How Can You Tell The Difference Between Laminate And Vinyl Flooring?

Last Updated on July 14, 2024 by Asfa Rasheed

With the rising hype of increasing usage of laminate flooring and vinyl flooring, it has been often witnessed that people tend to confuse the flooring materials. That’s natural because they both have quite similar features which are not just restricted to their appearance. Although they both are similar, one should know the basic difference between laminate flooring and luxury vinyl flooring to be able to judge their benefits and work accordingly when needed. 

So to help you gain knowledge about the same, we have discussed a few features and key differences of both the flooring types, here, in detail. 

Let’s dig in to know them!

What Is Laminate Flooring?

Laminate flooring is a hard flooring system, which is made with recycled hardwood. Its appearance resembles hardwood or tiles. They generally have a melamine wear layer on the top of the laminate flooring. It is there to provide strong scratch protection underneath the floor. 

What Is Vinyl Flooring?

Vinyl flooring is a synthetic flooring system, which looks like tile or hardwood and is made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Generally, this floor is created by sticking down pieces of vinyl directly to the floor underneath. 

Vinyl flooring comes in different forms such as sheet vinyl, vinyl composite tile, luxury vinyl tile, and plank, and many more. Some forms of vinyl flooring look almost real to that of wooden flooring. 

Differences Between Laminate And Vinyl Flooring

As laminate and luxury vinyl flooring is similar to one another, you should know how to differentiate them. Here, we have registered some of the most significant differences between these two flooring systems. Take a look!

Water Resistance

There is a fiberboard core in laminate flooring to protect it when it is exposed to water. Proper installation of them can tolerate pooled water, but only for a short period of time. 

While on the other hand, vinyl flooring can be fully immersed in water for long periods, dried out, then reused because of being made of synthetic or polymer materials. Therefore, vinyl flooring is much better than laminate flooring because of being water-resistant.

Cleaning And Care

Laminate flooring is easy to clean with dry methods. Vinyl flooring is easy to clean and care for with both dry and wet methods. Though both the flooring are easy to preserve, only vinyl flooring allows both sweeping with dry room and wet mopping. Hence they are more preferable. 

Durability And Maintenance

Both laminate and vinyl flooring are durable and have low maintenance. But laminate flooring cannot be repaired after they get scratches on any of the layers. It might even delaminate after being exposed to water for a long time. 

While there are no such complications with Vinyl flooring, rather they are more durable than laminate ones. Besides, high-quality vinyl flooring is used for commercial applications as well.

Environmental Impact

Laminate flooring is made with recycled hardwood, while, Vinyl flooring is made with polymers. Although the number of green materials used in the core of the floorings is different, laminate flooring is more eco-friendly than luxury vinyl flooring for its natural wood content of the core.

Conclusion

Although laminate and vinyl flooring have countless similar features, there are quite a lot of things that make them different from each other. 

But before selecting any flooring option, you should not just keep in mind the differences between the two floorings but also consider which one suits you best for your home.

Read More: Types Of Vinyl Flooring And Their Benefits