How to Compare Laminate to Wood Flooring
Understanding the difference between installing and maintaining a hardwood or laminate floor can help you determine which is the best investment for you. Laminate floors are compressed wood sandwiched between a plastic covering designed to mimic real hardwood. The cost, installation process and overall durability of the floor play a major factor in deciding the best option. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Evaluate how much exposure your floor will receive to moisture. If your floor must withstand wet shoes coming in from the rain or snow regularly or you need to consider other moisture factors, laminate may not be the best option. While most laminate is treated to be water resistant, it does not withstand heavy, regular exposure to water as well as hardwood.
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Determine your comfort level with the installation process. Hardwood is more difficult to install. Most homeowners are capable of installing laminate themselves but need help for hardwood floors, increasing overall costs. Laminate floors often install with a simple lock-and-connect system where each plank fits into the groove of the next. Real wood needs to be either glued or nailed down. Both types of floors require padding under the floor to reduce noise.
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Evaluate the level of maintenance you are comfortable with. Both types of floors are easy to clean, but real wood tends to dent and scratch more easily. However, real wood is easier to sand and refinish. While laminate is often resilient to scratches and denting, it can chip. Wood can be refinished by sanding and re-staining the floor. Only minor issues may be repairable in laminate. Laminate repair kits can fill minor scratches and chips but can't repair water damage or major problems with the laminate finish.
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Calculate how long you would like to defer replacing the floor. Hardwood floors can be maintained indefinitely, where laminate floors have a lifespan capping out at around 20 years. If you are planning on selling your home within the next few years, laminate may be more cost effective. However, real hardwood is a good selling point for prospective buyers who may have longer-term plans.
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Look at the cost of each product. Laminate is considerably less expensive than hardwood floors. Not only is the product itself cheaper, costing as much as $2 per square foot less than hardwood, according to LuxuryHousingTrends.com, it is less expensive to install.
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Tips & Warnings
Real wood fades faster than laminate in most situations.
Obtain a swatch sample of the real wood in the finish you want and a sample of the laminate floor. Compare them for visual appearance, grain depth and texture. Real wood generally has more texture and richness.
Both types of materials are easy to clean, but real wood requires more maintenance over the years.
Both wood and laminate can be installed over a variety of base surfaces.
References
- Photo Credit texture of wooden floor image by Elnur from Fotolia.com
