Laminate Flooring in Leeds

Laminate covers the bedrooms, landing and front room of a Leeds terrace on one budget, and in the back-to-backs of Harehills and Holbeck the lighter floating floor asks less of joists that a century of pipework has notched. The AC-rated boards from the range click together over an underlay, with an expansion gap at the skirting, and the base is levelled first where the boards below have sagged between joists.

In the inter-war semis of Cross Gates and Moortown the floor is often a slab, and the underlay carries a moisture barrier on that side. The standard that defines the laminate’s abrasion rating excludes rooms that are wet often, so the bathroom and the utility room go to the BML rigid vinyl. Over the heated screed of a South Bank flat the boards are listed as compatible with underfloor heating.

Semi-detached houses are 38% of the Leeds stock, and the semi has both bases in one house: timber at the front, concrete at the back. Laminate goes over both, with the underlay chosen per base, a vapour barrier over the slab and none over the timber. The 8 mm AC4 boards in the range are rated for domestic use throughout the house; the expansion gap of 8 to 12 mm at every wall is what lets a whole-floor run move as one.

Social renting is 20% of households in Leeds, and laminate is the floor most often specified across that stock: click-fitted, floated, laid quickly across many units to one specification. The E1 emission class and the AC4 wear rating are the two figures a specification quotes, and both are stated for the range.