Laminate Flooring Vs Engineered Flooring

This is a common question: which is best engineered flooring or laminate flooring. No, I am not going to say… Well we have put them to the test in the head to head wood war to end all wood wars, who knows maybe that will be a feature down the line.

This time it is going to be based purely on theory. The immediate answer to the question is that both of them are equally perfect in their own way and for their own use:

Both are very inexpensive. both are highly durable, and both give the effect of a solid hardwood floor for a fraction of the price. That is where the similarities end.

What laminate flooring is:

Laminate flooring is basically a photograph of a hardwood plank, laminated and stuck onto composite wood material, yes, underneath it is real wood.

The benefits of laminate flooring are:

The price: laminate flooring starts from as little as £11.52 per square meter.

The Durability: whilst a real hardwood floor is vulnerable to damage from things like high heels etc, laminated flooring has a much harder surface, and scratches do not ruin the effect either – within reason.

The Range: laminate flooring can be a picture of anything. This means that you can have a marble-like palatial floor, on the budget of a palatial servant.

Easy to Install: laminate flooring comes in tongue and groove, snap=together and glue together, all can be laid very easily and quickly, because laminate is a floating floor, meaning it does not need to be nailed down.

The downsides of laminate flooring are:

It is not real wood. A fake wood floor, even if it replicates gorgeous £5000  Tuscany wood flooring is still a fake wood floor.

Non-Repairable: Laminate flooring cannot be sanded down and refinished. Thus laminate flooring is unlikely to be a floor for life.

What engineered flooring is:

Engineered flooring is a hardwood plank, laid on top of ply-boards. The hardwood plank comes at a barying

The benefits of engineered flooring are:

The Price: enginered flooring is priced from about £30 per square eter, which is slightly more expensive than laminate, but still a lot less expensive than solid hardwood flooring.

The Durability: Engineered flooring is practically a hardwood floor. It can be resanded and refinished a varying number of times (depends on thickness of wood layer) to prolong the life. It can also be waxed or lacquered to protect it from damage, which also prolongs the life. The life can also be prolonged by caring properly for the floor, which is the same way as one would care for a solid hardwood floor.

In fact engineered flooring is even more durable the solid wood in a certain set of circumstances: in areas of high humidity and frequent changes between hot and cold temperatures, engineered flooring is much more pliable, so it can expand and contract with changes in the air, without being ruined.

Looks Like Real Thing: as you have probably gathered by now, engineered flooring is about as close as you can get to a solid wood flooring on a lower budget. in fact, to the untrained eye it is practically impossible to tell that it is not the real deal.

So, which wins the Laminate Flooring Vs Engineered flooring battle?

As I said at the beginning, both are perfect in their own ways for people with different circumstances:

For people who have dogs, are on a really limited budget and/or do not own/plan to live in the house forever, then laminate is going to be their best option.

Meanwhile for someone who has their heart set on a proper hardwood floor, but can’t afford it, and who doesn’t have dogs, then engineered flooring is the perfect package for you.

Reclaimed Opepe Floorboards a Designers Dream

Reclaimed Opepe Floorboards are an interior designers dream. Opepe flooring, for those that remember it, is the type of floorboard we all used to run, jump bounce and fall on in physical education lessons throughout our school days. Yes, that's right Opepe is what they used to make the sportsfloors in school halls and gymnasium's.

A hard but springy wood with a satin-sheen, Opepe was finished with a thick, hard setting lacquer. This means that the life expectancy of Opepe reclaimed floorboards is about the same as the life expectancy for when the wood was new.

Once an Opepe floor has been laid, sanded and refinished it is one of the most beautiful floors known to man.

Reclaimed Opepe is a designers dream, because it is cheap, and because it instils nostalgic feelings, designers want people to be happy in their rooms, and nostalgia is a trigger for floods of happiness in most people. Opepe is also perfect for the kind of retro look that is so popular at the moment (not that I know much about it of course, being a grunting male).

Although it is a stereotype; people with the kind of personality traits found in interior designers, are also found within those of us who have been among the first to embrace green or greener lifestyles. Reclaimed flooring is an excellent way to go green, because obviously it is saving the forests.

Finally, another benefit of Opepe reclaimed floorboards is that the product is no longer being manufactured. Therefore stocks are not limitless, so interior designers can give their customers a limited edition floor. Of course the £10 per square meter price tag is also a massively plus in the Opepe box.

Ask The Wood Floor Guru

If you have any questions relating to hardwood flooring then please leave a comment below. The wood floor guru resident experts will endeavour to answer your question within 24 hours! The wood floor guru relishes technical queries, specification questions and calls for help on any matters pertaining to wood floors. Just ask the wood floor guru!

What is Engineered Flooring and How Does it Compare to Solid Hardwood Flooring

I thought I would write this article because it was a question I have just been forced to ask: what is engineered flooring?

Well, engineered flooring is similar in appearance and in the way it must be looked after to solid hardwood flooring. It has some advantages over the real thing, and some disadvantages.

Under-foot, engineered flooring is like hardwood flooring, because it has a hardwood layer on top. Beneath that it is engineered layers of plywood glued together in opposite directions.

Engineered flooring has a bad reputation because it all looked the same, but more recently it has improved with several vendors now making the top layer of actual and properly finished hardwood.

It has also improved in that the manufacturers of engineered flooring have increased the depth of the top layer, to make it last longer (some of the higher grades will last almost as long as solid hardwood floors.

The length of time a floor will last is determined by the depth of wood above the tongue and groove strips, because this determines how many times it can be sanded and refinished. Most solid hardwood floors have about a quarter of an inch above the tongue and groove, with the high end products having an eighth or even three sixteenths of an inch. Some of the newer and higher quality engineered flooring products are coming close to the quarter inch mark.

Advantages of Engineered Flooring:

Basically engineered flooring has two main advantages: it is cheaper than solid hardwood flooring, and that it is more resistant to humidity. It also allows people who have concrete floors to install a hardwood floor of sorts.

It is an excellent alternative to laminate flooring, because it is only slightly more expensive, whilst it gives many of the benefits of solid hardwood flooring.

Of course nothing can beat the real deal for me, but for the reasons people may choose laminate, engineered flooring is just as good a choice.

Finally, because it has a hardwood layer, the life of engineered flooring can be prolonged if it is cared for in the proper ways.

Flooring in Focus Part IV: Clyde Estuary Birds Eye Maple

Firstly, I must tell you that, when writing this series I am saving the best to last. I must also tell you that, unless it is happening on a subconscious level I am not doing it on purpose.

I have felt it necessary to tell you those things, because when I chose to write this piece on Clyde Estuary Birds Eye Maple, I realised that I would once again be professing my undying love for what is my favourite and most beautiful of all the hardwood flooring species I have come across.

As I have said that about several species covered previously, and as this has not been done consciously I can only assume (or blame) my subconscious for picking them in this order, or maybe it is because I am so new, and filled with so much passion about hardwood flooring that I have enough love to go around.

Anyway, digression over, let’s get down to the wood. As you can see from the picture inset above Clyde estuary Maple is one of the lightest species on the market, and it is also one of the most beautiful (yes, I know I have always said I prefer the darker species, sue  me). It is called birds eye because the knots (circular swirls found in all woods) are shaped like birds eyes.

Maple is one of the harder woods, and if properly cared for Clyde Estuary Birdseye maple flooring, is the kind of flooring that you pass down through generations as it lasts lifetime after lifetime. For full details of how to care for your floor read this post, and this post tells you how to refinish if the worst comes to the worst.