What’s the difference between laminate and wood flooring?
No, this is not the opening line of a joke, it’s one of the questions we get asked most often! Although laminate and wood flooring are similar in their appearance, both offer a beautiful wood look for your home, but it can be hard to know which one is going to be the best option for you. In this blog post, we look at the main differences between the two and what benefits each offers. Laminate vs Wood The main difference between laminate and wood flooring is in their material composition.. Laminate flooring has a pressed wood core which is topped with an image layer, followed by a clear one, giving it the appearance of wood flooring. While wood flooring is 100% solid wood which is usually varnished or waxed for protection Although wood flooring offers some amazing benefits, laminates also offer their own set of benefits. So which one is best for your home? Benefits of laminate flooring The first thing to note about laminate flooring is its clear top layer adds extra protection, making it very scratch-resistant. This means that the stunning wood look should remain unblemished throughout normal use. A feature that can be important for young families or homeowners with pets. The protective layer also makes laminate flooring soft to walk on. Paired with a foam underlay, laminate flooring makes a comfortable floor when compared to much harder wood flooring. It also doesn’t discolour as easily as some other hard flooring types so it’ll keep its appearance for many years. Benefits of wood flooring Unlike laminate flooring, natural wood flooring is just that, 100% wood! This makes it even more durable than laminate. It’s also warmer than laminate flooring due to wood’s natural insulating properties. You can find out more about the warmth of wood flooring by reading one of our other blog posts. When kept well, wood flooring can last for many years and can actually look better as the years go by. Best placed in high traffic areas, wood flooring has an ageless appeal and is always trending in the flooring world. Should I get laminate or wood flooring? As you’ve read, both types of flooring come with their own range of benefits so it can be hard to decide which is going to be best for you. One thing to bear in mind when making that decision is the time it takes to install. Laminate flooring is generally quicker to install than wood flooring, making it a good option if you need your home renovation to have a quick turnaround. Which is best for pets? Although we’ve said laminate flooring is scratch-resistant, wood flooring is also highly durable. So either option is pet-friendly. As they are both hard floors, they won’t hold on to allergens like fur or dust. If you’re still not sure, that’s completely OK. Deciding on what flooring is best for your home is an important one to make. We recommend that you come to either our Worthing or Storrington showroom to see all of our ranges for yourself. You’ll also be able to speak to our friendly team of flooring experts who will be able to answer your questions and give you advice. Whatever hard flooring you choose, we will have you covered!
Three Of The Warmest Flooring Types
As we’re currently still in Winter, we thought it would be a good idea to talk about which flooring is the warmest. When it comes to keeping your home warm, you may be surprised to find out that thick wool carpet isn’t the only option. In this day and age, you’re able to enjoy the stunning beauty of hardwood flooring while still keeping your home warm. Opting for hard flooring with underfloor heating has the added benefit of making your home more energy-efficient. Something many homeowners are striving for in this eco-conscious world. Wood flooring We’ll start with the more unorthodox flooring type that you may not have expected on this list. Did you know that wood flooring maintains heat longer than carpets? Not only that, but it can help circulate heat throughout your home. Meaning that you can turn the central heating off earlier and still enjoy the warmth of your home. Not only is wood flooring naturally a warm choice, but most wood flooring is compatible with underfloor heating. Which is excellent at heating your home evenly and is at least 25% more energy efficient than radiators. You can read about other benefits of wood flooring in our blog post. Vinyl flooring Vinyl flooring is a great alternative to other hard flooring types. With so many different styles of vinyl flooring now available, we’re sure that you’ll find something you love at our Worthing or Storrington showroom. Not only is vinyl flooring stylish, it’s warm too. There are two types of vinyl flooring; sheet vinyl and tiles. The sheet flooring is fantastic at keeping your home warm because, unlike other flooring types, it doesn’t have gaps between pieces which eliminates heat loss. Vinyl tiles are good for warmth as they are made up of multiple levels of material, making them good insulators. Just like wood flooring, most vinyl flooring is compatible with underfloor heating too. So keeping your home warm really isn’t a problem with vinyl flooring. You can find inspiration for vinyl tile looks in another one of our blog posts. Wool carpet We of course couldn’t make a list of the warmest flooring without putting wool carpet on it! Wool is the warmest of the different materials that carpet is made of. The natural structure of wool makes it a great insulator so the carpet will help eliminate heat loss through the floor. According to Abingdon Flooring, reports indicate that a wool carpet can save between 8-13% of heating cost. Making wool carpet an excellent choice this winter. Here at Wall Bros, we stock a huge variety of wool carpets that come in different colours and patterns. So we’re sure you’ll find something to match your home’s interior. Pop into our Worthing or Storrington showroom to speak to our team of award-winning flooring experts who are here to help you choose the best flooring for your needs.
