Choosing a New Floor

Below you will find an article from one of my recent newsletters. It is regarding how to choose your next floor. If you would like this emailed or snail mailed to you, give me a call (704-953-9951) or send an email to david.desilva@allentate.com.

 If you've been considering a hardwood floor for your home, you may have discovered that

there are far more choices available than you have imagined. And it can get

confusing. What's the difference between solid wood, engineered wood and laminate?

And what's this Pergo® thing? How come all these different types of flooring are called

different names, cost differently, yet look almost the same? To help you make sense

of it all, here are a few pointers.

If you want real hardwood floor, two types of construction are available - solid and

engineered. With solid hardwood floors, each plank is made of a single piece of wood.

With engineered hardwood floors, each plank is made of several sheets

of wood sandwiched together, much like plywood. The top sheet (the only visible one after installation)

is made of the wood species that you picked (say, oak), whereas lower sheets

can be of a different type of wood. Which one should you choose, solid or engineered? It depends

on a couple of factors. Solid hardwood floors are installed by nailing or stapling,

so they require a specific type of sub floor which can't be concrete. Engineered

hardwood floors can be installed by gluing or "floating," so they can easily be installed

over concrete, vinyl, or even tile. Cost-wise, if you prefer the look of wider planks,

engineered hardwood will be cheaper; for narrower planks, solids are more

economical. Also, if you are looking for an exotic type of wood, you will be more likely

to find it in engineered form. Both solid and engineered floors are

real wood, and overall have similar pros and cons. On the plus side, real wood has a

warm, homey look that's hard to beat. It will last for decades, can be refinished several

times (including changing colors), and it ages gracefully with scratches and cracks

even adding character. On the minus side, real wood can get stained, and it can also

fade if exposed to direct sunlight.

Available in Europe for decades, laminate flooring didn't arrive on our continent

until 1996 when it became a huge hit. The best-known brand is Pergo, which in

our country is now synonymous with this type of flooring (much to the annoyance

of numerous other manufacturers). A laminate floor consists of three

layers. The top layer is a sheet of photographic paper with an image of

wood, which is coated with a material called melamine. The core is a highdensity

fiberboard, which is made of a combination of materials. The backing

can be made of plastic (higher quality) or paper (lower quality).

Laminate floors offer several advantages over real wood.

First, they are easier to install, with some brands

even being available in glueless variant. They are very strong and more resistant to impact and scratches than

hardwood, so they are ideal for households with children and pets. Quality laminate

flooring will look very much like the real thing, yet is much easier to maintain. It

cannot be stained and it won't fade. And since the surface is essentially a

photograph, there are almost endless possibilities with color and style.

There are, of course, a few minuses. Laminate floors cannot be refinished, but

since they are so durable, they probably won't wear out before you decide to

redecorate anyway. No matter how close it looks to the real thing, it's still not real

wood, and some people are bothered by this. And because laminate flooring is

very thin, it makes a hollow sound when walked on with hard-soled shoes.

Which one is better: real wood or laminate? The cost is about the same, so

the choice boils down to personal taste and the question of convenience.