Laminate Flooring Melbourne

What laminate flooring is

Laminate is a plank with a dense fibreboard core, a high-definition printed layer that gives the timber or stone look, and a hard transparent surface on top. The surface is what makes it popular: it is tough against scratches, marks and everyday wear, and it keeps its colour in sunny rooms. Planks click together and are laid as a floating floor, so installation is quick and the floor can be taken up again if needed.

Modern laminate has far more convincing detail than it did a decade ago. Many ranges have texture that follows the printed grain, so the knots and brush marks you see are also what you feel. Standing on a few boards in our Thomastown showroom is the quickest way to judge whether the look suits you.

AC ratings: AC3, AC4 and AC5

The AC rating tells you how well the surface stands up to wear. AC3 is designed for normal household use and light commercial use. AC4 is a step up and suits busy homes and many shops and offices. AC5 is built for heavy traffic. You will see AC3, AC4 and AC5 across the ranges we stock.

For a bedroom or a spare room, AC3 is usually enough. For a kitchen, a hallway, or a home with children and dogs, an AC4 or AC5 board gives you more room for wear. Our guide to laminate AC ratings for Melbourne homes explains the ratings with examples.

8mm or 12mm: choosing a thickness

Our laminate ranges are mostly 8mm, 10mm and 12mm. A 12mm board feels more solid underfoot, is quieter when walked on and is better at bridging a subfloor that is not perfectly flat. An 8mm board is lighter and easier to handle, and it is a good fit for bedrooms and rooms where the floor has to sit close to a door or another floor.

Thickness and AC rating are separate. A thicker board is not always the harder wearing one, so look at both figures on the range page.

Bathrooms, laundries and wet areas

Be careful here. Standard laminate has a fibreboard core, and fibreboard swells if water gets into it. It is not suited to bathrooms, laundries or anywhere that water can sit on the floor. Some ranges are water-resistant, with sealed edges or a more water-tolerant core, and these cope with an occasional spill in a kitchen or a living room. Water-resistant is not waterproof: standing water or a leak can still damage the board.

If the room is wet, choose a waterproof floor instead. Our hybrid flooring has a core that will not swell, and our page on whether laminate flooring is water resistant goes into the detail.

Bedrooms, living areas and commercial spaces

Laminate suits bedrooms, living rooms, studies and hallways well, and it is a popular choice for apartments where a floor needs to be laid quickly and tidily. Because the surface is hard, it is also used in commercial settings such as offices, cafes and retail, where an AC4 or AC5 rating is the right starting point. If your project is a business, see our commercial flooring page or tell us about it when you contact us.

Looks, texture and the ranges we stock

Light oak and pale grey laminate hides dust and small marks, and makes a room feel larger. Dark boards look dramatic and rich but show dust, pet hair and footprints more. A matte surface with a fine texture is the most forgiving of both. If you are choosing for an apartment, our note on laminate colours for Melbourne apartments has more ideas.

Our laminate collection includes ranges from several suppliers, from slim 8mm boards to long, wide 12mm planks with textured surfaces. Arborlok is one of the long-plank ranges you can look at, and you can browse every range, colour and spec on this page. Each range page shows the AC rating, thickness, plank size and installation system, so you can compare like with like.

Installing and caring for laminate

Laminate is laid as a floating floor on an underlay, with a gap around the walls. The underlay evens out small bumps and reduces noise, and on a concrete slab a moisture barrier is used as well. The subfloor must be clean, dry and flat. See how to lay laminate flooring in Melbourne and our answer on whether laminate needs underlay.

To keep it looking good, sweep or vacuum regularly and clean with a barely damp microfibre mop. Never flood the floor, avoid steam mops, wipe spills at once and do not use wax or polish. Felt pads under furniture prevent scratches. Our laminate cleaning guide lists the products to avoid.

Laminate, underfloor heating and the Melbourne seasons

Laminate reacts to the seasons less than solid timber, but it still needs room to move. The gap left around the walls and at doorways, which is usually covered by a skirting or a scotia, is what lets the floor expand in humid weather and shrink in dry weather without lifting or opening up at the joins. If you have underfloor heating, check the supplier's limits for the range you like before you buy, because they differ from range to range, and ask us to confirm the underlay that suits a heated floor.

Laminate, hybrid or engineered: how to choose

If the room is dry and you want a hard surface with a timber look, laminate is a sensible choice. If the room might see water, such as a kitchen, laundry or an entry that gets wet, look at hybrid flooring. If you want real timber underfoot and a floor that can be refreshed over the years, look at engineered timber flooring. Our guide to the difference between hybrid and laminate flooring sets the two side by side.

See laminate flooring in our Thomastown showroom

The best way to choose is to stand on the floor. Our Thomastown showroom is in Melbourne's north, and you can bring a photo of your room, a paint chip or a cabinet sample to compare against the boards in daylight. If you would rather not travel, our mobile showroom brings samples to your home. To arrange a measure, call us on (03) 9961 4792 or send a message through our contact page, and tell us the rooms and the suburb.