For the Love of Laminate

Set aside your preconceived feelings toward laminate. Many aspects of the construction industry have improved over time, but none more than synthetic flooring. Once seen as fake or phony, laminate now holds its own next to the highest quality wood or stone. Put to a test, we guarantee you won’t be able to tell the difference. With smooth or textured finishes available, you can choose a laminate as elegant or rustic as you like for a fraction of the cost of hardwood floors. Top flooring manufacturers even design laminates to emulate their own hardwood floors. And it’s actually made of wood: many layers of pressed wood glued together with a high resolution photographic applique of hardwood floors. Texture is applied to the top, with a protective seal barrier. Our Crescent Home builders are experts in installing laminate perfectly to fit seamlessly into your new home’s design.

At Crescent Homes, we offer endless options for beautiful flooring in all of our new construction homes. We’ve tried it all, we’ve seen it all. And we <3 laminate.  Here are five reasons why you should absolutely choose laminate on your next construction flooring project, or at the very least, consider:

Extreme Durability
You wouldn’t buy a Lamborghini or an expensive painting and immediately invite people to walk all over it, but that’s exactly what one does when they choose hardwood floors for their new home. Because it is a natural material, wood is highly susceptible to scratching and moisture damage. Every stiletto, pet paw, spill and redecorating decision is a liability. Not so with laminate. Because the wood layers are stacked with the grain running parallel, there are no weak points. The glue adds strength and flexibility, so your floors can stand up to all the scraping, stomping and scratching of real life.

Environmentally Friendly Construction
Chop less trees. Laminate brings the classic look of hardwood or stone floors without the forest or the quarry. Most often, laminate is created with recycled materials and requires no harvesting of rare trees. The eco-friendly manufacturing process reduces the use of raw materials going into construction. Further, laminate is installed without chemical-ridden adhesive. With most brands offering a lifetime guarantee, your floors will never need to be replaced. But if they do, they’re 100% recyclable.

Easy Installation
Building a home takes time. Installing engineered hardwood takes time. For hardwood, it’s recommended that the planks acclimate to the room’s humidity for 5 days before the installation even begins. This is especially important in humid climates like Charleston, SC. And then there’s the constant upkeep and humidifiers in winter. With Crescent Home’s laminate Uniclic® Locking System, pieces are fit together with a tongue and groove locking system. No messy glue, no added trying time. Get into your new home faster!

Replaceable
The easy click system means that individual pieces can be replaced without affecting the entire surface. Should you want to extend your flooring or replace a section, new pieces can be color-matched to fit in seamlessly with the rest of the floor. Matching natural wood or stone floors in color or texture is virtually impossible: you might get close, but you will never have a perfect fit.

Cost Efficient
The most obvious benefit of laminate is the cost: it is significantly less expensive than engineered hardwood or stone floors in material and installation. But how much cheaper is it really? To put it into perspective, Crescent Homes considers laminate a level 1 flooring, while an identical hardwood is a level 5. The exact same look and space could cost 10 times more for engineered hardwood. In addition to the added cost of materials and installation, a hardwood floor can significantly impact your construction warranty as they are highly susceptible to wear and tear.

With such a strong material at an affordable cost, you can take your hardwood look beyond the dining room to the kitchen, bedrooms, garage, even bathrooms. Imagine a classic Charleston cottage, completely outfitted in wood flooring. It’s a dream (house) come true!

We invite you to learn more about what sets the Crescent Homes buying process apart. Contact us at info@crescenthomes.net.