Laminate flooring was invented in 1977 by the Swedish company Perstorp, and sold under the brand name Pergo. They had been making laminate surfaces since 1923. The company first marketed its product to Europe in 1984, and later to the United States in 1994. Perstop spun off its flooring division as the separate company named Pergo. Pergo is the most widely known laminate flooring manufacturer, but the trademark PERGO is not synonymous for all laminate floors.

Glueless laminate flooring was invented in 1996 by the Swedish company Välinge Aluminium (nowVälinge Innovation) and sold under the names of Alloc and Fiboloc. However, a system for holding flooring panels together was also developed in parallel by the Belgian companyUnilin in and released in 1997.

Laminate floors are reasonably easy for a do-it-yourself homeowner to install. Laminate flooring are packaged as a number oftongue and grooveplanks - these can be clicked into one another. Installed laminate floors typically "float" over the sub-floor on top of a foam/film underlayment, which provides moisture and sound-reducing properties. A small (1-10mm) gap is required betweenthe flooring and any immovable object such as walls, this allows the flooring to expand without being obstructed.Baseboards(skirting boards) can be removed and then reinstalled before and after laying of the flooring is complete for a neater finish, or small beading trims can be fitted to the baseboards (skirting boards). Saw cuts on the planks are usually required at edges, and around closet and door entrances.