Choosing what kind of flooring you want for your home can be confusing when you don’t know what it is you need. Laminate floors and Hardwood floors tend to look alike at first, but certain qualities set them apart.
Table Summary
| HARDWOOD FLOOR | LAMINATE FLOORS |
| Made with organic wood or plywood | Made with wood imitation melamine resin bonded with aluminum oxide under intense heat and pressure |
| Lasts for generations | The average lifespan is ten years |
| It can be easily damaged by heat and moisture | Resistant to heat fluctuations and resists moisture |
| Damages are easily repairable | Damages tend to be extensive and difficult to repair |
| Relatively harder to maintain | Easily maintained |
Definitions
Hardwood flooring usually consists of engineered multiple planks of wood or plywood layers consisting of a top-layer lamella of solid sawn-wood with cross-laid wood/plywood middle and top layer manufactured in a factory. An alternative to hardwood flooring is the solid hardwood floor, where pieces of wood are purchased individually and assembled.
Laminate flooring comprises several layers of synthetic compounds such as melamine resin and fiberboard. The top layer is usually finished to imitate wood patterns.
Hardwood Floors VS Laminate Floors
Hardwood floors have a natural textured feel and look due to the grain of the wood used to make them. Laminate floors are naturally smoother, and even imitations of appearance and you can easily detect even imitations of appearance and texture on close examination. Laminate floors are also much harder and resistant to physical, heat, and moisture damage, whereas the resistance of Hardwood floors tends to vary. Despite this, Hardwood floors are very durable, and mechanical damages can be easily fixed, making them have a much longer lifespan than the average ten years of Laminate floors. Laminate floors also do not repair easily once the damage is done. Hardwood floors require careful maintenance to retain aesthetic quality, which does not apply to laminate floors.