Laminate flooring revolutionized the domestic home improvement market during its popularization in the 1980s and 1990s. It was developed by the Swedish company Perstorp in 1977 as an artificial alternative to wooden flooring that was produced by bonding layers of plastic and fiber boards. Its initial selling point was its price which was as low as £8 per square metre, which has been further reduced to just £5 per square meter in recent years.
The main drawback of laminate floors was their often unconvincing imitation of wooden floors. In its early days, scanned images were often unclear and contained excessive repetitions of natural wood characteristics, such as knots and summer growth rings, which was a dead giveaway. However, over time, laminate has become much more convincing with modern manufacturers having the technical capabilities to use high-resolution images. This, along with the ability to store a larger sample selection of scanned wood to produce your flooring, means an area large enough to cover an entire room can be ‘printed’, with no instances of pattern repetition.
Another notable development in laminate flooring was the addition of texture to the floor surface. The subtle indentations that resembled the wood grain texture often seen in real wood flooring through a brushed finish and the beveled edges of the plank sections that created V-grooves once laid they added to the enhanced authentic feel of laminate flooring.
Series was a pioneer brand during this transition from cheap imitation flooring to a high quality alternative and still offers some of the highest quality and most affordable laminate flooring in the UK today. Current prices for laminate are between £5-12 per square metre, which varies greatly due to different grades. Compared to as low as £15 per square meter for engineered flooring and over £20 per square meter for solid wood flooring, laminate still offers a simple and inexpensive solution to the hardwood flooring problem.
However, a cheap price does not necessarily mean a good value. Laminate flooring, as mentioned, comes in various grades ranging from AC1 to AC5, with grades AC3 and AC5 being the most common. This refers to how durable the floor is, whether it is suitable for a home or commercial environment, and its expected lifespan. Some AC3 laminate flooring can cost as little as £6 per square metre, but the residential warranty offered would be limited to just 5-7 years. However, if you’re willing to spend twice as much for AC5 grade flooring, you could be offered a much longer residential warranty of 30 years.
This brings us to the key factor of value. While cheaper AC3 grade laminate flooring may cost only a fifth of the price of solid wood flooring, it will need to be replaced on average every 5 years, whereas hardwood flooring would last for decades. Mathematically, this just doesn’t work, but coupled with the fact that each floor installation can also take more time and money, and while it lasts, the product won’t feel as high-quality as solid wood or engineered flooring, the low quality laminate flooring. not a good value.
However, there is certainly potential in higher quality laminate flooring. AC5 grade flooring may cost twice as much as AC3, but is expected to last 6 times as long. I hope this goes to show that it’s definitely worth doing the math when comparing any product to get an idea of true value rather than just cheapness.