Both engineered hardwood and laminate flooring are popular options for homeowners building or refinishing their homes. But which one of these is the best? And what exactly are the differences between them? We’ll break it down so you can be confident in your flooring choice.
What are the differences between engineered hardwood and laminate flooring?
Engineered hardwood floors are made up of a solid hardwood top layer with layers of plywood underneath for greater support. Thanks to the solid hardwood layer, the floors look like, feel like, and last as long as wood floors–because they are!
Laminate flooring does not have any wood in its floorboards. These are made of a core board with a photo layer on top that looks like wood. However, it is obvious these floors don’t contain any real wood.
Pros of Laminate Flooring
The price
The biggest advantage to using laminate flooring is the price tag. Hardwood flooring can be expensive, and laminate will always be a cheaper option because you don’t have any pieces of solid wood.
Can be used in bathrooms
Since there is no wood involved in laminate flooring, it is more resistant to water. This means that unlike wood flooring, you can put this in high-moisture areas, such as the bathroom.
Pros of Engineered Hardwood
More durable and longer lasting
Because it’s engineered, this flooring is incredibly durable and resilient. It’s been designed with stability in mind, so every aspect of the engineering works towards this goal. Many companies offer scratch-resistant finishes, but if you do end up with scratched floors, you can always refinish them!
Versatility
Because you can refinish engineered hardwood flooring just like solid hardwood flooring, it gains a distinct versatility advantage over laminate flooring. If you want to change up the look of your floors, go ahead and refinish them! Some engineered flooring companies also offer the option to customize your floors from start to finish, which gives you even more versatility.
Real wood
If you want real hardwood flooring but understand the cons of solid hardwood floor, engineered hardwood is the perfect solution! You’ll get all the advantages of a solid hardwood floor, such as higher resale value, while still keeping a cheaper price point than solid hardwood.
Cons of Laminate Flooring
Can’t refinish
While laminate flooring has some advantages, one major disadvantage is that it can’t be refinished. This means if you have kids or large pets who might scratch the floor, you’ll have to live with those scratches or replace the floor entirely.
Life expectancy
Laminate flooring is expected to last 10-20 years, while engineered hardwood can last 30+ years. So you’ll be redoing your floors a lot sooner than if you use hardwood.
Cons of Engineered Hardwood
The price
Engineered hardwood will always be more expensive than laminate flooring, since you are using solid pieces of wood for the wear layer instead of a photo layer.
Possibly low quality
If you use low quality engineered hardwood flooring, your floors could be equally susceptible to damage as laminate flooring. However, if you do your research and use a company that makes high quality flooring, you can avoid this entirely.
Engineered hardwood vs laminate flooring: who wins overall?
Engineered hardwood is our overall winner. Although it’s more expensive, it’s also more durable and resilient, meaning it will last you longer and you won’t have to worry about replacing it as soon as you would laminate flooring.
When it comes to your flooring, the quality is the most important aspect. While it might be tempting to sacrifice that quality for a cheaper price upfront, consider how repairs and replacing your floors might cost you. You’ll need to replace laminate flooring a lot sooner than engineered hardwood. Use high quality engineered flooring and erase the worry of costly repairs.
Where can you get high quality engineered flooring?
PurezaWood Engineered Hardwood Flooring is a great source for flooring. All of our floors are custom made, so you can create flooring in whatever specs you desire. We use only the highest-quality materials to guarantee your floors are long-lasting, durable, and more resistant to movement. You can learn more about the PurezaWood difference here. And we manufacture all our flooring ourselves, so you never have to pay marked-up prices!
Contact us here and learn more about our sustainable flooring here.
