The modern flooring industry provides a wide array of options in terms of proper flooring, depending on your own preference, requirements, home interior, lifestyle and budget. So, what are the alternatives?
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Hardwood Flooring |
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Hardwood floors are typically one of the most popular amenities that people tend to go for on buying a property. They have several distinguishing advantages over all other flooring types:
- Timber is a natural product and men is nowhere near as good as Nature
- Wooden floors last long and can be easily repaired/renovated if damaged
- They not only look great, but give your home unique character
- Bring that nice feel of natural wood as compared to ceramic or synthetic floors that are, simply put, artificial, sterile and void of life. Quite important for your toddlers, especially if they love running around barefooted
- Natural wood is healthy and hypo-allergic.
- Timber is great insulator and will not only let you save on your energy bill, but help you maintain constant temperature as well
- Wooden floors are multi-functional, “all-inclusive” solution that comes in great variety of colors and types.
- Whatever your lifestyle, this is a great choice that you can never go wrong with.
- Perfect for both domestic and commercial use.
- Brings a small part of unspoiled nature to your home.
The best type of wood is the one to best suit your lifestyle, home interior and budget. Just enquire and we will let you know what we think are the best options in your specific case. The industry offers an overwhelming variety of wooden floors, so here are the basics:
Made of a single-layer, solid timber and sold as finished or unfinished planks, solid wood can be easily dyed to best fit your lifestyle, requirements and interior. It generally comes in three varieties, i.e. strips (wider blocks), plank and parquet (individual strips that make up geometrical patterns). Unfinished blocks can be stained to better match your home interior and finished on site. Whether wood stain is used or not, wood floor requires proper finishing by applying different agents, such as lacquers, wax etc. to preserve and help floor retain its color and natural look.
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Hardwood Flooring - Pros |
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- Hardwood floors are durable and able to stand the test of time, since there are quite a few houses that are more than 200 years old and they still have their original flooring, provided it´s been cared for properly, which is as easy as regular dust sweeping and occasional cleaning with specifically formulated agents.
- Hardwood floors never go out of fashion or at least, have been in the vogue for 400 years now. They can be renovated and refreshed multiple times over their lifespan.
- They bring value to your property. Buyers are usually willing to pay extra for a house with hardwood floor and homes with it tend to sell much faster than those featuring laminated or engineered floors or wall to wall carpeting, because most people consider hardwood flooring an upgrade, a bonus feature of the property.
- Hardwood floors work with all types of furniture, classic or minimalistic and modern, not to mention solid wood can be easily stained and finished so as to closely match your own taste, interior and lifestyle.
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Hardwood Flooring - Cons |
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- Hardwood floors are extremely susceptible to moisture- and temperature- induced mechanical deformations and water can ruin them in a snap.
- Solid wood is by no means the cheapest option, comes with relatively pricey installation that is best left to professionals with the necessary skills, machinery etc.
- They may be challenging to maintain alongside of other flooring types, both in terms of price and methodology.
- Scratched and scuffed floors are prone to showing damage and will have to be re-finished and that, even if not really expensive, needs to be done on regular.
- Hardwood flooring can be somewhat noisy to walk across, which may prove to be an ordeal to your neighbors, especially those living directly downstairs, although something as cheap as a floor rug can help a lot.
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Engineered Wood Floors |
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Engineered flooring is a modern flooring material that imitates traditional hardwood floor boards. It consists of an uppermost hardwood veneer and several (two to five) tightly stuck layers (ply) and is most often pre-finished. The uppermost layer is usually made of hardwood and is 1-7mm thin, the core or middle one of HDF, plywood or softwood. Engineered floors boast improved tensile strength and durability and are therefore less prone to shrinking and swelling. But, the visual appeal of engineered floors is, essentially, skin deep.
Blocks typically consist of thin wood veneer over a plywood stuffing or substrate. However, the practical qualities it boasts makes it better suited for humid environments that would ruin solid wood even if not right away, then pretty fast. Engineered floors can be installed directly onto the concrete, plus its relatively thin, up to 6/8 inch, so it can be easily installed on top of your existing flooring during property renovations.
Engineered flooring typically comes prefinished and you can have an idea about the general quality of the finish by the suggested length of the warranty. The typical thickness of the hardwood veneer means blocks can be refinished up to three times.
Finally, engineered flooring won´t save you money really. While certain entry-level blocks are really cheap, this comes at the expense of overall quality, while top-quality engineered flooring is as expensive as solid wood. Ultimately, especially if pre-finished, which is the better option, the installation cost of both solid and engineered wood is virtually the same.
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Engineered Wood Floors - Pros |
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- Can be renovated up to three times (depends on uppermost layer thickness)
- Structure makes blocks less susceptible to mechanical deformations
- Retains its “natural” look for a long time
- Can be glued instead of nailed
- Can be used in areas where traditional solid wood would make for an extremely bad choice
- Comes pre-finished (more often than not), meaning cheaper installation since no sanding and finishing is required and finally, you can move your furniture back in right away
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Laminated (Synthetic) Wood Floors |
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Laminated flooring is not made of wood, although it looks as if it is. What is it then? A photograph of hardwood sandwiched between transparent uppermost laminate layer (hard, transparent synthetics designed to protect the “microfilm” beneath, hence the name), an HDF layer and lowermost layer to protect the HDF coating that are collectively referred to as fiberboard backing. Laminated flooring can be installed directly over concrete subfloor, comes at the fraction of the price of solid wood and DIY enthusiasts will be happy to find out it´s extremely easy to install by even people without much experience. The overall quality of laminated flooring has improved dramatically over the last several years and if properly installed, people won´t be able to tell the difference between it and normal hardwood. The only sign it´s not actually solid wood is the hollow noise it gives away when walked across. Fortunately, the issue can be addressed easily by installing sound dampening underlay and some types of laminated floors come with the material incorporated into the block by the manufacturer.
Laminated floors have several advantages over all other flooring options. First and foremost, of course, it´s the price. Laminate tends to be much cheaper, but there are types that are extremely expensive as well. So, why is that? Unlike hardwood, laminate comes in different wear-resistance classes and in general, it´s shock, chemicals and to an extent, water proof. Although laminated floor do not normally fear water, it may have extremely damaging effect if it seeps through floor gaps and manages to penetrate the planks in depth. In other words, it´s better if you don’t wet the floor, although slight moistening would not be harmful, say when you clean it with a cloth, provided it´s not soaking wet. On the other hand, getting your hardwood floor wet, whatever the reason, is one of the worst things that may happen to it, not to mention solid wood flooring boasts no shock resistance we can speak of. Moreover, laminated floors do not need regular maintenance; actually they don’t need any maintenance other than cleaning. They cannot be sanded, polished, finished etc. Finally, they do not have the penchant for keeping dirt and stains that other types of floors have an unfaltering affinity for.
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Laminte Flooring - Pros |
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- Affordable
- Easy to install even for DIY enthusiasts
- Wear and tear resistant
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Laminte Flooring - Cons |
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- Extremely susceptible to water damage
- Shorter lifespan alongside of natural wood
- Cannot be renovated or restored, but only replaced with new one, which makes it more expensive in a long run