A Pet’s Best Friend: Animal-Friendly Flooring
Whether you’re a dog-lover or a cat-person, there’s no denying the impact those beloved furry friends can have on your home; especially your floors! With…
Laminate Flooring Provides Great Styling and Design Flexibility
If you look at Pinterest for laminate flooring, you’ll see hundreds of designs and colors, including some households with laminate on the walls. Laminates can provide the hardwood or tile look you crave at a fraction of the price.
Right now, long and wide gray and darker tone wood planks are all the rage for laminate, but at Malkin’s Flooring, we know trends come and go. We suggest that our customers go with their heart, so you make the best flooring choice to suit your personal style and decor. We want you to love your floors!
Laminate “Mimics” the Look of Hardwoods and Tile, and is Durable and Easy to Clean
Laminate floors are a combination of special resins (melamine), paper layers, fiber core, and a print film that are all fused together into a solid mass. Due to its durable, long-lasting components, laminate flooring usually will not stain or fade from the sunlight and is extremely impact resistant.
With today’s new digital technology, laminate has a very realistic look.
These floors also offer the advantage that they can be floated over many types of subfloors including wood, concrete slabs, and other existing floors. Note: One of the benefits of a floating floor is that does not need to be nailed or glued to the subfloor, allowing for more replacement flexibility.
Laminate is also very durable and easy to clean, so it’s a great choice for an active family or someone with pets. Laminate can be used in most rooms—kitchens, dinettes, living rooms, powder rooms, mud rooms, laundry areas, and even bedrooms. We don’t recommend laminate, however, for bathrooms or areas that have a lot of moisture.
Laminate Floors Offer:
- Superior impact and scratch resistance
- Excellent stain and fade resistance
- Easy care finish
- Designs that can mimic wood, nature, and ceramic tile—the options are endless
- Installation flexibility as it can be used over wood, concrete, and even existing floors
Proper Installation Guarantees Longer Life
Our flooring professionals will provide a great installation of your new laminate, including adequate transitions between every room and doorway. Floating floors—like laminate—expand and contract throughout the seasons—even more so than hardwood floors—so proper room transitions account for that natural process.
Laminate floors typically last 15 to 25 years, so they are not “forever” floors. The benefit is that this offers plenty of design versatility as they can be replaced as they wear or when you decide you want to go in a different direction style-wise.
At Malkin’s, all of our installations are backed by a full one-year guarantee. One of our staff members will even call you a few weeks after your installation, just to make sure your laminate is performing as it should and you are still delighted with your purchase. This lets you know we are serious about creating ravings fans every day.
Prolong the Life of Your Laminate Flooring with Simple Cleaning and Maintenance Tips
- Sweep Daily—It’s a good idea to sweep or dust mop your laminate flooring on a daily basis. While laminate flooring is scratch-resistant, excess dirt, hair, and debris can cause scratches to develop if allowed to build up over time.
- Clean Spills Immediately—Water is the enemy of laminate floors as it can warp the floor if it is allowed to sit on the floor in puddles. Clean up spills as soon as they occur with a cloth or sponge. This includes spills from your pet’s water bowl.
- More Extensive Cleaning—When you need to deep clean your laminate, use a cleaner such as Bona, which is specially formulated for hard surface products. Don’t use soap-based detergents or “mop and shine” products as they can leave a dull film on the surface of your laminate floor.
- Protective Pads—As with any hard-flooring product, using soft pads under furniture, not wearing high heels on the floor, trimming the nails on your pet, and generally being aware of not dragging items across the floor, will help ensure long life.
