Every so often a new flooring type comes along that promises the hardwood flooring looks and feel without the hardwood floor price. When you’re looking for flooring for a new or existing home in Glendale, hardwood flooring competes with other types that promise all the advantages, but let’s take a closer look.
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Vinyl plank flooring. This is the least expensive alternative and depending on which brand you’re purchasing it can be as thin as two millimeters or as thick as five or six millimeters. Higher-quality brands will have variation in shading and grain, but lower quality brands will all look the same from plank to plank. Vinyl flooring is susceptible to melting and gouging but is easy to clean and maintain. Vinyl plank flooring is also manufactured from polyvinyl chloride, an emitter of volatile organic compounds.
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Laminate flooring. The primary concern when purchasing laminate flooring is the warranty on the wear layer. Some manufacturers offer as much as a 25-year warranty on their commercial laminate while residential laminate may have a “generous” ten-year warranty. There may be as few as three or as many as ten different patterns of woodgrain, raising the concern that the floor may look artificially repetitive.
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Engineered hardwood. Engineered hardwood is a layered product much like laminate flooring only with a thin slice of hardwood atop the base. This license can be as thin as 1/8th of an inch to a generous half inch. This can look exactly like hardwood flooring; it is more susceptible to gouging and due to the thinness of the wear layer may not hold up to a refinishing job.
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Hardwood flooring. This is the real deal. 100% wood from top to bottom and side to side. Durable and beautiful, hardwoods can be sanded, stripped, and refinished. Some floors come with 20, 30, or 50-year warranties on the finish and some premium brands offer a 100-year guarantee.