How flooring can transform a home
A customer case study When buying an older home that needs renovating, there is a lot to think about: the layout you would like, all the furniture you will need and, of course, the flooring. This is where expert advice can really play a key role and we’re proud to have played our part in helping this customer decide on the perfect flooring for every room of their home as it was renovated. From the living room and landing, through to each of the bedrooms and the playroom, the flooring needed to be perfect. The customer said, “We knew what sort of flooring we wanted for where, but not the exact type. Visiting the team in the Worthing showroom helped us to narrow it down based on our use and the practicality of different wood and carpet options.” For a young family, it was important that the flooring was durable and stain resistant. Choosing the perfect flooring The first stage of getting new flooring is, of course, deciding on what it is you would like and we, more than anyone, understand just how many types of flooring there are to choose from. So when this customer told us that they wanted wood flooring downstairs and carpet upstairs, we advised them on the types that would be best for them and their family. There are two main components to flooring: how it looks and how practical it is for what you want it for. In this case, the customer had a particular carpet in mind, but our team advised them on an alternative that would be more practical while still giving the same aesthetic to the home’s décor. Once they had narrowed down a few options, we sent them away with samples to see what the flooring looked like in each room. The customer said, “It can be surprising to see how different a carpet or wooden flooring looks when it’s in the room itself.” So it’s really important for the flooring to be seen in situ before a decision is made and we’re always more than happy to give you samples so you can do just that. This customer changed their samples a lot to compare different woods and carpets to make absolutely sure that they made the right decision which is no problem at all. We completely understand how important it is to get it just right. Transforming the living room As one of the rooms they would spend the most time in, it was important to them that their living room felt homely and still looked stylish. Which is why they were set on having wood flooring – it also complements the old style of the house. What’s more, because the wood is engineered oak, it’s durable, easy to maintain and suitable for underfloor heating. As you can see from the photos, real wood flooring needs to be expertly laid plank by plank. Starting from the centre of the room and working outwards so that everything is beautifully symmetrical. Here at Wall Bros, we have great relationships with our fitters and know what expertise is needed for specific jobs. Ensuring that our flooring is fitted to the very best standard. Creating continuation through the upstairs To ensure continuation throughout the first floor of the house, the same carpet was used on the stairs, landing and in all five bedrooms. It was crucial for the carpet to be versatile and go well with all interiors. From the bold pink walls in the guest room and the neutral tones in the master bedroom to the colourful child bedrooms. The Smart Toledo Parchment carpet chosen is a chunky loop carpet meaning that each loop creates texture, providing a wonderful feeling underfoot and giving the upstairs of their home a cosy feel. The traditional cream colour really complements the old style of the house and, of course, goes with any room. Meaning that the rest of the room can change without the need to change the carpet. Perfect for the children’s bedrooms which will evolve as they get older. As you can imagine, the renovation of the whole house took a long time and was done in stages. This meant that the carpet couldn’t be laid all in one go as it is in most cases. For projects like this, we’re happy to store carpets for up to three months so that other work can be done before it is laid. For this customer, storing the carpet meant that the same carpet could be used throughout the upstairs which the customer really appreciated. Some of the carpet was sent away to be made into a runner which we then fitted and “Allen was very helpful with advising on the different ways that the stair rods might be fitted and why you might choose one way or another”. As we mentioned, we’re careful about the flooring fitters that we use and make sure that it is laid in a professional and timely manner. Communication is key From choosing the flooring in our showroom to speaking to our fitters when it was time to install it, we made sure that the customer made all the decisions. After all, it’s their house – not ours! What we could do, though, was give them expert advice so that they could make those decisions. Along with our in-store experts, all of the fitters that we use are friendly, tidy and highly experienced. This means that customers can receive the very best flooring advice from start to finish. The result Now the customer has stunning flooring throughout their home that they are very happy with. They said, “The whole process from going into the shop to actually getting the flooring laid was so smooth. I can’t thank Wall Bros enough for all of their help with making sure we got the very best flooring”. Check out the photos for yourself: If you have a flooring query, don’t hesitate to ask! You can visit our Worthing or Storrington