Monday, June 25, 2012

the background to laminate flooring


Laminate flooring was originally conceived by a Swedish company called Pergo AB, which was originally a division of Perstorp AB, founded approximately 120 years ago.

In 1923 Perstorp developed a process for producing decorative laminates for tabletops, an area in which they quickly dominated.

The company thought of the idea for laminate flooring in 1977, and the first laminate flooring was launched in Sweden in 1984. Pergo then expanded its laminate flooring operations throughout Europe in the late 1980's through to the early 1990's.

In January 1994 Pergo laminate flooring was introduced into 107 stores on the East Coast and Midwest of America. By the summer of that year it had proved an overwhelming success and had gone nationwide into 850 stores. In 1995 Pergo laminate flooring was introduced into the Asia / Pacific region, and in 2000 the company name was officially changed from Perstorp Flooring to Pergo, Inc.

During all of this time, other manufacturers saw the success of laminate flooring and soon started producing their own versions. The end result is a market full of so many products and variations, that knowing where to start and what to look for in laminate flooring can be overwhelming for many people. Once you have viewed the information in our Laminate Flooring Guides on the left of the screen, you should have gained enough knowledge to start making informed decisions about your new laminate flooring.

Due to its European success, laminate flooring is the fastest growing choice for flooring in America. Its low cost, durability, visual looks, and ease of installation, make it a great solution for those consumers wanting the looks of a real wood floor, but require a cheaper alternative or simply one of the other many laminate flooring benefits.

As previously mentioned, laminate flooring is available in numerous variations and styles. The most common theme for laminate flooring is to create the impression of real wood flooring, but laminate flooring is also available to create an impression of tiles or stone.

Originally laminate flooring had to be glued together and then left for 24 hours before the floor could be walked on. Many manufacturers now produce their own "glueless" laminate flooring that simply clicks together. This cuts the installation time by a hugh amount, and also allows the laminate flooring to be walked on immediately. Glueless system's are also simply to install, and great for the do-it-yourself market. Have a look at our installing laminate flooring section for more details

No comments:

Post a Comment