Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring
Whether you are planning to build a new home or remodel your existing home, deciding upon which type of floor covering to use is one of the decisions that you will need to make and laminate flooring vs hardwood flooring is becoming an increasingly asked question. Floor coverings can require a substantial investment if the space is large and you will have several different types to choose from.
Both options have become increasingly popular over the last several years, as Laminate Flooring and Hardwood Flooring manufacturers are offering better quality and more styles than ever before. And with the internet becoming a much more viable way to purchase floor coverings, your selection of styles, species, and colors are almost endless. However you should not take purchasing floor coverings lightly, as various types of flooring materials will work better in certain situations than others. In fact if you put the wrong type of flooring in some situations, you could have a very undesirable situation on your hands. Or worse, you could even end up having to tear it out and start over. Understanding laminate flooring vs hardwood flooring is a great place to start.
Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring – Quick Note
Our advice is to learn as much as you can about the flooring options that are available for your home, and also ask the professionals for advice before making your final flooring selections. Since this is such an important decision for your family and your home, we are going to cover many different aspects of the “Laminate vs Hardwood” question, in several parts. Each week we are going to add a new topic that covers the important “Do’s & Dont’s” and “when’s and where’s” to buy or install a new Hardwood or Laminate Floor. Plus we will show you how to take care of them and what to watch out for so that you can be confident that you got the best deal and made the right choice for any room in your home.
Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring
In this article we are going to discuss some of the “Pros and Cons” of both laminate flooring and Hardwood Flooring. In the correct environment, both flooring options will serve as an excellent choice and provide your family with years, or even decades of beauty and enjoyment. Each type of flooring has features and benefits that are more appropriate to a certain type of installation, or a particular budget. So let’s begin.
The first thing that is important to know is that in almost all cases, both Laminate Flooring and Hardwood Flooring will be a far better choice for an allergy sufferer or someone with chemical sensitivities, than carpeting would be. Both Hard Surface floor coverings will be much easier to keep clean than carpeting because they will not collect and hold dust, or other types of impurities in the air such as pet hair. Both Hardwood and Laminate Flooring are very easy to clean, which can involve as little effort as using a dust mop or soft bristled broom.
Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring – Cleaning Ease
On Hardwood Floors that are finished with Polyurethane (Most Hardwood Floors Today Are Finished With Polyurethane Finishes-Both Water based and Oil Based) More thorough cleaning can be done with a lightly dampened mop or rag, with a warm water and white vinegar solution. (1/2 cup white vinegar to a pail of warm water) However it is very important to note here that you should always follow the manufacturers instructions on proper cleaning and maintenance of your hardwood and laminate flooring. Occasionally a manufacturer may recommend a special cleaner that can even help your floor last longer. You can read more in depth about Laminate flooring maintenance by clicking here.
Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring – Toxins and Allergies
Hardwood Flooring and Laminate Flooring will also usually emit less chemicals such as formaldehyde than carpeting will. However since this is a serious issue for some people, so you should always check with the manufacturer to get the specifications on any emissions from glue or finishes that may have been used in the manufacturing process. In the 20 years that I spent as a floor covering estimator, hardwood flooring was the most popular choice for the bedroom of children and adults with severe allergies. Rarely was carpet ever selected.
Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring – Refinishing
In the case of an older home (Usually built before 1970), you can even check under any existing carpet to see if your home had hardwood floors installed originally. In this case, a “floor refinishing” may be all that is needed to save you quite a bit of money. Most people are absolutely amazed at how refinishing an old hardwood floor can thoroughly refurbish it’s beauty. And since many of the hardwood floors in older homes were from the original “Old Growth” trees, the quality and beauty can’t be matched by today’s hardwood floors.
Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring – Maintenance
A perfect throw rug to protect your laminate or hardwood flooring in the heavy traffic areas.
One of the most important things you can do to substantially extend the life of your laminate flooring, is to use area rugs or “felt protector pads” to keep furniture from scratching and “prematurely wearing” the surface. Although most laminate flooring is an extremely durable and scratch resistant floor covering, it is not indestructible. Heavy furniture can scratch the surface of laminate flooring if it is dragged across the surface without properly protecting the floor.
Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring – Furniture
Typical felt pads that can protect your hardwood or laminate flooring
Proper floor maintenance whether you’re talking about laminate flooring vs hardwood flooring, you will find is pretty much the same with both, outside of different chemicals to use when cleaning. Good common sense always applies, For instance, when moving a piece of furniture (especially heavy furniture), you should try not to drag it across the surface of the laminate flooring. Always pick it up and move it whenever possible. If that is not possible, try placing something soft underneath the piece of furniture before moving it. A good idea to consider, is to place “peel and stick” felt protector pads on the bottom of all furniture before moving it back on to the floor, right after your new laminate flooring is installed. This will allow you to move your furniture around in the future without forgetting to protect the floor. It is a very fast and easy preventative step that you can take, and one that could very easily prevent unnecessary damage to your floor.
Area rugs or “felt protector pads” are extremely important to use under chairs and any furniture that could be slid across the floor, since this could scratch your new floor. This too, is the same when comparing laminate flooring vs hardwood flooring. This is especially true for chairs that are heavily used in the same location, such as your kitchen or dining room table chairs. Although a dining room chair may not be very heavy, often times it will be moved back and forth several times a day, in exactly the same spot. This constant scraping of the surface on your laminate floor or hardwood floor, can scratch and/or wear your surface prematurely. If your kitchen or dining room chairs have rollers, consider using an area rug instead. Another area to watch is in front of your kitchen sink or dishwasher. Basically any area that has a “higher than average” concentration of foot traffic, is a good candidate for a small rug.
Using small throw rugs at exterior doors is also very important, for 2 reasons. The first reason is that these areas tend to have a high concentration of foot traffic. The 2nd reason is that these areas will typically have a lot of sand and grit tracked in from outside, and this can create an especially harmful situation to your floor. Sand and grit that is tracked in should be vacuumed or swept up with a soft bristle broom, on a regular basis. If you don’t, it will be like taking sand paper to your flooring surface as it gets walked on. Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood flooring, it makes no difference here, anything small and sharp and scratch, and wear on your floor. Although the laminate surface is very tough and wear-resistant, it is not impenetrable. Very often when people run into to trouble with their laminate flooring, it is because they are were not aware that these simple steps are so effective at preventing problems.
Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring – Final word on Maintenance
The nice thing about Laminate flooring is that it truly is a very low maintenance floor selection. Basic things like keeping it free of sand and grit, as well as area rugs and felt protector pads, are 2 very fast and easy things to do. Add in your basic cleaning as mentioned above and your maintenance duties are pretty much complete. By performing these basic maintenance steps, a laminate floor can literally last for decades. When you take this in to consideration along with Laminate Flooring’s relatively low cost, the return on investment for your home is a no brainer.
More on Laminate Flooring vs Hardwood Flooring in a few days.
