If you’re looking for the upscale look of wood flooring in your office environment but are concerned about the costs, you might want to consider laminate. There’s no other flooring on the market today in laminate’s price point that can out-perform it as far as durability and resistance to gouges, punctures and other impact damage, scratches, spills and stains.

And unlike the laminates that were introduced to the market in the late ‘80s, today’s choices look like the real thing! With advancements in photographic technology, laminates can often pass for authentic maple, oak, beech, pine—even with a textured or distressed-look finish—and newer designs are also featuring the look of stone and tilework.

A tongue-and-groove interlocking system, laminate flooring is available in either planks or squares. Both styles consist of four layers: a wearlayer, a decorative print film layer, an inner core structure and some type of backing support layer (frequently high-density fiberboard). The decorative print film layer, usually a photo of actual flooring, is either fused or glued to the inner core.

The top wearlayer is applied to this decorative print layer to protect the pattern. The main component of this layer—melamine resins—contains aluminum oxide and it’s this compound metal—almost as hard as diamonds—that makes laminate flooring so durable and wear-and-stain resistant.

Another of laminate’s strengths is its easy maintainability. Periodic vacuuming followed by a rinsing with a recommended solution is all that’s needed. And employees, especially asthma and allergy sufferers, will appreciate the fact that dust mites and bacteria can’t survive on its smooth, impenetrable surface, yielding a healthier work environment for all.

Yet another advantage is the fact that laminate can be installed over a variety of existing flooring products, including hardwood, ceramic, vinyl and linoleum. Since most laminate flooring systems are floating (i.e., they do not fasten directly to the plywood subfloor or existing flooring material with nails or glue), they can expand and contract freely as the room environment changes.

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