Laminate or Hardwood?

Homeowners who are interested in redoing the flooring in their home are faced with an important decision: laminate or hardwood flooring? The industry is full of advice about which options will allow you to reap the most benefits. However, most homeowners are in desperate need of practical advice about what their flooring options are and the benefits of each one. If you find yourself faced with a choice between laminate and hardwood flooring, which one should you choose?

Here at Woodboys, we only carry real wood products. We believe that wood floors are a timeless way to update the interior of your home. They have been around for centuries and continue to be one of the most popular floor coverings – and for good reason! Wood floors are beautiful, durable, and environmentally-friendly all at the same time.

Why do we feel that hardwood floors are the clear winner when it comes to the age-old debate of laminate or hardwood flooring? Join us as we take a much closer look at what you can expect with new wood flooring throughout your home compared to laminate.

Better Visuals

For those homeowners who are struggling to tell the difference between laminate or hardwood flooring, there is a clear way to tell the two apart. Laminate flooring is composed of melamine-infused paper and a wood-chip composite bottom. This essentially means that the part you will lay eyes on is nothing more than a picture of a real wood floor.

In fact, you may even see these pictures repeat over the scope of an entire room. You will more than likely have many boards that are completely identical when observing the floor as a whole.

On the other hand, no two pieces of hardwood flooring are ever going to be exactly the same. This holds true whether you choose solid or engineered hardwood flooring (for more information on the difference between these two products, you can view our other blog post here). Why not opt for the real beauty that is inherent only to a natural hardwood floor instead of a cheap imitation?

More Durability

When you invest in new flooring for your home, you want to select an option that is going to look beautiful through the years ahead. Many people are led to believe that laminate is actually going to be more durable than hardwood flooring, but this simply isn’t the case.

Laminate flooring is often very susceptible to damages that come from the daily wear and tear of your home. For example, the finish may start to bubble when it encounters a small spill. With prolonged exposure to water, the edges may begin to curl and the surface picture can start to peel off. Dents and dings are much harder to touch up or hide. The only real solution would be to perform a board replacement in the affected area.

Wood flooring is much more durable than laminate. When spills take place, the hardwood floors will remain undamaged as long as the liquid is cleaned up in a timely manner. This makes them ideal for families that have young children or pets. Wear and tear can easily be touched up using a stain pen, and it adds to the overall character or beauty of the floor. On some styles, such as handscraped wood floors, these dents and dings will barely even be noticeable.

Side View of Engineered Hardwood

With solid wood floors and even many of our engineered hardwood floors, you also have the option of fully refinishing them in years to come. This can get rid of scratches, dents, and other marks that have accumulated over time. In the end, you are left with a beautiful floor that looks as good as new. There are no similar refinishing options for laminate products.

Who wins the durability test when it comes to laminate or hardwood flooring? Wood floors will win this test each and every time!

Environmentally Friendly

We all want to do our part to help out the environment. The question is, will laminate or hardwood flooring allow you to make an environmentally-conscious decision for your home?

Laminate flooring has the potential to emit gasses and volatile organic compounds, causing possible health problems for someone who has respiratory issues. The quality of laminate flooring can vary greatly, just as the price can vary significantly. Your laminate flooring could be emitting fumes that are bad for the environment and your overall health.

The wood flooring sold at Woodboys is going to be compliant with the highest manufacturing guidelines to reduce the VOCs emitted. Our manufacturers are all CARB 2 compliant which means that they meet the most stringent emissions standards for formaldehyde emissions.

Wood is a natural product that is grown simply with sunlight and water. It absorbs carbon dioxide and reduces greenhouse gas emissions throughout its lifespan, both in the earth and in your home. It is also biodegradable, easily recycled, and renewable. When harvested responsibly, wood floors can continue to last for generations to come.

Improved Resale Value

Everyone wants to know what they can do to improve the resale value of their home. After all, your floor covering is a major investment that should pay off for you in the long run. Many people are tempted to install laminate flooring because it is an imitation of a real wood product at a lower price point. However, it will do very little to increase the resale value of your home.

By comparison, a real hardwood floor does increase the resale value of your house. While it would be difficult to estimate how much it will do so, you can rest assured that houses with hardwood flooring typically sell for more money than those without.

The Bottom Line: Laminate or Hardwood Floors?

When it comes down to it, there is simply nothing that can compete with the timeless beauty, durability, and environmentally-friendly nature of hardwood floors. Laminate may pose as a less expensive alternative to give you a hard surface floor covering, but it doesn’t stand a chance in a side-by-side comparison with solid and engineered hardwood flooring.

Do you want to make a great impression on your guests with the beauty of your new floors? Make sure you opt for real hardwood instead of laminate!