Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Solid Wood Flooring vs Laminate Flooring

Solid Wood Flooring vs Laminate Flooring

By Megan Cherry

Today wood flooring is making a great comeback for many years people have been replacing or covering there wood floors with carpet. Today’s choices in wood flooring have never been greater we will examine several differences between a solid wood flooring that was the staple for many years compared with the advantages and disadvantages of a laminate wood flooring.

Solid wood flooring has a few advantages over laminate. The first advantage is that it can be refinished over and over But has a floor becomes worn scratched or damage they can be sanded out stained and you have a new floor. A solid wood floor will truly last for a lifetime. A laminate floor which is constructed not of solid wood but has a fiberboard type base and a laminate covering that mimics real wood. A laminate floor will resist scratching but cannot be refinished. Although laminate flooring will last many years if it is damaged it will need to be replaced.

As a rule solid wood flooring is much more expensive than laminate flooring it is also much more expensive to install because it requires much more labor. The solid wood flooring usually comes in strips approximately 2in. wide each strip has to be laid down individually and nailed in place with a special pneumatic flooring nailer. The whereas laminate flooring can be put down in larger sections the section simply snap together and can be put down rather quickly the typical homeowner can easily lay laminate flooring down in a weekend with only basic tools.

Laminate flooring however cannot tolerate a lot of moisture what happens is that the fiberboard backing on the laminate flooring will absorptive the water And swell the swelling will cause the floor to buckle the only recourse is to replace the floor. The solid wood flooring on the other hand will tolerate much more moisture. But if you’re not sure which way you would like to go with your new flooring solid wood or laminate I would advise that you go to your local home center or better yet a dedicated flooring store If they will be able to answer any questions you might have they will be happy to show you how to install your new flooring and they can even recommend some highly qualified contractors to install you flooring if you do not want to do it yourself. Whatever type of new flooring you decide on the warm classic look of real wood will add the feeling of warmth to your home.

About the Author: Megan Cherry writes for www.pegandrail.com In the market for new coat racks check us out we have a full line of wall mounted oat racks for your home or office.

Source: www.isnare.com

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Successful renovation entails finding the suitable kind of flooring for a certain house. I like the differences that you gave between solid wood and laminate wood.

We actually use laminate wood flooring (Tampa) for our new house. Considering the humidity in the area, laminate flooring is a very practical choice. We also use vinyl flooring (Tampa) for the bedroom which is located on the 2nd floor of the house. I suggest home owners to check climate conditions in their location before choosing a specific type of flooring. After all, it's not just a matter of design but of the durability of the material that will be used during the house construction or renovation

Unknown said...

It makes a huge difference if you make solid wood flooring or laminate flooring, it can be very good if you use carpet on that laminate flooring, well your blog is nice, i would also like to make for my carpet cleaning, can you give me suggestions,pls!!