A buying guide to laminate

What laminate is

Laminate has a high-resolution printed image of wood or stone, protected by a hard, clear wear layer, on a fibreboard core. It clicks together edge to edge and is usually the most affordable hard floor in the range, without being waterproof, which is why it is not offered for bathrooms in this preview.

Packs and the expansion gap

Like LVT, laminate is boxed into fixed-size packs and priced by the pack-area rule: floor area plus waste, rounded up to the next whole pack. Laminate also needs a small gap at the walls to allow for expansion, usually hidden behind a beading strip called scotia, priced separately by the metre.

Board thickness

Thicker boards, from around 10mm upward, tend to feel more solid underfoot and can smooth over very minor subfloor imperfections better than a thinner 6 to 8mm board. The thickness for each range is listed in its specification table.

What the home measure adds

The home measure checks the subfloor and confirms whether an underlay or damp-proof membrane is needed underneath before the exact price and pack count are confirmed.