The first truly revolutionary flooring product North American consumers have seen in nearly 30 years, laminate flooring offers fashion and function at an affordable price. With its vast array of patterns and colors as well as its durability and low-maintenance, the new product is an increasingly popular choice for today's homes, appearing in living rooms, kitchens and family rooms alike.

"Laminate flooring's style and performance features address today's consumer needs," says Santiago Montero, publisher and editor-in-chief of Floor Covering Weekly. "Also, it's a natural product, manufactured from wood products, and that appeals to the consumer."

Laminate flooring can set the stage in any room. Manufacturers are replicating wood and inlaid wood looks, as well as stone-look patterns such as terrazzo, slate, granite and marble in a rich variety of colors.

"The design possibilities are endless -- you can mix and match woodgrains and abstracts to create a handsome, unique floor," says Donald Raymond, vice president of marketing for Uniboard Canada, Inc.

Today's savvy consumers expect good design at an affordable price. Laminate flooring answers the call with an average cost of an installed laminate floor estimated at $6 to $8 per square foot.

"Laminate flooring's price points are positioned at the high end of vinyls and the low end of solid hardwood, making it a nice bridge product for consumers," Montero notes.

The product's ease of installation also helps cut costs. For example, it normally takes only eight hours for two professionals to install a laminate floor in a typical 600-square-foot room, compared to days for other types of flooring, according to Curt Haffner, director of marketing for Wilsonart International.

"We're finding that laminate flooring is particularly attractive for families because of its durability," says Donna Proudfit, marketing director for Pickering Incorporated. "It's tough enough for everything from hot wheels to high heels, and it never needs to be waxed."

How is this high-style, hard-working product made? High-impact laminate flooring is an engineered wood product, constructed by fusing several layers of material under tremendous heat and pressure. Typically, the product's surface layer-consisting of a high pressure or low pressure laminate with a clear, durable melamine finish over a printed design is bonded to particleboard or a high-density fiberboard core. A bottom layer helps balance and stabilize the floor.

This process allows for more affordable fashion options than ever before plus the durability and easy maintenance demanded in a floor surface. As consumers discover laminate flooring's benefits, the new product is predicted to surface as the flooring of choice in the North American market.

For more information about laminate flooring, contact the Particleboard/Medium Density Fiberboard (PB/MDF) Institute at (301) 670-1752. (NAPSI)