Laminate flooring is the quickest, cheapest route to a wood look. The boards click together over underlay, so a bedroom or a whole house can be done in a few days without glue or mess. Prices and quality vary widely, from thin boards for a rental to thick, water-resistant planks for a busy family home. Send one request and local laminate suppliers and fitters quote you directly, with the boards, underlay and fitting priced the same way so they are easy to compare. It is free and carries no obligation.
Wear ratings, thickness and finish
Three things separate a good laminate from a poor one:
- AC rating: AC3 is fine for bedrooms and lounges, AC4 suits passages and busy homes, and AC5 is meant for shops and offices.
- Thickness: 8 mm boards are the entry point. 10 to 12 mm boards feel more solid underfoot and hide small dips in the slab better.
- Surface and edges: embossed grain looks more natural than a flat print, and bevelled edges show each plank. Ask about water-resistant cores for kitchens.
Compare real samples in daylight, because a showroom light can make a grey look warm.
Subfloor, underlay and moisture
Laminate floats, so the slab must be flat and dry. Fitters check for dips with a straightedge and take a moisture reading on screed. New screed needs weeks to dry, and boards laid early can swell at the joints. A damp-proof sheet goes down first on concrete, then the underlay, which also takes the hollow sound out of footsteps. In flats, ask for acoustic underlay if the body corporate has noise rules. Boards need a gap of around 10 mm at every wall, hidden by skirting or trims.
What drives the price
Boards cost about R199 to R900 per m² to buy, depending on grade, and fitting adds about R80 to R150 per m². The rest of the quote moves with the job itself: lifting old carpet or tiles, levelling compound, extra trims at doorways, stairs, and how much waste the room produces. Odd-shaped rooms and diagonal layouts use more boards. Expect a waste allowance of 5 to 10 percent, and ask each supplier to state it so the totals line up.
Fit it yourself or hire a fitter
A confident handyman can click a plain rectangular room together over a weekend. A fitter earns the fee around door frames, pipes, long open-plan runs and thresholds, where cuts must be tidy and the floor needs room to move. Mistakes show up later as gaps and creaks. If you want the work done properly, see laminate flooring installation, and compare it with vinyl if the room gets wet.
What to include in your request
- The rooms and their size in square metres
- Floor now: tiles, carpet, screed or timber
- Colour and plank look you like
- AC rating and thickness you want
- Supply only, or supplied and fitted
Laminate Flooring for different clients
- Homeowners: bedrooms, lounges and passages in AC4 boards that look like timber and clean easily
- Flats and townhouses: click floors on acoustic underlay that keep within the body corporate's noise rules
- Builders, developers and renovators: boards priced per square metre across a whole house once the screed is dry
- Landlords and letting agents: an affordable wood look that wears well between tenants and is quick to replace
- Offices, practices and showrooms: AC5 boards for open-plan floors, meeting rooms and small practices with steady foot traffic
- Guesthouses, lodges and restaurants: guest rooms and staff areas in tough boards that look good and need little upkeep
- Shops, salons and cafés: AC5 planks for small shops and salons that need a smart floor on a budget
- Schools, halls, gyms and studios: classrooms, offices and meeting halls in high-rated boards that take daily wear
Frequently asked questions
Can laminate flooring go in a kitchen or bathroom?
How long does laminate flooring last?
Can laminate be laid over old tiles?
Do you sell laminate flooring?
Laminate Flooring by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg