How to Choose From Laminate or Wood

Choose between laminate or wood for your home improvement project.

One of the most common home improvement projects is to put in new flooring. For hard floors, your choices include laminate and wood. These two flooring options are common for the living room, dining areas and even bedrooms in some cases. Both flooring types have benefits, so it is not uncommon to find yourself puzzled over which one to choose for your project.

Instructions

1. Examine your budget for your flooring project. The materials cost for laminate flooring is usually less expensive than wood flooring boards. The installation cost for hardwood floors is also more expensive, since it often involves a more complex process compared to the click-into-place installation of laminate floors.

2. Determine how much traffic you will have going through the room where you want to put in the new flooring. While wood floors are fairly durable, laminate floors are often the best choice for high-traffic rooms. Laminate floors resist scratching, color fading and staining more than wood floors do.

3. Decide if you value aesthetics above all else. Real hardwood floors are often better-looking than laminate wood. Laminate sometimes has a faux, painted-on appearance, rather than the actual look and feel of grains or grooves present in an authentic wood floor. In general, wood floors also add more value to a home than laminate flooring.

4. Figure out how long you want or need to keep the new flooring before it needs replacement. Well-cared for wood floors usually last at least 25 years --- much longer than laminate flooring. Laminate can last up to 20 years.

References

• Floor Facts: Overview of Hardwood Flooring
• Floor Facts: Comparing Hardwood Flooring versus Laminate Flooring