainable material, like bamboo, and has some unique properties that make it as suitable as wood for bath and kitchen use.

When carefully sealed, cork, like wood is suitable for kitchen and bath use, but it cannot long endure standing water without damage. Photo courtesy Expanko, Inc. Cork is the bark of the Cork Oak tree. The tree, grown predominately in Europe and North Africa, has a life span ranging from 150-200 years. Cork is harvested using methods that have remained virtually unchanged since the uses of cork were first discovered. Once the tree has reached maturity (typically 25 years), the first harvest of cork bark is removed from the tree. The process is repeated at intervals of nine years, at no time affecting the health of the tree. During each harvest, no more than 50% of the bark is removed, allowing the tree to protect itself using its natural defenses.

To produce cork flooring, cork bark is ground into small granules. The granules are baked in molds at varying temperatures producing shade variations in the finished tile product. A dye may also be applied. The result is then cut into slabs, sanded and finished with several applications of polyurethane.

Cork contains micro-cells filled with air. This is what gives cork it resiliency and buoyancy. Cork has a little "give" to it when it is walked on, but immediately springs back to its original shape. While cork can be dented if enough pressure is applied, ordinary use causes no damage. Cork is also water-resistant due to its cellular structure - but not water-proof and allowing water to stand for long periods on cork should be avoided.

Properly installed, cork provides a long lasting floor, giving your interior a warm, natural look and feel that will retain its functional beauty for decades

Concrete

Photo: The Concrete Network. Acid stained concrete makes a beautifu, durable floor for your kitchen or bath. For a very durable surface, consider concrete for your kitchen or bathroom floor. We do not mean, of course, the kind of concrete that you have on your sidewalk. Interior concrete floors are a denser, finer concrete mixture. Acid staining and dying the concrete can produce a huge variety of looks from rustic to industrial.

New flexible thinset materials can even be applied over old floors for a fresh, new look. And concrete is a natural if you want radiant heat in the floor. It transmits the heat better than just about eny other flooring material.

Acid staining is not a process for the unskilled or faint of heart. A trained colorist is part chemist and part artist. It requires a lot of experince to get it right. The stains are a mixture of metalic salts and acidic, wataer based solution. The acid opens up the top of the concrete allowing the mineral salts to penetrate. The salts react with the calcium hydroxide in cured concrete to produce color that is a permanent part of the concrete. Colors are limited to black, earthtones, blues and greens, but the list of colors is growing yearly as stain manufacturers continue their search for the next great color.

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Now that you know about kitchen flooring, learn about the new countertop materials at New and Traditional Countertop Choices and to distinguish good from poor cabinets at Cabinet Basics.

For more good reading, check out our complete articles index.