1977, March - Laminate floor is born!

The first Laminate Flooring with a paper based decorative surface comprising aluminum oxide (HPL), a particle board core and a tongue/groove joint was developed by the Swedish Company Perstorp AB. The development was made on the initiative of Välinges founder, Darko Perván who at that time was the general manager of the Perstorp laminate division and who initiated the "idea-77" project with Mr Gerhard Schultze as project manager and main inventor of the first laminate flooring panel. This development was the foundation of Pergo and the whole laminate flooring industry. Several of Välinge's senior project managers are previous Perstorp employees with comprehensive and long-term experience from laminate production and laminate floorings. Laminate flooring was introduced on the market by IKEA in 1979. Darko Pervan leaves Perstorp in 1981. Perstorp (later Pergo) develops and maintains a world leading position on laminate floorings until late 1990th when competitors promoting HDF based laminate floors with mechanical locking systems and DPL surfaces capture large market shares.

1993,94 - 1:st Lock Patent

Välinge, founded by Darko Pervan in 1993, develops under the management of Darko Pervan the world’s first Mechanical Locking System for wood and laminate flooring, which could be installed with combinations of angling and snapping. The first patent application, which was partly based on computer simulations, was filed by Tony Pervan and major contributions related to the production technology was made by Gerhard Schultze, that after his retirement from Pergo joined Välinge in 1994. Several of the first patents from 1993/94, which protects locking systems made in one piece with the core or of separate materials, have successfully passed the final appeal in EPO. These decisions clearly show, contrary to what some other competitors have claimed incorrectly for several years, that Välinge was the first to develop a one piece and a two piece locking system for wood and laminate floors which could be locked with angling and/or snapping.

1994, First license agreements

Välinge offers the first license to Pergo who is not interested. Välinge signs its first license agreements with Norske Skog (Alloc) for laminate floorings and with Kährs for wood floorings. The basic Välinge principles for locking floorboards mechanically develops gradually to a world standard and about 10 years later close to one billion m2 of laminate and wood floors are installed with mechanical klick systems.

1996, January - Goodbye glue!

Välinge (together with its licensee Alloc AS) was the first in the world to launch a Glue Free Laminate Floor at the Domotex fair with an advanced mechanical locking system. This floor panel showed that an underlay could be attached to a laminate floor as a sound insulation and that the edges could be sealed with wax. The new glue free technology starts an evolution that eliminates 100 Million glue bottles that annually would have to be used to glue floating laminate and wood floorings.

1996, June - Alvesta training centre

Välinge opens its first lab, training centre and exhibition in Alvesta, Västmanland outside Stockholm. Many distributors from several countries are trained to install floors with Välinge's mechanical locking systems.

1999, September - 1:st Veneer Lock

Välinge (together with its licensee Kährs Group) was the first in the world to launch a Glue Free Wood Veneer Floor with a mechanical locking system formed in a HDF core.

1999, November - Production of 1:st loc for parquet flooring

Välinge (together with its licensee Kährs Group) makes the first full size 14 mm parquet floor with a mechanical locking system in Välinges Alvesta lab and training centre.

2000, January - Launch of 1:st Wood Lock at Domotex

Välinge was the first in the world to show long parquet planks that cold be connected with various combinations of angling and snapping.

2000, December - Tongueloc

Välinge develops a compact Tongueloc system for laminate and wood floorings.

2001, January - Only Angling

Välinge (together with its licensee Berry floor) was the first in the world to introduce the Angling - Angling installation method which provided the advantages that floorboards could be installed without tools such as a hammer and taping which were previously used to snap the short edges.

2001, July - 1:st resilient floor with mechanical locking

Välinge develops floating floor boards comprising resilient plastic surface layers attached to a HDF or plastic core combined with a mechanical locking systems allowing installation with combinations of angling and snapping.

2002, June - R&D Center 1

Välinge moves to its new 5.000 m2 R&D center in Viken which is the largest R&D center in the world for development of mechanical locking systems.

2002, December - 1:st small strips

Välinge, was the first in the world to introduce Small Strips in laminate and wood with a mechanical locking system. Välinge was also the first company to present new and advanced mechanical locking system for wood and laminate floors, which allow installation in herringbone pattern and a variety of other advanced classical patterns.

2004, January - 3G, Semi floating, Soft floor, Decorative grooves

At the Domotex fair (Hanover, Germany), Välinge introduced several groundbreaking products such as


 Välinge 3G locking system, which utilizes a separate HDF strip integrated with the floorboard to achieve cost efficient production and superior locking functions and strength. 


Semi-Floating Floor, which can be installed in extremely large areas without expansion joints.

