There are few greater pleasures than pulling up old carpet in a house to find original hardwood flooring. Wood has served as a functional and elegant flooring material for hundreds of years and will never go out of style. Even so, most modern home builders aren’t installing hardwood floors. There are a number of wood flooring alternatives on the market that achieve the same look for less money. If you’re ready to install new flooring in your home, check out the pros and cons of real wood flooring as well as the characteristics of a few alternative materials. It’s always good to know your options!
Real Wood Flooring
Pros
- Classic look
- Durable material
- Long lasting
- Attractive to other home buyers
- Can be refinished and restained
Cons
- Expensive material
- Labor intensive to install
- Easily scratches
- Does not absorb sound
- Damages when exposed to water or extreme temperatures
Alternative Wood Flooring Materials
Laminate
Although laminate flooring is not made of wood, advances in printing have made high-quality laminate that is almost indistinguishable from the wood it’s made to imitate. Laminate planks are composed of a combination of synthetic and natural materials and topped with a photographic applique with a clear protective layer. These planks are designed to click together and float above the subfloor when installed.
Laminate is a smart choice for a flooring material because it is water resistant, affordable, durable, and easy to install. It’s a great fit for homes with kids and/or pets since it’s more scratch and water resistant than real wood.
Vinyl Plank / LVP
Luxury vinyl plank was the top flooring material in 2020, the fastest-growing sector of the flooring industry. Like laminate, LVP planks are engineered with a layer that mimics natural wood, tile, or stone. The core of LVP can be rigid or flexible depending on the material.
There aren’t many disadvantages to LVP. This stuff is durable, waterproof, affordable, and easy to install. A pad layer on the bottom creates a comfortable walking surface that also absorbs a good amount of sound. This would be a solid flooring choice for a lake or beach house, a large family home, or any high traffic areas.
Wood-Look Tile
Tile is another great real wood look-alike that is great for bathrooms, kitchens or any room of the house. It comes in lots of different shapes and sizes and can be laid in a variety of patterns including herringbone, staggered brick, offset, grid (stacked), pinwheel, Versailles (French) basket weave, and chevron. Not only is tile flooring beautiful, it is extremely durable, too! A tile floor is waterproof, easy to clean, and long lasting.
Stained Concrete
Concrete floors aren’t just for garages and basements anymore! Concrete design has come a long way in recent years. You can stain, polish, stamp, and texture concrete to create a wide variety of different looks. The durability is hard to beat. It’s easy to clean and great for withstanding lots of wear and tear.
Bamboo
Bamboo floors tend to look exactly like wood floors, but they technically fit into the grass category. We love utilizing bamboo! This stuff is STRONG (twice as strong as oak) and can be engineered to fit any budget. Bamboo is also more sustainable than wood since bamboo stalks mature in just 3-5 years, unlike the decades needed for most hardwood trees. If you’re looking for a gorgeous, eco-friendly flooring option, bamboo might be the way to go!