Today’s post on the benefits of laminate flooring is long over due!
You might remember from our previous beach house renovation, we opted for this durable floor option over real wood floors for a variety of reasons – and it turned out to be a great choice!
Today I’m going to break down five reasons why we opted for laminate flooring.
Reason To Invest In Laminate Flooring Over Real Hardwood Flooring
Laminate flooring planks are an affordable and popular alternative to real wood floors.
While vinyl planks used to be considered just a cheaper way to renovate a home, the evolution of laminate flooring has helped to create high-quality designs with authentic looks.
Better yet, these laminate flooring options offer a wide range of benefits for homeowners.
In fact, installing laminate flooring throughout your property can now give you a hyper-realistic real wood floor effect.
Today we’re going to highlight five different reasons to ditch your dreams of a high-maintenance real wood floor and go for a modern, high quality laminate floor design instead.
1. Mimic The Effect Of A Real Wood Floor
Laminate flooring looks just like real wood flooring.
Investing in real wood flooring can set you back between $6,000 and $12,000 per 1,000 square foot.
This often includes installation, however, it’s a pretty steep price to pay for a home renovation.
While laminate flooring can mimic the look and even the feel of real wood floors.
Better yet, this more affordable new floor look is often a fraction of the cost of many other flooring types.
On average, you can expect to pay around $5,000 for 1,000 square foot of high-quality laminate flooring – which even includes professional installation.
Depending on the project, you might even be able to ditch the installation cost and install it yourself.
Design and technology advances in home décor have come a long way in the laminate planks market.
Now there are so many realistic laminate flooring options.
You can find laminate wood floors in an endless variety of colors which look exactly like real wood stains, grains and even distressing.
You might pay a little more for a wood grain feel underfoot, but it’s certainly worth it!
2. Installing Laminate Flooring Is Easy
If you’re confident when it comes to DIY, you can also save yourself a hefty sum by installing laminate flooring yourself.
The panels come with a simple locking system, that with a little patience and attention to detail can be achieved by almost anyone.
If you were to pick a real wood floor for your home, you would need to hire a professional to lay down the flooring, as hardwood floors can be affected by heat and moisture.
Attempting to install hardwood flooring yourself may also lead to gaps and bulging.
3. Highly Durable In Nature
Whether you have a fluffy friend at home who enjoys jumping from the sofa to the floor, or small children running around and playing with plastic toys on the floor, laminate flooring is a highly durable choice.
In fact, this flooring is such a good option for high-traffic areas, you’ll now find various types of laminate flooring in hotel rooms.
Protected by a tough exterior layer and resin coating, it is considered far more durable and scratch-resistant than real wood.
4. Low Maintenance Compared To Real Wood Floors
Talking of general wear and tear, you’ll also be glad to hear that laminate flooring is stain resistant too.
Thanks to its hard surface and exterior coating, if you spill drinks or even a bucket of water on your new floor, it’s fairly easy to clean up.
Real wood, on the other hand, can be a nightmare when dealing with water damage.
Real wooden floor planks can become distorted, discolored, and even warped.
Repairing this of type of damage could cost you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
So if you have a high moisture or moisture-prone areas like a finished basement, vinyl flooring is clearly the best option for your flooring project.
5. Amazing array of choices in so many styles.
Last but not least, when it comes to flooring materials, laminate flooring offers homeowners a lot of creative freedom.
Available in a wide range of styles, patterns, and colors, you can really channel your unique sense of style by investing in laminate flooring over real wood.
Whether you fancy a hyper-realistic real wood effect for you new floors or a dramatic high gloss as your top layer finish, the power is in your hands!
Is Laminate Flooring Waterproof?
One last thing I did want to stress.
Laminate flooring is not waterproof.
After I posted this I got several emails asking me this question.
While laminate flooring is a great option if you’re worried about water – it’s only water resistant and not water proof.
I want to make this clear just in case there was any confusion.
It’s still a really solid flooring choice!
SHOP FLOORING OPTIONS AND TOOLS HERE:
Be sure to check out these posts for even more great home renovation ideas:
Why you should paint your walls and trim the same color.
The Best Trends In Hardwood Flooring.
How to choose the best ceiling paint.
The three best paint choices for your trim and baseboards.
Why we love Benjamin Moore White Dove paint so much.
All about adding wainscoting to your home.
Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee Paint Review.
Conclusion
I hope you found these tips and ideas on adding laminate flooring to your home helpful.
If you have any questions, be sure to let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them for you.
Just a few more things…
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We have both – hardwood flooring downstairs and LVP upstairs. The only downside to the latter is that it cannot be refinished like hardwood when style/colors change – dark floors of the 2000s to gray tones of the 2010s to the medium wood tones popular now. Also, buy extra, if you ever think you will remodel/move a wall/expand a doorway, for the same reason (you cannot just patch in pieces of hardwood and refinish the whole floor, you have to have the same material).
Good points! Also, yes to the buying extra! Thanks for the reminder!