The flooring of your place speaks a lot about your living habits and your style. It not only defines the aesthetics of your home but plays an important role in its hygiene. When you go in search of flooring materials, you will find a great variety. Here, you will be learning about two of them: Vinyl and Laminate. It will help you to differentiate between Laminate Vs Vinyl flooring and decide which one to choose for your accommodation.
But before that let’s see what characteristics determine good flooring.
When finding the goodness of flooring materials, there are some key qualities you should be looking for.
Do you know what? Vinyl vs laminate flooring, both of them have most of the mentioned features making them great options to choose from. Let’s see which one qualifies for your needs.
The Vinyl flooring material is made up of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) resin. It is this substance from which it gets its flexibility. It has the appearance of wood, stone, or tile offering you wide options to choose your floor finish from. This flooring is further divided into different types, such as sheet vinyl, luxury vinyl planks, and more.
Vinyl Flooring Pros
Vinyl Flooring Cons
Laminate flooring is a synthetic material that comprises various layers. Usually, it comes with layers, which are the wear layer, decorative layer, core layer, and backing layer. Such is the finish of Laminate flooring that when you look at it, you may for once mistake it for wood or stone.
Laminate Flooring Pros
Laminate Flooring Cons
When you look from afar, laminate flooring vs vinyl may look the same to you. But they do have their differences. Let’s see what features keep them apart and unique from each other.
| Features | Vinyl | Laminate |
| Composition | Made from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) | Composed of high-density fiberboard (HDF) |
| Water Resistance | Highly waterproof, and well suited for bathrooms and kitchens. | Water resistance but not as good as vinyl. |
| Durability | Strong and resistant to heavy footing, scratches, and stains. | Resistant to scratches and dents. |
| Installation | Offers easy-to-install options, like peel-and-stick or click-lock systems. | Requires more precision to install with its click-lock systems. |
| Comfort | Softer under footing due to cushioned backing layer. | Firmer under-foot layer. Can add an underlayment for added cushioning. |
| Aesthetics | Comes in a wide range of designs with wood, stone, and tile finish. | Its photographic layer gives a realistic wood and stone finish to the floor. |
| Maintenance | Easy to clean and maintain due to better resistance from substances. | Easy to maintain but should be kept dry to prevent damage from water. |
| Cost | Qualitative with affordable pricing. | Budget-friendly but cost can vary depending on quality and brand. |
| Environmental Impact | Made from synthetic materials, but some eco-friendly options may be available. | Made up of less synthetic materials and thus more eco-friendly. |
Everything has its good and bad sides. So, do vinyl and laminate flooring. After thoroughly looking at the features and analyzing the Vinyl vs Laminate flooring pros and cons, you must have got an idea of what to choose.
Here are some suggestions to make it clearer what would suit your setting best and help you decide whether you need a vinyl floor or a laminate one.
Choose Vinyl Floor
Vinyl flooring is the best choice if you want to furnish your bathrooms, kitchens, basements, laundry areas, entryways, and commercial areas.
Choose Laminate Floor
You should go for Laminate flooring if you want a good finish for your living spaces, bedrooms, hallways, and home offices.
This guide gave you enough insights on Laminate vs Vinyl flooring. You have gained knowledge about these two materials, how they are different from each other, their pros and cons, and settings where these suit best. Now, it’s time to make your decision. What kind of place do you want to furnish? Is it an area with high moisture, a place with heavy foot traffic, or a setting that needs a natural wooden touch? Draw upon the information you received from this comprehensive read and prepare to adorn your grounds.
Places that have high moisture and heavy foot traffic require a durable and waterproof material. Hence, Vinyl flooring will be best for these settings.
The drawbacks of Laminate flooring are that it is less durable, prone to water damage, creates a hollow noise, difficult to repair, and is firm and less comfortable to walk on.
Vinyl is undoubtedly the best material for flooring in high-moisture areas as it is highly water resistant. Laminate flooring on the other hand can’t hold moisture for long and is prone to water damage.
The key difference between vinyl plank and laminate flooring is their composition. Vinyl is made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) while Laminate is formed from high-density fiberboard (HDF).
If you are looking for better moisture resistance, durability, and comfort, choose Vinyl wood flooring. However, if you want a better wood finish and aesthetic appeal to your floors, go for Laminate.
Luxury vinyl flooring is best for bathrooms, kitchens, basements, and commercial areas, while Laminate will be a better option for living rooms, bedrooms, hallways, and home offices.
Leave a Reply