Laminate Flooring vs Wood Flooring ~ The Pros and Cons

Laminate flooring is one of the most popular flooring among home owners due to its cost effectiveness, high scratch resistance as well as the wide variety of design and colors. Wood flooring on the other hand is also popular among the affluent buyers, such as making their homes uniquely one of the kind, instilling luxury and add value to the property. So what are their pros and cons?

Pricing

PRO: Laminate flooring is a finished product that is made up of compressed wood that are pressed together under high pressure processes and strong temperature. As it is easy to produce, laminate flooring fits the renovation budget pretty much well compare to wood flooring. Home owners can select good quality laminate flooring brands such as Tarkett and Parador for their home interior design without 'burning' their pockets.

Since wood flooring is individual wood timber planks that harvested from forest sources worldwide, its pricing will therefore be on the high side; solid wood flooring can fetch an exhorbitant renovation investment depending on the types of wood species chosen for the home flooring. However, the home owners can consider investing on engineered wood flooring planks which will not cost so much to them.

Unique Character

PRO: One great benefit of wood flooring is that it gives your home a one-of-the-kind living experience due to the unique characteristics of the wood feature. Each wood flooring plank is different from one another. Hence, this will be another reason why the property value of your home will increase. 

As for laminate flooring, there is a pretty high number of brands in the industry. For lower quality laminate flooring, the design of each piece of planks will look very similar to each other. This is because low quality laminate flooring manufacturers will usually mass produced limited floor designs with limited floor patterns per design. This however, may not be true for some good laminate flooring brands, in which it house a random variety of floor patterns per flooring design. 

Scratch Resistance

PRO: Laminate flooring are highly scratch resistant and easy to maintain. It is usually recommended for home owners with pets and young children. They would not have to worry about the flooring being scratched by their playful children and the dogs. 

Wood flooring, on the other hand, is highly suceptible to scratches due to its natural surfaces. It will depend on each individual point of view. Some view scratches as something to avoid at all cost while some will view them as something that will leave a deep impression on them, bringing back memories and a deep sense of nostalgia. Aged parents will always remember that "masterpiece" in the living room wood flooring, "created" by their children when they were young.

Hence that glass of water can be half full or half empty.

Repair in the Long Run

PRO: Wood flooring is considered a timeless beauty of flooring that exists for many centuries. One of the best benefits for wood flooring is that it is easy to repair in terms of giving the floor a "new life" through re-varnishing and re-painting. What it means to the owner that the flooring can last a lifetime. 

Laminate flooring, however, is very difficult to repair. When the flooring is damaged after some time, it will not be easy to find a similar replacement board for the affected area. Even if there is a replacement, there may be an obvious slight color tone change on the flooring. Laminate flooring is still considered a good option for home owners due to its cost effectiveness. Home owners should choose good quality laminate flooring brands from reputable contractors that are willing to give a good period of warranty for the product as well as the installation. Therefore, the home owners, while realising the advantages and disadvantages of laminate flooring, will have a peace of mind, knowing that their laminate flooring are "covered."

By understanding the benefits and disadvantages for laminate flooring vs wood flooring, the home owners can therefore make the best renovation decision on selecting either of the flooring that can suit their budget, design preferences and other needs.