If it’s time to update the flooring in your home, you might well be considering using hardwood or laminate flooring, as so many homeowners throughout the UK do. While both can be a fantastic option, they each have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages, and it can be helpful to be aware of them before making your choice.
With this in mind, here are some pros and cons of hardwood and laminate flooring in Milton Keynes:
The advantages of solid hardwood flooring
With their outstanding aesthetic appeal, hardwood floors can enhance a space with very little effort, and coupled with modern finishings such as a polyurethane top coat, make for an easy to maintain floor.
Exceptionally durable, hardwood flooring is more than capable of lasting for an entire lifetime, and more, and thanks to this fact, hardwood flooring has a resale value much higher than that of other types of flooring materials.
The disadvantages of solid hardwood flooring
Notoriously tricky to install, and costing a lot more than laminate flooring, solid hardwood flooring certainly isn’t the right choice for everyone. You’ll also need to consider the noise impact: because of the hardiness and solid nature of hardwood flooring, feet and even paws, can create quite a disturbance on it!
The advantages of laminate flooring
Cheaper and easier to install than solid wood flooring, laminate comes in just as many colours and styles, and you can choose from thick or thin planks, in whatever hue you wish.
As the surface of laminate flooring is somewhat softer than hardwood, many homeowners prefer the feel of it beneath their feet, and don’t find it as noisy, either. Fortunately, its softer quality doesn’t make it harder to clean and care for.
While hardwood flooring is capable of lasting for many decades, laminate is more resistant to both heat and water, and while neither material are ideal for use in a damp space such as a bathroom, in a humid environment, laminate flooring tends to hold up better than hardwood.
The disadvantages of laminate flooring
Unfortunately, laminate flooring doesn’t tend to last as long as hardwood, and if you’re considering it for use in a home you intend to remain in for the rest of your life, it may not be the wisest choice.
However, arguably the most significant drawback of laminate flooring is that it can never quite match the look of a hardwood floor, and if aesthetics are one of the most important considerations for you, you may want to save up your money and plump for solid hardwood flooring instead.
Now that you know the differences between the two flooring materials in a little more detail, you should be able to make your choice with less hesitation and uncertainty. Ultimately, the flooring you end up choosing will come down to a number of factors, each of which are unique to you and your needs. Just be sure to purchase whichever flooring you decide upon, from a reputable manufacturer and supplier, and unless you know what you’re doing, hire an experienced flooring professional to lay it for you.