There are few better ways to enrich a room than to add some wood plank flooring. Besides offering a unique styling that is compatible with virtually any room’s decor, it will most certainly add value to your home. Cost is usually a limiting factor when building or upgrading your home, and for that reason there exists a range in available flooring.
Solid Hardwood flooring
There is no better flooring solution, in my opinion, than solid hardwood flooring. There is nothing that can go on the floor of a living room, dining room, bedroom, or even hallway, that speaks more of value and class than real hardwood flooring.
Typically the flooring is 3/4″ thick and the planks are anywhere from 3 to 6″ wide. With a factory stained and varnished finish, these planks interlock with a tongue and groove design. Ready to go, right out of the box, these boards usually come is assorted lengths so that the appropriate “end crack” staggering can be easily achieved.
Installation is quite time consuming, however, and some specialty tools will be needed, including a power cut-off saw and a special nailing tool. Both of these tools can be easily rented, however. Certain techniques and tricks are necessary for a seamless install, so a complete novice should not attempt this without proper research or help. Install can be quite tedious and painstaking, and this type of flooring often calls for the hiring of professionals.
The direction of the boards runs are limited to running perpendicular across the joists, as all nails must go into the joists. Diagonal layouts are also acceptable, but never run the flooring parallel with the joists, if you are laying it directly on a plywood subfloor.
The finished product will give you a rich authentic look, and a solid feel beneath your feet. The flooring is typically considered permanent, and manufactures offer lengthy warranties for their high quality product.
Laminate flooring
Laminate flooring, or as it’s sometimes called, a “floating floor” was originally designed for small apartment rental use. In Europe, small rental apartments sometimes didn’t come with “flooring,” so the renter would install their own floating floor, and then remove it when they left, and install it in their next apartment.
I would say, however, that this flooring is about as portable as a carpet, and the real merit for laminate flooring in North America is its cost. “Floating floors” are the cost effective solution to real “solid” hardwood flooring. It can be readily installed by any DIYer who has a cut off saw and a measuring tape.
Laminate flooring is constructed from a fiber board that typically comes in 7mm and 12mm thicknesses. A photographic “wood” layer is “laminated” to the surface and protected with a hard clear coating. This can offer a very realistic representation of the real hardwood flooring it’s trying to mimic. Prices can vary depending on thicknesses and laminate quality.
Each board typically is 4″ to 8″ wide (give or take), and often will have fake appearing “cracks,” when its trying to simulate the narrower slatted hardwood flooring. These fake “cracks” clash with the actual real cracks, and in my opinion, ruin the authentic look. The flooring style to go for, in my humble opinion, is the wide board style, as in, all the cracks are the real cracks.
This type of flooring requires no nails, and gluing is either optional or not at all needed. Tongue and groove interlocking, or “click type,” is also synonymous with this type of flooring, and these wide boards make installation a breeze. A foam or “felt like” pad layer, that is purchased by the roll, needs to be laid down first. This will even out any small dips and rises in the floor, and as well, ease potential friction squeaks. Unfortunately, this under layer gives the floor a spongy feeling underfoot, which detracts from the authentic feel. For this reason it’s recommended that you purchase the thickest flooring that you can afford. In other words, 7mm is weaker and will feel spongier, and 12mm, which is typically the thickest size, is better.
Unlike real hardwood flooring, laminate boards seem to always come in the same set board length. So the starting board for each run will have to be cut at varying lengths so as to achieve the desired board end staggering. With both types of flooring here, the last board in every run will obviously have to be cut.
Similar to any wood flooring, a spacing gap of approximately ¼” to ½” needs to be left for expansion, all around the perimeter of the room. Because of this, sometimes this glue free, nail free, flooring will slide around along the tongue and groove connection. It often happens when some one stops suddenly with grippy shoes. You’ll hear a loud “CLACK” and then a half inch or so gap is exposed beneath. It can be easily ‘kicked” back into place however, but it’s hardly a selling point.
Being a “floating” floor, this flooring has more options in which directions you can lay it. Run it length wise, width-wise, or diagonally, your choice. However, I’d still recommend running it perpendicular to the joists, as it should give the finished product a bit more rigidity. If you are laying it on a concrete floor, direction is of course not an issue. This is another benefit to laminate flooring over solid hardwood flooring, basement or concrete floor use.
Now, being that laminate flooring is cheaper than the alternative, it won’t likely have as long a lifespan, and typically will have a shorter warranty to prove this. The “wear layer” on this flooring can be wafer thin, and when that wears through, or gets scratched and gouged, you’re into the ugly particle board.
All in all, laminate flooring can be an excellent alternative to the real hardwood flooring. If you avoid the thinner faker looking brands, you can still have a quality product for half the price of real hardwood. Don’t forget to factor in the differing costs and efforts for the install. Happy choosing!!
