History

Laminate flooring was invented in 1977 by the Swedish company Perstorp, and sold under the brand name Pergo. They had been making laminate surfaces since 1923. The company first marketed its product to Europe in 1984, and later to the United States in 1994. Perstop spun off its flooring division as the separate company named Pergo. Pergo is the most widely known laminate flooring manufacturer, but the trademark PERGO is not synonymous for all laminate floors.Glueless laminate flooring was invented by Belgian company Unilin in 1997. The "unilin" locking system or variants of it which are still covered by the Unilin patent are used worldwide. However in 1996 a Swedish company called Valinge also invented a glueless locking system sold under the names Alloc and Fiboloc for holding flooring panels together.Initially the two companies tried to sue each other at great expense without any clear winner, for rights to the intellectual property which also involved a lot of the smaller competition in the process.Now the two locking systems co-exist and all glueless locking flooring is made under licence from either Unilin, Valinge or sometimes both.The Unilin locking system is marketed under the name Uniclic and is adopted by Pergo

What is Laminate Flooring?

A laminate floor is a high-tech floor made by fusing together several layers of materials into one board. The core layer or the center of the laminate floorboard is almost always made of high density fiberboard, but sometimes medium density fiberboard. This core, which supports the weight and stress of foot traffic, will affect how sturdy and stable your floor will be. Strength and stability is further ensured by the laminate’s bottom stabilizing layer. A decorative layer is fused on top of the core. The decorative layer is actually a picture of the floor that is printed on a type of “living paper”. A transparent wear layer is applied over the décor layer and is then treated with one or more coats of an aluminum oxide finish. This is what makes for the incredible wear resistance against scratches, burns, dents and stains that laminates are so famous for. Then there’s the locking system. It’s the system or the way the laminate boards will click together to form your floor. It’s the hallmark of laminate flooring to come with glue-free, click joints or locking systems that are easy to assemble. That’s why installing laminate floors has become something many people can do themselves. You virtually never need to glue a laminate floor to a subfloor nor build a level subfloor first like you would have to do with a solid hardwood installation.

Information by BuilDdirect