Hardwood Flooring vs Laminate Flooring: Difference and Comparison

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Hardwood Flooring and Laminate Flooring is one of the most well-accepted flooring techniques. Hardwood Flooring is obtained from high-quality woods and provides a premium look for flooring.

Laminate Flooring looks exactly like high-quality wood flooring, but they are not. Both Hardwood Flooring and Laminate Flooring are extremely similar flooring techniques, yet they are exceptionally different from each other too.

Key Takeaways

  1. Hardwood flooring is made of real wood and can be sanded and refinished, while laminate flooring is made of synthetic materials and cannot be sanded or refinished.
  2. Hardwood flooring is more expensive than laminate flooring but can add value to a home and last for decades with proper care.
  3. Laminate flooring is more affordable and easy to install, making it a popular choice for DIY projects and rental properties.

Hardwood Flooring vs Laminate Flooring

Hardwood flooring is made from real wood and can come in a variety of species, such as oak, maple, and cherry. It is known for its natural beauty and durability. Laminate flooring is made from a high-density fiberboard core that is covered with a printed layer that simulates the look of wood, stone, or tile.

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Hardwood Flooring is one of the most well-approved and well-known flooring materials obtained from the wood of real hardwood trees. Hardwood Flooring materials are highly admired, estimable, and exemplary quality flooring materials.

Hardwood Flooring is not endorsed for wet or watery areas because of its damaging nature to water. Laminate Flooring is the most used, prestigious, and in-demand flooring material obtained from fiberwood that looks extremely similar to Real Hardwoods, but it is not real Hardwood.

Laminate Flooring is not endorsed for wet or watery areas because Laminate Flooring materials may get damaged when coming in contact with water.

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Comparison Table

Parameters of ComparisonHardwood FlooringLaminate Flooring
DefinitionHardwood Flooring is the high-standard and high-quality flooring material of Hardwood tree woods.Laminate Flooring exactly looks like high-quality Hardwood, but they are not real Hardwoods.
WoodHardwood Flooring mostly makes use of Hardwood from trees.Laminate Flooring mostly makes use of Fibrewood.
Water ResistanceHardwood Flooring is not indorsed for wet areas due to its poor water resistance.Laminate Flooring is not indorsed for wet areas as it is not resistant to water.
Heat ResistanceHardwood Flooring has very poor fire resistance.Laminate Flooring has high fire resistance.
CostHardwood Flooring is the most high-priced.Laminate Flooring is mostly low-priced.
LifetimeHardwood Flooring lasts for more years.Laminate Flooring lasts for fewer years.
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What is Hardwood Flooring?

Hardwoods Flooring is the most long-lasting flooring material with a pre-finished and premium look. The choice of pattern for Hardwood Flooring can be selected and implemented, such as plain and classy patterns.

Moreover, the wood for Hardwood Flooring can be selected according to its color, texture, and age. Hardwood flooring provides a luxurious and cosy vibe to the flooring.

The wood for Hardwood Flooring is classified into many varieties, such as Walnut wood, Cherry wood Oakwood, White oak wood, Maple wood, Teakwood, Pinewood, Cedarwood, Bamboo Wood, Eucalyptus wood, and many more.

Walnut, Teak, and Cherry woods are the most high-end, lightweight, classy, and unique textured wood, most commonly known for their magnificent color and radiant look.

Cedar, Pine, and Maple wood are the most well-admired and low-priced affordable Hardwood Flooring woods well known for their texture, durability, and cost-efficiency.

Hardwood Flooring is not endorsed for wet areas due to its extremely poor resistance towards water. Hardwood Flooring is prone to fungus and gets damaged when in contact with water.

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Moreover, Hardwood Flooring is not pet-friendly as it easily gets scratched and needs to be repolished annually to maintain the radiance of the wood. Hardwood Floorings are always warm and cosy and last for a lifetime.

hardwood flooring

What is Laminate Flooring?

Laminate Flooring is the most commonly used, eminent, well-approved, and in-demand flooring material obtained from fiberwood created with the help of adhesives to look identical to the natural woods.

The presence of adhesives in Laminate Flooring releases formaldehyde gas that can sometimes be harmful to health, yet the adhesives used are well-controlled and has a very lower amount of toxins that are considered to be safe for flooring.

The installation process of Laminate Flooring can be done effortlessly by anybody, as it is extremely easy to implement. Laminate Flooring is exceptionally pet-friendly as it does not easily get scratched and need not be repolished annually.

However, even after starting stage of the degradation process of the Laminate Flooring material, it is impossible to repolish due to its single-layer nature. Laminate Flooring is not suggested for wet areas such as bathrooms and watery areas due to its tremendously poor resistance towards water.

Laminate Flooring materials are cost-efficient and easily available in the market, yet they lack durability as it does not last very long due to the poor quality of the materials. Laminate Flooring has high fire resistance and is endorsed for kitchen flooring.

laminate flooring

Main Differences Between Hardwood Flooring and Laminate Flooring

  1. Hardwood Flooring is a high-standard material made of Hardwood tree wood, whereas Laminate Flooring looks exactly like high-quality wood.
  2. Hardwood Flooring does not comprise adhesive chemicals, whereas Laminate Flooring includes adhesives.
  3. Hardwood Flooring has extremely poor fire resistance, whereas Laminate Flooring has high fire resistance.
  4. Hardwood Flooring is the most high-priced, whereas Laminate Flooring is mostly low-priced.
  5. Hardwood Flooring is long-lasting and lasts for more years, whereas Laminate Flooring lasts for fewer years.
Difference Between Hardwood Flooring and Laminate Flooring
References
  1. https://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/29660
  2. https://asa.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1121/1.4782562
  3. https://search.proquest.com/openview/070599ebd70d2c30b7047aa40d98687d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=586301

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About Author

Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.