Hardwood vs. Laminate Flooring

There are more options than ever today when selecting floors for your home: carpet vs. hardwood vs. concrete vs. engineered floors and so on. For many homeowners, the choice comes down to hardwood vs. laminate flooring. Offering a classic appeal, solid hardwood floors can increase the value of a home and provide a surface that will last for generations. Laminate flooring, on the other hand, offers a far cheaper alternative that can provide a surface that is highly durable, easy to clean and can maintain its color in high-traffic and sun-drenched rooms.

To determine whether hardwood or laminate floors are best for you, let’s take a side-by-side look at these two flooring options.

How hardwood and laminate floors are made

Solid hardwood floors are made with floorboards that are harvested from species of hardwood trees. Each board is typically 3/4 of an inch thick and is sanded, stained and sealed on-site or prefinished at the factory to create a highly durable surface. Hardwood floors are made with a variety of woods and can be stained to nearly any color.

Laminate floors are made with manufactured floorboards, typically 1/4″ to 1/2” thick, that feature a bottom layer of fiberboard and a top layer, or “design layer,” that is imprinted to give the board the appearance of a hardwood floor. Laminate floors can be manufactured in nearly any color and can be made to resemble many different types of material such as bamboo or cork or even stone or fabric.

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Appearance: hardwood vs. laminate flooring

Hardwood floors have a timeless appeal and are highly sought-after by potential homebuyers. Hardwood lends a sense of warmth and personality to any room and serves as the foundation for many elegant design choices.

On the other hand, hardwood floors can show their age. In high-traffic areas, they can wear down rather quickly and they’re susceptible to scratches, dents, and stains. Fortunately, hardwood floors can be refinished multiple times to restore their original luster. With care, hardwood floors can last several generations or more.

While the technology used to produce laminate floorboards has improved greatly, these floors are seldom mistaken for actual hardwood surfaces. On close inspection, it’s easy to spot the synthetic quality of a laminate floor. However, the top layer of laminate floors is highly resistant to scratches, stains, dents, and even sunlight, helping these surfaces to maintain their original appearance for most of their life, which can extend 15 to 25 years.

Resistance to changes in temperature and moisture

Solid hardwood floors typically don’t do well with large fluctuations in temperature, humidity and moisture  – in these situations, they can easily warp, crack or shrink. That’s why you rarely see hardwood flooring in bathrooms or basements, for example.

Laminate surfaces tend to be more resistant to heat and water and can be used in situations where the temperature changes or the moisture level for hardwood flooring is too extreme. Laminate flooring can be an excellent choice for basement and mudroom flooring. However, laminate floors aren’t ideal for all moisture-prone locations, as prolonged exposure to standing water can cause the edges of the floorboards to swell or chip.

In rooms that experience large changes in temperature and humidity, engineered wood flooring is the preferred choice. Engineered boards are made with multiple layers of backing material and a top layer of solid hardwood, creating a floorboard that is both aesthetically beautiful and highly resistant to changes in temperature and humidity. Engineered floors are ideal for cellar flooring or as a radiant heat wood floor.

Installation of hardwood vs. laminate flooring

Hardwood flooring is fairly difficult and time-consuming to install. For floors that are finished on-site, the planks must be sanded, stained, and sealed, creating a mess of sawdust and noxious fumes. Prefinished hardwood floors can reduce the time and cost of installation, but may add increase the cost of materials.

In sharp contrast, installation of laminate flooring is incredibly easy, even for do-it-yourselfers. The floorboards click together and can even be installed over a foam underlayment to avoid the need for nails or glue.

The cost of hardwood vs. laminate floors

The cost of hardwood floors varies widely and depends a great deal on the species of wood you choose, the width and length of the floorboards and the types of finishes applied. In addition, the cost of installation can be significant as well, particularly for hardwood floors installed with a pattern.

Laminate floors are much cheaper than hardwood, both in the cost of materials and in the fees for installation. The total cost of a laminate floor may be 50% less than a hardwood option.

Which floor is best for pets?

Hardwood floors can be easily scratched by the nails of pets and stained by pet accidents, though waxed and finished floors will fare reasonably well with pets.

Laminate floors are more impervious to scratches and are more water-resistant as well, though it’s important to clean up accidents right away.

The final decision: what floor will you choose?

Choosing hardwood vs. laminate floors often comes down to questions of design, location and cost.

Hardwood floors are the gold standard for warm, elegant surfaces with personality. But they’re not suitable for every room, and the cost of hardwood floors can be significant. Laminate floors are far less expensive and can provide more resistance to moisture and heat, but the synthetic quality of these floors is not for everyone.

At Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, we offer both hardwood and laminate floors of exceptional quality. Contact a Carlisle Wide Plank specialist to receive samples of floorboards and to review all your flooring options.