After all the two materials aren t the same thing.
Laminate wood floors against real wood floors.
Solid hardwood flooring can be damaged by standing water and floods and even installation against concrete slabs is frowned up engineered hardwood flooring is a better choice in these situations.
But while many people think of laminate as a product that is inferior to wood flooring that isn t necessarily true.
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.
A lot of people wonder how to clean laminate wood floors because it can be somewhat different from cleaning hardwood floors.
The choice between real wood or laminate can be easy as long as you know the facts about both.
It provides the unmatched beauty of real wood without solid wood flooring s tendency to shrink or warp.
T molding is used to bridge gaps in hardwood.
Laminate engineered wood solid hardwood and vinyl.
More rigid than luxury vinyl aka non resilient.
If it was just normal wear and tear on the flooring it might be a close race.
The problem with laminate is the mdf core that absolutely hates moistur.
If you have your heart set on having a wood or faux wood floor you have four choices.
This material can be used with radiant heating systems but it must be specially made for radiant systems.
Solid hardwood flooring.
Dense and thin boards are good for radiant heat just make sure the boards aren t too soft or thick.
The aluminum oxide in the melamine sheet on the laminate is what gives it its scratch resistance.
Commonly used in doorways to camouflage rough cuts made where two different installations of hardwood flooring meet t molding features a narrow channel which slides between two gaps in wood then masks the area with a slightly rounded or square piece of trim which sits nearly flush to the existing floors.
Although popular in kitchens solid hardwood is not recommended for wet areas either.
Made of synthetic layers bonded together through a lamination process.
Artificial hardwood floors called laminate floors are available at a variety of price points and high quality laminate products can look deceptively similar to real wood.
Solid hardwood is available in both pre finished and unfinished boards.
Engineered hardwood flooring has a similar construction as laminate except the top decorative layer is a thick veneer of real wood protected by a coating of clear acrylic.
Some laminate floors aren t good conductors so you need to check with the manufacturer before installation.