How long do laminate floors last?
When buying a new laminate floor either for your home as part of a home renovation or a commercial premises, you may be wondering how long laminate floors last. Laminate flooring is a diverse product, with many products starting at lower price ranges, but higher quality laminates that resist all types of damage will cost significantly more, and for good reason.
Find out more about what a laminate floor is and what it is made of here.
The lifespan of laminate flooring
The lifespan of laminate flooring will vary depending on both the product you select and a variety of other factors. Laminate flooring, as a budget friendly alternative to real wood flooring, will never last as long as real wood, the product it is trying to replicate. But on average, a laminate floor should last you between 20-25 years. That is an average though. A high quality laminate floor that is well taken care of could potentially last 30 years or more. While a cheap laminate that endures high footfall on a regular basis could be worn out after 10-15 years.
Factors affecting the lifespan of laminate flooring
Factors affecting how long laminate flooring will last in a home can cover things like the product itself to how it is maintained. The first and most obvious is the product choice. If you buy a high quality laminate floor with all the bells and whistles, for instance, one that has a waterproof surface or scratch resistant technology, then it will last longer as it is able to sustain more spillage and wear and tear.
The way the laminate flooring is installed will be a factor in how long it lasts. If installed properly by a professional fitter, chances are it will last longer as DIY jobs have a higher chance of having mistakes.
Footfall is another factor that affects how long a laminate floor will last. If you install a laminate floor in a spare room in a home, compared to one in a commercial office premises, the floor in the busier environment is likely to give way first. As naturally, over time, the foot traffic will wear the boards down and break the surface.
General maintenance is another big factor affecting the longevity of laminate flooring. Failing to mop up spillage in particular will drastically reduce the lifespan of the floor as the water will start to get into the flooring and cause warping and buckling.
Signs of damage
Visible signs of damage to laminate flooring come in the form of buckling or warping. The common culprit is water damage. If water is not cleaned up quickly when it spills on the floor, or too much water is used when cleaning the floor, the water will sink into the boards, and the laminate will move as it expands with the water. The boards then don’t have enough room to expand, so buckling occurs.
Bubbling at the edges of the floorboards are another indicator that it's time to replace the flooring. The bubbles will be obvious, appearing at the edges of each board, inflating the paper wear layer.