Hardwood vs Laminate . . .

trish051003

DH and I would like to install one or the other.  It would be in our Living room, dining room, kitchen, entry way, then steps down to our family room which is on a slab.

What would be best for all these different areas?  On a slab, in a kitchen, in an entry way.

Any advice is appriciated.

 

Thanks!

CaitS07

My vote is laminate. Good quality will last longer, easier upkeep and can look just like real wood (most people can't even tell the difference). Be weary of putting wood in the kitchen and "other" wet areas as it can be damaged (know this from experience). Good luck deciding!

Amberley18

You really should know how other homes in your area are. Laminate was a good pick for our lower end condo, but would be a waste of money in our current home/area. Also, I do not agree with the above reply. Laminate has as much our even possibly more issues in a moist/wet environment than wood. Good luck.

+PuppyWuppy+

I agree - it depends on what is reasonable for your neighborhood.  FYI, we have hardwood in our kitchen - and I actually use my kitchen - and have had no issues with water damage - even after our ice maker decided to spew a week or so ago.

Sunshine+Wine

Ditto PP. It depends more on your neighbor/area that anything else. We have hardwoords throughout our main floor, including the kitchen. We have never had any issues with HW in our kitchen or half bath for the record.  Laminate would be a tough sell in our neighborhood, where HWs are the norm.

TX-Bride

I vote for wood, or engineered hardwood, instead of laminate. We had wood in the entire living area (entry, dining, living and kitchen), it was a small house and it made a huge difference when all flooring was the same material and was seamless, made the house look a lot bigger. I also did not have any issue with water damage in the kitchen.

TarHeels&Rebels

Just to be clear, there are 3 classes of flooring: laminate (glorified plastic, which appraisers in my area treat the same as sheet vinyl and carpet), engineered wood (layers of ugly hardwood underneath, a layer of pretty wood on top), and solid wood.  I agree with the others that you need to determine which is appropriate for your area and install that.

toothpastechica

We have laminate on our entire main floor and are putting it in our above-ground basement. We love it. 11 year old laminate and no signs whatsoever of scratches or water damage, where as the house I grew up in with hardwood had tons of scratches in it. My in-laws just laid hardwood down in thier place 2 years ago and already have scratches in it and say if they had found laminate as nice as ours they never would have done it, because our floors still look like new and thiers already look....lived in. I think having a darker laminate helps too...

I think it really depends the quality of the laminate, but for care wise, we LOVE it. Wet mop it and everything. Now the laminate countertops I can't say the same for.

1111skye

We just did laminate.  We had it all priced out in hardwood but seeing as we'll have 2 kids + a dog and that our old house we got hardwood and it looked AWFUL after 5 years.  I'm happy w/ the laminate decision.