Floating soft floor with a mechanical locking system and a surface of soft carpet fibers glued to a board.

Decorative grooves in laminate floorings with an appearance equal to solid wood floor, stones and tiles.

2004, November - 5G Fold down

Välinge introduced the first 5G fold down system with a displaceable bow shaped flexible tongue together with its licensee Rappgo. 5G and fold down technology is well received by the market and 8 years later about 30% of all laminate and wood floors use this installation method.

2005, January - Roll to panel, Solid Edge, Edge treating.

At the Domotex fair, Välinge introduces:

Roll to Panel floors which are based on the basic concept that surface materials such as PVC, linoleum etc generally delivered in rolls should be glued to a board material and delivered as floating floor panels with a mechanical locking system.

Solid Edge Technology for laminate floorings. A bevel is formed by compression of the laminate edge in high speed with heat and roll forming. The decorative laminate layer and the core edge is pressed and formed into a bevel.

Edge Treating Equipment for high speed in line coating of edges in laminate and wood flooring was introduced.

2006, November - 5G bristle tongue

Välinge introduces the first 5G fold down system with an advanced flexible bristle tongue that replaces the bow shaped tongue. Bristle tongues comprise a rigid outer part and an inner part with several flexible protrusions that bends in the length direction during folding.

2007, September - 5G+Side Push

Välinge presented a new version of a fold down system - the 5G+ double slide side push system. 5G+ has a displaceable tongue that is activated and displaced automatically into a tongue groove with a side pressure caused by a long edge tongue of a new panel installed in a new row.

2007, November - Goodbye paper! Solid Laminate floor is born!

30 years after the first laminate floor invention, a new paper free Wood Fibre Floor (WFF) was born and a new milestone was reached where the Välinge laminate experience and R&D resources were used to develop a completely new flooring category. The same technicians that developed the laminate flooring in 1977 contributed to several vital parts of the developments. WFF is very cost effective and much stronger than any laminate flooring on the market due to its " paper free" and Solid Laminate Surface, which is created with the new Välinge Powder Technology.

Välinge also presented a new method for recycling of used laminate floorboards into either new core materials or completely new floorboards.

2008, December - Nano Particles

Välinge develops together with Photocat AS a method to incorporate photocatalytic nanoparticles into a floor surface in order to obtain anti bacterial easy to clean surfaces and reduction of formaldehyde in the surrounding air.

2009, February 5G-S Side Push

A new side push system - the single slide fold down system 5G-S, was introduced. 5G-S is based on a new technology where the locking could be made with just a linear sliding of a separate tongue along and parallel to the joint.

2009, May - Wood Powder Laminate

Välinge presented the first Wood Powder Laminate – WPL. Välinge powder technology is used to improve a conventional laminate floor by applying a powder layer of wood micro fibers and melamine under a decorative paper. This new technology provides improved properties, increased flexibility and a cost efficient production

2009, June - R&D center 2

Välinge moves to its new 17.000 m2 R&D center which is without comparison the largest facility in the world for development of laminate, wood and powder based flooring technology.

2009, October - 5G-C is introduced.

Välinge presents 5G Compact - a new fold down locking system which is easier to lock. The flexible tongue is slightly inclined and is pushed inwardly and downwardly during locking.

2009, November-Production of powder based floors

Välinge installs in Viken the first full size production line in the world for wood fiber floors (WFF). This new flooring category is based on the Välinge Powder Technology and comprises a solid "paper free" laminate surface. The new line will be able to supply considerable start up volumes to Välinge licensees, either as pressed blanks or profiled and packed products ready for distribution.

2010, January-Launch of powder based floors at Domotex

Välinge present the first commercial product range of "paper free" solid laminate floors based on Välinge powder technology.

2010, March-High quality powder printing

Välinge develops digital powder printing technology that makes it possible to obtain high quality designs in powder based surfaces.

2010, May-Nano and Powder technology

Välinge develops a method to incorporate photocatalytic nano particles into powder based WFF surfaces.

2010, November- Full size Production of powder and nano particles.

Välinge invests in a full size production line to mill and mix wood powder and to produce nano particles

2011, May- 3D powder printing.

Välinge develops advanced high quality 3D powder printing for advanced stone and wood designs and installs a full size digital printer with a printing capacity of 25m2/minute.

2011, September- Välinge Expo.

Välinge presents Pressloc, Ziploc, Cliploc and surface stretching technology.

2012, January- Powder backing and sublayers.

Välinge presents WPL powder technology. Powder backing and powder sublayer are used together with unimpregnated thin decorative paper to reduce costs of conventional laminate panels.