Laminate vs Wood Flooring
Information Guide

Are you looking to fit a new floor? Do you want information, tips and advice?

Read this flooring information guide, before you buy.

A new floor really is a big purchase - and one that you will be hoping you don't have to repeat too often.

There are so many choices of flooring, you will want to be sure you get the right choice for your home, and your own personal taste.

Here, let's take a quick look at laminate vs wood flooring to help you decide which is right for you:

Laminate vs Wood Flooring

Real Wood Flooring

• One of the most popular floorings these days is wood.


• Wood is a beautiful and timeless flooring for your home, and is surprisingly warm underfoot.


• Although wood flooring is quite expensive to buy, if you look after it carefully, it can last a lifetime.

  Real wood floors can be sanded down, and wax, varnish, lacquer, or even paint can be re-applied.



• Your wood flooring could be plain floorboards - sanded and then treated with wax, varnish or lacquer.

  These are cheap and practical. You may even have perfectly adequate floorboards already, hidden under the carpets in your home.

  With a bit of cleaning and finishing, they will look fantastic.

  They suit any style of house, modern or traditional, town or country, and can be stained or varnished in any color you wish.



• You can also buy solid wood planks - highly finished, and laid in the manner of a laminate floor.

  This is more pricey, but does give a very smart, luxurious and sophisticated look.



• You can also choose a parquet floor. Small wood strips are bonded together and arranged in a criss-cross pattern.

  They are either laid with each strip laid out separately, or in pre-fabricated square tiles (which usually works out cheaper and easier).

  Parquet flooring is very good for a traditional look in your home.



• Finally, you could actually paint your floorboards.

  This is a very good, cheap and quick way of getting a new look for your floor.

  Use any color you choose...

  Use a specialist floor paint for a hard wearing finish. Or choose an emulsion, if you want a deliberately 'distressed' or 'aged' look, as this will wear much more quickly.

  Painted floorboards are good for country-style decorating, or traditional, or even bohemian or 'shabby-chic' styles.



• If you live in an apartment, do be aware that the noise will travel through bare floorboards very easily.


• If you choose the pre-finished plank style of real wood flooring, choose your underlay as for laminate flooring.

Lisa has a question about mixing woods and wood floor color

Vicki wonders whether to use dark wood flooring

Andrea asks about what color flooring she should use in her Craftsman style home

Now, let's move on to consider laminates in this laminate vs wood flooring guide:









Laminate Flooring



• Laminate flooring is very popular now for living areas, and becoming more and more popular for other rooms in the house.


• It gives you the look of real wood, but at a fraction of the price.

  It is very popular with DIYers, as it is pretty easy to fit yourself.



• It has an underside of fibre-board, with a plastic-coated (or even real wood) veneer on the top.

  It is also known as a 'floating floor', as it is not actually 'fixed' to the sub-floor underneath.



• As laminate flooring becomes more and more popular, there is an ever increasing selection of styles, from wood-effect, wood-block effect, and even slate and tile effect.


• Fitting laminate flooring is also much easier now than when we fitted our first laminate floor around 7 years ago. Most laminates do not, now, need glue, and are a simple 'click' system.

  This means that you can take it up, and take it with you, when you move. Fitting it is less messy, too!



• When choosing your laminate flooring, make sure that you choose the most suitable durability classification, depending on the room you want to use it in.

  Check the packs for more information on which room they are recommended for.



• If you want to use your laminate flooring in wet areas such as kitchens, bathrooms and utility areas, make sure you use specially designed, 'splash-proof' laminate flooring.

  (Although it does still warn you not to leave any standing water on your laminate floor!)

  Don't let your laminate floor get really wet - or it will buckle and ruin - and it will smell terrible!

  Yes, once again I speak from experience - the washing machine flooded the kitchen - yuk - very squelchy! Not a nice job to sort it all out!



• If you have a lease on your property, check that laminate flooring is permitted before you make any purchases - strangely enough, quite often it isn't!


• To get a really good finish for your laminate floor, make sure you choose the correct underlay - which fits beneath your laminate floor and your sub-floor.

  It differs, depending on which type of sub-floor you actually have.




Underlays

Laminate vs Wood Flooring - Underlays. These underlays can be used for both wood flooring and laminates, the advice is identical:


• Foam Underlay - A basic underlay. To be used on dry, firm and level surfaces.


• 6mm Fibre Board Underlay - Suitable for uneven sub-floors. Thicker than the foam. Good insulation and sound-proofing.


• Damp Proof Membrane - Essential on concrete sub-floors. Combine with a foam underlay to get extra cushioning.


• Combination Underlay - There is also a combination underlay available, which combines the damp proof and foam cushioning in one underlay.


• Don't forget to buy some beading, which fits between the flooring and skirting board, to hide the gap which you need to leave for expansion.

I hope that this laminate vs wood flooring info guide has helped you to decide on your flooring purchase.

Have you considered carpet instead? Take a look at this carpet ratings information guide for help.

How about tiles? Or vinyl flooring? Read tiling and flooring information and advice.

Why not try something very new, hardwearing and totally unique? Have a look at this concrete flooring idea - concrete is not just for outside these days!

Ask your own carpet and flooring information questions, here...

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