Needing Some Inspiration? Here are Some Laminate Flooring Ideas

Popular Searches This Month

Splashproof Kitchen Flooring	Laminate Tile Effect Kitchen	Black or White Laminate Flooring
B&Q Andante Oak	Wickes Palisander Oak	Milano Laminate Flooring

How To Use This Site

I'm New to Laminate Flooring and wish to Browse Products

If you are interested in a new floor and want to see what's on the market, the easiest way is to browse our site using the menu on the left. We have categorised floors based on popular searches such as oak effect, tile effect and slate effect. We've also grouped products by room such as kitchen, bathroom etc which can be quickly accessed in the top menu. If you wish to purchase from a specific supplier (e.g. Wickes, Homebase B&Q) there are also categories set up featuring floors from these retailers.

Once you start browsing, you will see products displayed with the following information:-

Product Name - in this instance the product is called 'Oak Effect'
Pack Price - the amount each pack or product costs
Pack Coverage - this is the amount of floor each pack will cover (in m²)
Cost per M² - how much the product costs for every square metre of floor
Cost per Ft² - cost per square foot - for people wanting to use imperial measurements

I've Measured My Room - How Many Packs do I Need?

Once you know room dimensions you can enter this information in either metres or feet & inches in the top left of the screen. This will activate the 'shop by total cost' function. Using this service will calculate total number of packs required and cost of the floor. Wastage is also added into the calculation at an extra 10% of total area. For people who are unfamiliar with the concept of wastage - basically when you install a laminate floor you require some extra boards for installation due to cutting and accidental errors. It's also incredibly frustrating if you run out of floor towards the end or if some becomes accidentally damaged.

Once you enter the width and length of a room and click the Calculate button, you will see the following.

entered room dimensions in metres or feet

Once your room dimensions have been entered and total area has been calculated, products will be displayed in a different format showing you total approximate costings for your project. This will appear on every page throughout the site, helping you plan a budget for your new floor. For products such as adhesive, trims and scotia - these will be displayed at unit price only.

browsing flooring by total packs required and total cost

You can clear your measurements at any time by pressing the 'Clear' button, or alternativley recalculate by entering a new width & length of room and pressing the calculate button.

Up to Date, Live Offers and Sales on Laminate Flooring

wickes special offer - spend £50 get 10% off your order

b&q special offer light oak laminate flooring

topps tiles prestige oak laminate flooring

Shop by Room

If you are looking for living room laminate flooring then we have a wide range of oak, walnut, elm and tile effect floors. Living room floors should be cosy, warm and look great. We're sure you'll find the floor for you in this range.

When shopping for kitchen floors it's important to make sure you purchase a splash-proof hardwearing surface, as the kitchen is a busy area and prone to spillages. Our range of kitchen laminate ticks these boxes.

Bedroom laminate flooring should be comfortable, functional and attractive. Depending on the budget and amount of wear & tear, customers can easily pick the best floor to suit their needs with our calculator/comparison service.

Bathroom flooring has to be chosen carefully. There are many different types of phrases suppliers like to use such as 'moisture resistant', 'water resistant', 'aqua'. We provide a key to help show you what's what in our comparison tool.

Shop by Brand

Balterio offer stunning world class laminate flooring solutions for your home or business. Browse Balterio Laminate Floors

Sensa Flooring have some great flooring for your home with ranges such as Urban Loft, Traditional Vintage and Natural Prestige

Quickstep are an international laminate flooring brand sold widely on the internet. View our Quick-Step Flooring

Quick-Step products exclusive to B&Q include the Andante Oak & Calando Oak Effect Range - Browse B&Q Quick-Step Flooring

Wickes are a popular UK DIY store offering an exclusive and excellent range of laminate flooring. Take a look at Wickes Laminate Flooring

Wide range of floors like AquaLOC, TileLOC and BevelLOC. Millions of happy customers. Browse B & Q Laminate Flooring

Things to Consider #1 - Skirting or Scotia?

