Laminate flooring is making a comeback! While Hybrid flooring has seen an increase in popularity over the past few years, the technology behind the design and functionality of Laminate flooring has undergone some serious improvements—making it a leading flooring choice at One Source.
Mimicking the real look of timber flooring, the combination of visually stunning planks and waterproofness is a true benefit to many Gold Coast renovators. In this guide, we cover the pros and cons of laminate flooring, walk you through our ranges, outline Aaron’s top pick and answer your frequently asked questions. If you need assistance with laminate flooring in your next project, feel free to book an appointment by clicking one of the buttons below.
What is Laminate Flooring?
With innovative timber-look designs and life-like textures, laminate flooring feels, looks and performs better now than ever before. So, what is laminate flooring?
In short, laminate flooring is a type of floating floorboard that is constructed by layering different surfaces around either a High Density Fibre (HDF) or Medium Density Fibre (MDF) board. They are occasionally found with an in-built underlay, but most laminate planks will need to be installed with a foam and film underlay underneath. These layers usually consist of:
- A transparent, wear-, stain- and impact-resistant overlay.
- Your design layer that defines the look of the plank.
- An MDF or HDF core, providing stability and durability.
- A backing layer that assists in ‘balancing’ and protecting the underside of your plank.
Our Laminate Flooring Collections
At One Source Flooring, you won’t find budget laminate flooring that’s not structurally sound. We only supply and install laminate planks that we truly stand by. Major trade retailers will sell cheaper AC2 and AC3 planks, where we only hand-pick AC4 planks or above—making them tough enough for everyday living and are ideally suited for the wear and tear associated with modern family environments.
Laminate Flooring Pros & Cons
LAMINATE FLOORING PROS
- Laminate flooring is low maintenance
- Laminate flooring is durable
- There are water-resistant planks, great for bathrooms for a more cohesive home design
- Embossing & designs look and feel more timber-like than ever before
- Laminate flooring usually requires less floor preparation, speeding up your project.
LAMINATE FLOORING CONS
- Can be noisy underfoot
- Cannot be refinished or re-sanded
- Cheaper laminate can warp and de-laminate
- Not all planks are 100% waterproof.
Laminate Planks - What's Aaron's Top Pick?
Majestic by Quick-Step
Take your interior to a new level in luxury and spaciousness with Quick-Step’s longest & widest laminate flooring boards ever made. The planks of Majestic floors will make a big impression with their true-to-nature colours and textures, as well as extreme water resistance. All of this is combined in a striking format of 2.05 m x 24 cm that will breathe life into your interior.
Treated with a unique Hydroseal water-repellent coating, Majestic floors offer the ultimate in water resistance, making them the perfect fit for kitchens and bathrooms.
Our Latest Laminate Flooring - What's New?
GenCore+ by Australian Select Timbers
The Reflections Laminate GenCore+ 12mm range is our premium high-performance laminate flooring. The Optimal Pure HDF Core and AC4 wear layer ensures long-lasting performance in both residential and commercial settings. This collection features a stylish fourteen colour palette with either a smooth finish or matte embossed surface. Durable and moisture-resistant, thanks to our 72 hour moisture guard* this laminate flooring can go through a steam cleaning session problem-free.
Our GenCore+ 12mm range also provides protection against stains, fading, scratches and scuff marks.
Laminate Flooring on the Gold Coast
When considering flooring options for your Gold Coast home renovation, laminate flooring stands out as an excellent choice. Our coastal lifestyle demands a balance between style, durability, and budget-friendliness, and laminate flooring successfully fulfills all these criteria. Our range of stunning timber laminate flooring solutions that encapsulates the region’s innate beauty, all while providing adaptable floating floorboards that can endure the rigors of daily life.
Drop into our Gold Coast showroom where our expert team will help empower you in finding the ideal flooring for your renovation. Given the elevated humidity levels and frequent wet weather in the region, selecting the appropriate product for your home’s environment is paramount.
Despite some products delivering good moisture resistant qualities, it’s not always recommended to install all laminate types in rooms like bathrooms or laundry areas. As always, we recommend chatting with our sales team before you make your final selection so they can discuss requirements.
Answering your Laminate Flooring FAQs
Yes and no. Some laminate flooring comes with a waterproof or water-resistant coating, which makes the surface waterproof, but not the actual core (meaning you still need to clean up spills asap). That’s why we love Majestic Laminate Flooring by Quick-Step as it offers extreme water resistance with the waterproof coating extending into the join grooves.
