Laying Laminate Flooring On Concrete?
If you've been looking into remodeling your home, you've probably come across a rather important question. Namely, what kind of flooring do you want to use? There's several different styles, and they all have their benefits and drawbacks. One of the more popular styles, however, is called laminate flooring.
Laminate Flooring Over Concrete Is Not Recommended
With many floor types, you can lay it on concrete and not worry about anything. Carpet, for example, goes directly over concrete. You don't even need to worry about anything beyond that. Hardwood floor, as well, can be lain directly on top of concrete. However, laminate flooring should not ever be laid directly on top of concrete. This is because laminate flooring has a certain amount of give. This give allows it to be easier to walk on, but also makes it slightly less durable. Laying laminate flooring on concrete can cause the laminate flooring to more easily break down, thus making your flooring last half as long as it would otherwise. In order to lay laminate floor on concrete, you need to make sure you lay down a pad.Laminate Flooring Requires Padding
Padding is not exactly expensive, but it does add to the overall cost of the laminate flooring. It's something that usually isn't discussed up front, either, because it can hurt the bottom line. Far too often, sales people don't want to tell the customer about the extra cost of padding. This leads to customers not realizing that they'll need padding on their floor, which tends to make things more difficult on the people hired to do the installation. If you're planning on getting laminate flooring, and you have concrete under your current flooring, you're going to need flooring pads. The padding will allow the laminate flooring to be laid down more easily, and will help extend the life of the flooring.Laying Laminate Flooring Over Existing Floors
What about laying the laminate flooring over your current flooring? That can be done, depending on what kind of flooring you already have. If your flooring is vinyl, for example, then laminate flooring can easily be laid right on top of it without worrying about the padding. However, vinyl flooring is the only kind of flooring that you can lay laminate on. You can not lay it on carpet or hardwood, and laying it on tile flooring causes many of the same problems as laying it on concrete.
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