When choosing a new laminate floor this is an important factor to consider. When you install laminate you must leave an expansion gap of roughly 10mm around the floor. This is to allow the floor to expand or contract in the hotter/colder time of the year. When you leave a gap around the new floor, there is a 1cm visible gap which doesn't look very good. So, to remedy the problem you have two options. First you can remove the skirting boards before you install - this will allow you to run the floor roughly 10mm away from the wall and when you fix the skirting back over the floor the gap is usually covered. If you choose this option, it's also possible to pick a new colour or style which complements your new floor. So you can shop for skirting AND flooring at the same time if you are considering running the floor under the skirting boards. The second option is to leave the skirting boards in place and apply what's known as an 'scotia' to cover the 10mm gap. This is a piece of material which matches the colour of your floor (or skirting board) and is angled down towards the floor. It is used when you don't remove the skirting board and wish purely to cover the expansion gap. When choosing a floor it's important to check there is a matching scotia available as you don't want to fit your floor first only to find the unavailability of this item.

Things to Consider #2 - What kind of underlay to use?

With a wide range of underlays available it's important to decide on flooring underlay to choose. There are many types of underlay designed to fit the same purpose but we'll run through the basic requirements here and recommend which type you could choose.

Upstairs Underlay - Having a laminate floor upstairs can be incredibly loud and noisy for the people downstairs if not fitted correctly. If you are in a family home or a shared property you should definitely look at a noise/sound reducing underlay. There are even soundproofing underlays available such as the 'QuietFloor' from keepitquiet.co.uk. Bedrooms can be noisy places particularly when kids and toys are thrown into the equation, so if your lounge or sitting room is located below a busy bedroom you may wish to invest in a noise reducing underlay.

What kind of noise reducing underlays can I buy?

Wickes High Performance Underlay - Provides up to 20db noise reduction at around £2.50/m²
Acoustalay Economy Fire Retardant Foam Underlay - Provides up to 19db noise reduction at around £1.55/m²
Cushion Acoustic Gold Underlay - Provides up to 22db noise reduction at around £4/m²
Wickes Fibreboard Underlay - Provides up to 19db noise reduction at around £2.50/m²
Cushion Acoustic Pro Underlay - Provides up to 20db noise reduction at around £3.50/m²

If you are in a block of flats with other people living there then it's extremely important as a landlord to make the room quiet for neighbours by using a correct underlay. As a tenant there's nothing worse than having a noisy neighbour.

Downstairs Underlay - Laminate flooring downstairs has to be laid slightly different to upstairs as usually it's described as a 'solid subfloor' meaning you are installing on concrete or a solid surface as opposed to floorboards upstairs ('floating floor'). Laying a floor on a solid floor means you'll have to protect against damp, uneven floors and cold. Whenever installing laminate flooring downstairs it's recommended you use what's called a dampproof membrane often called a DPM to protect against damp and moisture coming up from the sub floor and affecting your laminate. To browse the underlays on this site simply click 'underlays' in the left hand menu.

Combination Underlays - These products appear to be the easiest and quickest to provide underlay for your laminate floor. By purchasing a combi-underlay you save having to fit two layers down such as foam / fibre. All in one solutions are affordable and easy to install with some tape.

Flooring with Underlay Attached - The only laminate we've found with built-in underlay is provided by Homebase. They offer a product which can be installed without the separate purchase and installation of underlay, however we have no reviews currently and have not tested the product so it may be worth a visit to see the product and inspect the quality.

Things to Consider #3 - Water Resistance / Moisture Proofing

Many people are interested to know about waterproof laminate flooring or the cons of fitting laminate in their kitchen/bathroom. To sum up, generally it's not recommended to use laminate in a water/splash environment as the nature of laminate is not to be subject to water. DIY stores such as Wickes and B&Q recommend using a DPM and products which as water resistant, and even provide moisture resistant warranties. This being said however, it's usually better to stick to floor tiles or vinyl when fitting in kitchens or bathrooms.

More information on Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is becoming more and more popular in most modern and newly refurbished homes. Not only is it easy to clean and look after but it also gives a polished finish to any room. It is also really easy to lay, once you have your underlay all set in place it is a simply a case of putting the pieces together and watching your floor take shape. It could be done in no time at all and will completely transform a room. It will add a completely different feel to your room and will also make it feel a lot more light and airy as some carpets can make a room seem a little dull and tired. You will be very surprised at the sense of space that it gives you too.

No matter what kind of furniture is in your home there will be a laminate floor design that will suit your needs. There are styles in both pale and light colours as well as a rustic oak option if you want to create a different aura in one of rooms. If you're a family with children and are getting tired of wiping up the stains on the carpet then this really is a great option. It's child friendly, hard wearing and very durable. Plus, more importantly, if any stains are found you can simply wipe them up with very little effort and more importantly, you will never be able to tell.