How To Install Laminate Wood Flooring Vs Hardwood Flooring

For many folks that ends the laminate vs.

How to install laminate wood flooring vs hardwood flooring.

Laminate flooring and engineered wood flooring are two obvious choices if you want a flooring that looks like solid hardwood but at a more affordable price. Learn the pros and cons of laminate vs. It offers a natural look. Laminate flooring is an easy to install alternative to hardwood flooring.

If you re seeking an alternative to hardwood but laminate doesn t sound like the material for you consider engineered wood or luxury vinyl. Laminate runs 1 to 7 per square foot depending on the quality. While older more traditional homes often have the original hardwood floors still in place many newer homes are using laminate. Never mind the value that true wood floors get me in a selling situation.

Either way this type of engineered hardwood flooring is simple to install and designed for longevity. Both resemble true hardwood but each comes with its own benefits and disadvantages. Engineered hardwood debate right there. Still laminate looks and feels like real hardwood and holds strong as a popular wood look floor thanks to its low maintenance cleaning routine and a durable scratch.

Hardwood flooring is more difficult to install than laminate flooring generally but hiring a professional for a new installation or for repair work of either is highly recommended. Wood flooring remains one of the most popular options as it is a naturally inviting beautiful and timeless material. Hardwood floors are made from many different species of wood some domestic and some exotic solid hardwood is made of a single plank of wood with the grain running straight through while engineered hardwood is made of a wood veneer 1 on top of many layers of plywood 2 both come in a wide range of colors and wood grain patterns as well as plank widths and finishes. Laminate flooring generally is less expensive than engineered hardwood.

Cheaper versions have 1 4 inch cores and the photo reproductions may not be as realistic as more expensive versions. Laminate was the pioneer for realistic wood look flooring back in the 70s and other types of flooring have caught on and have begun releasing their own realistic wood looks. For diy jobs how difficult installation will be depends on experience and how the hardwood or laminate flooring is cut for installation. I would never go with laminate over hardwood and besides a decent laminate costs me 2 foot before installation and refinishing hardwood costs me 1 75 foot.

Both floor coverings were developed as economical and versatile alternatives to that mainstay of flooring material solid hardwood flooring.