Flooring
Laminate Flooring in Charleston, SC
A photographic surface on a dense core — priced accordingly.
A photographic surface on a dense core — priced accordingly.
Quick answer: Laminate is a printed surface under a hard wear coat on a dense fiberboard core. It wears well and usually costs less than LVP, but if water sits in a seam the core swells and does not recover, so it belongs in bedrooms and hallways, not bathrooms, laundries or damp slabs. It floats, so the subfloor must be flat. Southeastern Renovation installs laminate in the Charleston area and York County. Call (843) 718-8177.
Related: LVP flooring · Charleston flooring cost guide.
The core is the vulnerability. Where LVP shrugs off standing water, laminate can swell at the edges if water gets into a seam and stays there, and swelling does not reverse. In a bathroom or a laundry it is the wrong choice; in a bedroom or a hallway it can be a good one.
What it does well is wear and price. The wear layer on a decent laminate is genuinely hard, and for a room that takes traffic without taking water it is often better value than the alternatives.
It floats, so the same rule as LVP applies: it follows the subfloor. Flat first.
We take this work across greater Charleston, from Summerville and Goose Creek to Mount Pleasant, West Ashley and the sea islands, and on the York County side around Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Tega Cay and Lake Wylie. More on our flooring services.
Where water is plausible — bathrooms, laundries, kitchens, anywhere on a slab that has read damp — LVP.
Where it is not, laminate is harder wearing than people expect and usually costs less.
A spill wiped up is fine. Water sitting in a seam is not: the core swells at the edges and does not go back.
That is the single thing that decides where it should and should not go.
Often yes, if the tile is sound and flat and the height change at doorways works. Loose or lipped tile has to be dealt with first, because a floating floor will telegraph both.