Oak laminate is the best selling finish of flooring on our website and you can see why. It makes for an excellent alternative to the real thing due to its natural, authentic-looking appearance. They even manage to get the rich oak wood grain in there, so even the keenest eye would struggle to tell the difference straight away. It is also much easier to fit, does not require any finishing, sealing or varnishing and is very easy to clean. Oak effect laminate comes in a huge range of colours and finishes, from popular light oak laminate and dark oak laminate to on-trend Herringbone laminate.
The important thing to realise is that our oak laminate flooring comes in quite thick planks. These are between 7 and 12mm thick, so they are not flimsy at all. They are also quite heavy. As long as the floorboards are stable, then it is perfectly safe, (and advisable) to lay the oak laminate over the top. You, or your installer may need to secure them first by screwing them down to stop any creaks and reduce instability. Just be make sure that you are aware of any pipes or cables running under the floor before you start adding random screws! You may need to use a detector to find out where they are before to start the process. Also make sure that any screwheads are firmly pushed in so that they are not sitting proud above the floor's surface, as these will dig into the underside of the new laminate boards. Once done you can add a layer of good quality underlay before adding the oak laminate on top.
We would not advise laying the flooring over carpet by the way! This is due to the unstable nature of the pile.
Oak laminate is made exactly the same as any other laminate floor. There is a high density wood fibre core with a printed layer on top. This can be textured, so it has an oak effect grain top layer. With it not being actual wood, it is cleaned like another laminate floor. This is why it is such a perfect material for covering floors. You can buy oak laminate in a wide range of colours as well.
Like any other natural material, oak laminate, despite the name, will expand and contract depending on heat and humidity. Check out the guides below where you will learn about adding expansion gaps when fitting.
We have prepared a laminate installation guide
Take a look at our laminate cleaning guide.
