Looking for the best option between laminate and hardwood flooring for your home in Dubai? You’re at the right place. Both of these offer enhanced features that make it quite difficult to choose between them. But you don’t need to worry about that because we’re going to make a detailed comparison between them. You’ll surely find your ideal flooring at the end of the comparison.
Interestingly, if you’ve already chosen your desired flooring, you can contact Lush Loom and get it at affordable prices. This is the best flooring shop in Dubai that offers furnished, durable, and aesthetically pleasing flooring types.
However, let’s get back to the hardwood vs. laminate comparison.
Fact-Based Comparison: Hardwood vs. Laminate
We’ll compare them to some core factors such as maintenance, comfort, durability, aesthetics, and affordability. After knowing about the specified features and limitations of both, see which one aligns best with your personal needs. Enlist the textures, prints, colors, and patterns you need, then move toward exploring between laminate and hardwood.
Maintenance
In terms of maintenance, laminate flooring is a more adaptable option because it is non-porous and has a protective wear layer. It resists dirt buildup, stains, and scratches, so it can be the primary choice if you have pets in your home. Lastly, it can be easily cleaned for a furnished look, but excessive water usage may damage its appearance because it is not waterproof.
Instead, hardwood flooring is soft and prone to scratches or dents. Because of no natural wear layer, it cannot effectively prevent dirt. You need to care for it to achieve a sustainable appearance. It’s also not waterproof, but can be refinished or polished and not gradually deformed.
Result: Laminate flooring is easier to maintain than hardwood flooring.
Comfort
In terms of underfoot comfort, laminate flooring is less efficient. This is because of its rigid synthetic manufacturing and thick wear layer. However, installing the padded underlayments might offer added cushioning. Because of its hardness, it does not retain heat well and feels cold on winter days, especially.
On the other hand, hardwood flooring offers better comfort and allows you to stand for longer on it. This is because wood is naturally less rigid than laminate and retains heat efficiently, making you feel comfortable walking barefoot.
Result: Hardwood flooring offers more comfort compared to laminate.
Durability
Discussing their durability is controversial; laminate flooring can bear daily wear and tear, but might not be suitable in terms of longer durability. It has a wear layer to resist dents, scratches, or stains but prolonged moisture can cause its warping or swelling. Moreover, you also go for replacing it in case of deep scratches because it cannot be refinished like hardwood.
In comparison to laminate, hardwood flooring offers prolonged durability but can be scratched, stained, or dented. With its natural composition and capability to be refinished multiple times, it can last for centuries, but it only demands extensive care and maintenance.
Result: Laminate flooring can withstand wear conditions, instead, hardwood flooring offers prolonged durability.
Eco-friendly
Laminate flooring contributes to releasing VOCs in the environment because of its synthetic material (fiberboard and melamine resin) construction. While the hardwood flooring is made from recyclable natural wooden materials and does not involve releasing harmful chemicals to the environment. Apart from recycling, wooden flooring is also refinishable which reduces waste production.
Result: Laminate flooring is less eco-friendly, while hardwood flooring is more.
Trending
The laminate flooring mimics hardwood, stone, and marble flooring, and that’s the reason why it is trending. You can get this flooring in different colors, styles, and finishes.
However, it is a less premium option and you can easily customize it, but somehow limited in offering enhanced appeal.
In contrast to this, hardwood flooring is consistently trending and comes up in darker and lighter tones. You can get matte to glossy finishes, and wider to longer planks in this flooring. It can be refinished exactly as per your design preferences. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it always stays in demand.
Result: Both of these floorings are trending, and you can choose any that aligns with your budget, decor, aesthetics, and theme requirements.
Budget Friendly
The laminate flooring is an adaptable solution if you’re tight on budget. But keep in mind that you need to go for a replacement in case of any hard damage because it cannot be refinished like hardwood flooring.
So, think wisely! Hardwood flooring is expensive in case of long run. However, laminate flooring is expensive because you have to go for replacements again and again. Plus, it will be an irritating condition too.
Result: Hardwood flooring is more expensive than laminate flooring, but highly durable. However, the laminate flooring is not long-lasting.
The Bottom Line
To sum up, hardwood and laminate flooring both have specific advantages and limitations. In terms of eco-friendliness, hardwood flooring is best, but it requires extensive care to sustain its overall appearance. Similarly, it is more expensive than laminate floor covering, but a one-time investment for decades. However, you need to replace the laminate flooring soon after installation.
Our comparison also unveiled that hardwood flooring offers greater underfoot comfort than laminate flooring. That’s because it doesn’t have a thick wear layer, and it contributes to heat retention and absorption.
