Solid hardwood flooring is often regarded as the real deal with laminate flooring occupying the next rung down as an inexpensive way to simulate the look of real hardwood flooring.
Real wood flooring vs laminate.
They re also durable and install pretty easily compared to other floor types.
Unlike engineered hardwood which has a thin veneer of actual wood over the base layer laminate flooring has a photo realistic image layer over its base.
While some older and less expensive laminate products can look tacky or fake advances in printing and production have made it extremely difficult to tell the difference between modern laminate and most types of wood flooring.
Real wood flooring is a profitable long term investment for your property homes with real wood flooring are time and again reaching greater values on the housing market than those fitted with laminate flooring.
Both resemble true hardwood but each comes with its own benefits and disadvantages.
However the benefits of choosing real wood do outweigh the initial cost but more on this in a second.
Real wood floors are significantly more expensive than their laminated counterparts.
They are two very different floor coverings.
To start with laminate floors are generally cheaper while achieving a look similar to wood.
There are varying levels of cost the cheaper laminate looks a little less like wood and more like cheaper flooring.
And we mean photo realistic.
Laminate floor planks often have synchronized embossing that matches the image layer that further mimics a natural hardwood look and can also have the look and feel of a hand scraped hardwood embossed wood distressed hardwood or come in textured or smooth.
Hardwood flooring 3 4 inch thick boards of solid.
The main difference between hardwood flooring and laminate flooring is that hardwood flooring is made from real wood and laminate flooring has a picture of wood on the surface.
Looks like real wood.
Realistic wood and stone looks.
Laminate flooring while it has become better at mimicking wood and other materials will always come up short as a replica of wood.
Luxury vinyl if you re seeking an alternative to hardwood but laminate doesn t sound like the material for you consider engineered wood or luxury vinyl.
Not only is the rustic.
But top quality laminates now have a richer deeper embossing of simulated wood grain textures giving the flooring a much more realistic feel.
Here are some of the benefits of installing laminate wood flooring.