Laminate Flooring Review: Pros, Cons, and Comparison

  Different From Laminate Similar to Laminate Vinyl Floor Waterproof Floating floor; easy to install Solid Hardwood 100-percent wood; can be refinished Appearance Engineered Wood 100-percent real wood top layer Appearance; wood composite base Tile or Stone Rigid; waterproof Stone-like appearance

Laminate Floor vs Luxury Vinyl Floor (LVF)

Vinyl flooring is flexible, contains only vinyl products, and is 100-percent impervious to water. Laminate flooring will be ruined if water is allowed to pool on the surface for too long.

Both laminate flooring and vinyl flooring are moderately priced. They are equally easy for do-it-yourselfers to install and they have a similar look.

Laminate Floor vs Solid Hardwood

Hardwood flooring is 100-percent solid wood. Laminate has no solid wood. Solid hardwood is thick and can be sanded many times. Laminate is thin and can never be sanded because the top is not wood.

Solid hardwood and laminate flooring can look remarkably alike, especially from a distance. High-definition imaging techniques make some laminate flooring a dead-ringer for real hardwood.

Laminate Floor vs Engineered Wood

Engineered wood flooring starts with a plywood base that is then topped with a veneer of 100-percent real wood. Laminate flooring does not have the plywood base, nor does it have the natural real wood veneer top.

Both engineered wood flooring and laminate flooring have a base made of a type of manufactured wood. Both products can look remarkably similar, especially with the premium laminate flooring.

Laminate Floor vs Tile or Stone

Laminate flooring contains no stone or mineral products. Stone is all stone, while ceramic tile is mineral-based. Stone and tile are hard, solid, and thick. Laminate flooring is flexible, breakable, and thin.

Laminate Floor Materials

Laminate flooring consists of four layers: a wear layer, an image layer, a base, and a bottom underlayment. The wear layer is a durable, thin, clear plastic sheet above a photorealistic image of wood or stone added to a wood-chip composite base. At the very bottom is a thin underlayment.

• Wear layer: The top-most surface layer is a hard transparent flexible plastic sheet that is impervious to scratches, water, and other common damaging elements.
• Image layer: Even when viewed close-up laminate flooring can look realistic. This is due to the laminate's photographic-quality image of real wood underneath the wear layer.
• Base or core: Under the wood-grain photograph is a wood-chip composite about 1/2-inch thick. Any type of wood chip product is inherently susceptible to water damage. Laminate flooring's base is considered to be dimensionally stable, but only to a certain degree. Laminate flooring will stand up against some water, but only if this water is quickly removed.
• Underlayment: The thin underlayment layer is glued to the bottom of each laminate flooring plank. Some floors may not have attached underlayment, so a separate underlayment of foam, felt, or fiber needs to first be laid down.

Installation Method

Laminate floors are installed much like solid hardwood flooring since they have a modified tongue-and-groove style of joining boards. Unlike hardwood flooring, which typically requires professional installation, laminate flooring is easy for the do-it-yourselfer to install with only basic tools.

Laminate flooring is usually installed as a floating floor. A floating floor bypasses the difficult nail-down installation issues of hardwood or engineered wood. With the floating floor method, you first roll out inexpensive foam underlayment, tape the underlayment together, and then lay out the laminate planks. In many cases, the underlayment is attached to the bottom of the laminate flooring, eliminating the need to add a separate underlayment layer.

Because the laminate flooring planks are joined from one piece to the next piece and form a heavy single unit, it cannot slide around. Friction and weight hold laminate flooring in place.

Depending on the type you buy, laminate floor planks are either snapped together or glued together. The snap-together method most commonly used goes under various names such as fold-and-lay or fold-and-lock.

Unlike the tongue and groove joinery used with solid hardwood, in which one board slides laterally into the adjoining board, fold-and-lay starts with the two boards attached by outer grooves and angled to each other. Next, one board is folded down until it is as flat as its companion board. This folding mechanism serves to bring the two boards imperceptibly closer, tightening the bond, and preventing water migration.

Subfloor and Underlayment

Like all floor coverings, laminate floors need a good, solid subfloor. Foam or felt underlayment resides between the subfloor and laminate, detaching the two surfaces and providing for a softer footfall.

In some instances, when the subfloor is not adequate, an intervening underlayment of thin plywood may be installed above the subfloor and below the foam underlayment. If the subfloor isn't level, the laminate could have unsightly gaps between boards, so you'll want to make sure the subfloor is even before installation begins.