Is laminate flooring better than real hardwood?

Question

I've been told than real wood flooring needs a lot of work to keep it up and laminate doesn't - plus laminate is cheaper. What's the REAL deal?

Answer 1

Nothing beats the look and feel of real hard wood. But it IS expensive and harder to maintain. Luckily it ages well and you can embrace the character of scratches and dents.

BUT if you cannot afford hardwood or don't want to deal with the maintenance, spend the money and get a higher quality laminate. It will look better and hold up better than a cheap one. Amtico has a beautiful collection called Spacia. It's beautiful and holds up well enough to be used in commercial spaces.
http://www.amtico.com/Home/UK/Spacia?psvnv=2&psvbr=4&fcpm=psv
Heres the link. It's availble in the states as well as the UK. Check it out. It's WELL worth the money. This is the laminate I would use if I wasn't going to go with real hardwood.

You may also looke into bamboo or cork flooring. Both are beautiful options.

Good luck and best wishes. Hope this helped.

Answer 2

Here's the real deal:

Laminate flooring is less expensive... and it is cheaper. Laminate flooring is just like press board furniture with a plastic laminate coating. It looks good, is easy to keep clean and doesn't scratch like hardwood floors.

Hardwood floors are more expensive... and they aren't cheap. They are made from real wood planks. They are easy to clean but unfortunately, they do scratch.... but there are ways to prevent this.

To get the real deal, you need to consider that hardwood floors are much better... not only will you not be walking on plastic, but if you decide to sell your home, hardwood floors are worth THOUSANDS of dollars more than laminate... which is basically not a good selling point and not worth much..

Answer 3

Laminate is less expensive but hardwoods are longer lasting and can be re-done if necessary without replacing the entire flooring. I have had hardwoods in high traffic areas as well as living areas for over 13 years. I dust them daily and wash once a week, not much work there. They are just as beautiful as they were when we put them in.

Answer 4

The real deal is that with laminate you are not getting the real deal, you are getting plastic coated ****. I love the organic nature of wood. There are wood floors in 100 year old houses. If you take the time to do the finish work properly. your wood floors will certainly outlive you. Laminates will not. Once there is a problem with a laminate, you can't sand it down and redo it. Good luck.

Answer 5

Timber flooring (real hardwood) is more expensive and yes, it's harder to maintain because it may scatches and leaves water marks if left wet. Laminates are cheaper and easier to maintain. But, i feel that laminates will never be able to replace the natural look of timber flooring.