The use of the word ‘floating’ refers to the installation method i.e. ‘floating’ above the subfloor, not ‘glued’. Laminate flooring is installed using a floating method, technically making them a ‘floating floor’.
Yes! All of our laminate flooring manufacturer’s have the options to purchase matching ‘stair nosing’ so your stairs will remain cohesive with the rest of your home. You may experience issues if you have round stairs, not straight, so we suggest discuss this with your installer during the quote stage.
There are a number of factors that need to be considered when quoting the total cost of installing laminate flooring in your property. The price depends on the construction and quality of the product, installation requirements (we’ve covered some of this below) as well as any transportation costs from the supplier.
At One Source Flooring, we manage the entire laminate floor installation process from start to finish and, because we’ve completed your measure and have supplied your flooring—we can provide an accurate, fixed-price quote.
It’s important to note that ‘wastage’ is also required, generally an extra 15-20% on top of the net area. By taking this and the below factors into consideration, you will have a more realistic idea on the square meterage you require for the job.
We recommend booking a free in-home measure and quote so that our expert team can provide an accurate quote. Other important considerations include:
Removing Existing Floors & Floor Preparation
Before installing the laminate flooring, there may be a need to prepare your floor. If the project is a renovation, either you or our laminate flooring installers may need to remove the old flooring and ensure that the floor is clean, level and in top condition. If suitable, a flood coat may be an appropriate alternative.
Number of Rooms
The number of rooms that need new laminate flooring will influence the overall cost. Generally speaking, the cost per square metre of your laminate flooring reduces as your requirements increase.
Room Shape
Installing laminate flooring in a rectangular-shaped room will cost less than a room that’s an odd shape or has round edges. This is purely due to the increase in time taken to complete the room as it’s more complex.
Stairways
Laminate flooring installation on stairways requires accurate measurement, cutting and precise installation. Due to the complexity of installing laminate and its nosing on stairways, and the time taken to do so, you may need to pay extra for installation.
Furniture Removal
We understand that not everyone can move big, heavy furniture. Choosing to take-up a furniture removal service can marginally increase your cost. If you’ve got the muscle to move furniture, we recommend doing this prior to installation to save some money.
Access
If your property is in a highrise (or similar) and access to the space is an issue, this may increase the cost of your installation. If specific equipment or machinery is required to transport your materials to your property, this will be worked into your quote.
Buying and installing laminate flooring on your Gold Coast property is an investment, so it’s important to employ the services of an expert laminate installer. At One Source Flooring, we regularly receive rave reviews from our customers and only pick the best installers for the job.
It is possible, but it’s not recommended. Most manufacturer’s will actually void your warranty if you decide to glue down your laminate planks, so always check their installation guidelines for proper installation methods.
- Sweep or vacuum your floor thoroughly as regularly as needed (at least once per week).
- Mop to make sure you have removed all of the dust. We recommend using a hard flooring cleaner diluted with water in a sprayer with a microfibre mop. Don’t use a steam mop.
- Make sure you clean or swap your microfibre mop head regularly to ensure you don’t have dirt within it that may potentially scratch your floors in the future.
If you have spilt coffee, water, soda and tea etc, simply wipe clean with a cloth, paper towel or an absorbent sponge. If the substance is sticky (like cola), but sure to use some water to clean up the spill—just not too much!
This really depends on the extent of the damage. If the damage is superficial, check with the manufacturer to see if you can purchase a repair kit and follow the repair instructions.
If the plank is substantially damaged, you will likely need to engage with a professional flooring installer to remove plank (and surrounding planks) to replace it.
AC4-rated laminate planks are more wear resistant than AC3 laminate planks by up to 60%. Generally speaking, the higher the AC rating, the longer your planks will last.
Yes you can! But in most cases, you may need to flood coat the area prior to installation (we can do this for you). We will also need to inspect the tiles to make sure there aren’t any ‘drummy’ tiles as this may involve further floor preparation. Generally speaking, Hybrid flooring can be a little more forgiving that Laminate flooring when laying over tiles (due to it’s inbuilt underlay too), but that certainly doesn’t mean that it can’t be done.
As part of our process, we always recommend customers come into our store to explore our entire range. While we have all of our laminate flooring collections on our website, nothing compares to dropping in and feeling all of the textures of our laminate planks.
