Engineered Wood Flooring vs Other Flooring Types

When choosing which type of flooring to use, engineered flooring suppliers know what they are talking about when they recommend engineered hardwood flooring products for your home renovation or building construction project. It offers unique advantages over the other types of flooring products, but it can also have some disadvantages – depending on the project’s needs. That said, it can be quite helpful if you were to be more acquainted with the common types of flooring products.

Here’s a list of the usual types of flooring products to choose from:

• Engineered Hardwood Flooring
• Vinyl Flooring
• Laminate Flooring
• Porcelain or Ceramic Flooring
• Natural Stone Tile Flooring
• Carpet Flooring
• Solid Hardwood Flooring
• Parquet Flooring

What Makes Engineered Hardwood Flooring a Popular Flooring Option?

Engineered hardwood flooring suppliers will often recommend engineered hardwood flooring products, because as a flooring solution, engineered hardwood floors offer two primary benefits: versatility and durability. Engineered hardwood floors are composite products made of various materials with a hardwood veneer, thus offering the aesthetic benefits of real hardwood floors while providing the added durability and temperature resistance that solid hardwood floors fail to deliver.

The Pros and Cons of Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Before we compare engineered hardwood floor products to other flooring types, here’s a list of its benefits and possible drawbacks:

The Costs of Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Depending on a handful of factors that go into determining the quality of a flooring product – such as the size, hardness, type of materials used, durability, and water or heat resistance, among others – there is no unified standard to define a fixed cost. It also helps to note that the cost of flooring products in the market may differ from time to time. 

Vinyl Flooring

When comparing engineered hardwood flooring products to vinyl flooring products, the primary considerations are cost and quality.

Vinyl floors offer affordable synthetic flooring products in a variety of styles, often mimicking the appearance of hardwood floors. They are often made of three layers: the top layer, such as a urethane finish, adds a protective layer to the vinyl floor; the middle layer is often a printed image of a stone or hardwood floor; and the bottom layer, often fiberglass covered in plasticized PVC vinyl, serves as the core of the flooring, determining its durability.

The Pros and Cons of Vinyl Flooring vs Engineered Hardwood Flooring

If you decide to opt for vinyl flooring, here are the advantages and disadvantages to consider:

The Costs of Vinyl Flooring

While cheaper when compared to engineered hardwood flooring, vinyl flooring products are available in a range of different standards that determine its quality.

Laminate Flooring

As opposed to vinyl flooring, which is 100% synthetic, the distinguishing factor between the two is the core layer – laminate flooring products usually have a combination of bonded resin and wood byproducts. This limits the areas where laminate flooring can be installed, as the core layer makes laminate flooring products more prone to damage in high-moisture areas. However, because of its core layer, laminate floors are harder and more durable against foot traffic when compared to vinyl flooring products.

The Pros and Cons of Laminate Flooring

Comparing laminate flooring to engineered hardwood flooring, however, can be similar to comparing an authentic product to a replica, as this is what laminate flooring aims to deliver. At its price point, laminate flooring is an affordable alternative to engineered hardwood flooring products, but it also offers less quality in both durability and aesthetic charm.

The Costs of Laminate Flooring

Cheaper than engineered hardwood flooring products, laminate flooring products come in a variety of wood species as well, influencing its costs.

Solid Hardwood Flooring and Other Types of Flooring Products

Given the wide range of options for flooring products, the closest to engineered hardwood flooring in terms of quality is solid hardwood flooring, but both types offer unique advantages.

While solid hardwood provides added durability and longer lifespans when compared to engineered hardwood flooring, it is also much more expensive to install and is less resistant to heat and water damage. Engineered hardwoods are easier to maintain as well.

The other types of flooring products, such as ceramic and porcelain, carpet, parquet, and natural stone offer stylistic benefits that address specific uses, such as bathroom or bedroom flooring, outdoor and open air spaces, and special areas in a home or building.

High-moisture areas will have more use for ceramic and porcelain tile flooring, which is a distinct advantage over engineered hardwood flooring. However, it is easily chipped and scratched, difficult to install, and quite expensive.

Natural stone tiles, such as granite, marble, and sandstone – just to name a few – offer stylish, durable, and insulated flooring. Like ceramic and porcelain tiles, however they can chip and are expensive as well.

Carpet flooring, on the one hand, provides an affordable flooring solution for bedrooms – it is stylish, comfortable, and excellent for soundproofing purposes. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to maintain as it requires regular cleaning. It can also absorb odors and are easy to stain.

Parquet flooring is a wood flooring type that utilizes smaller pieces arranged in mosaic-like patterns, which make them more of a stylistic option. You can opt to have engineered wood parquet flooring if desired.

Engineered Hardwood Flooring Solutions by Ua Floors

Conclusively, if you’re looking for a cost-effective flooring solution, engineered hardwood flooring is the best way to go – it provides the aesthetic charm and durability of solid hardwoods at a fraction of the cost.
As the leading supplier of high-quality engineered wood flooring products, Ua Floors delivers a beautiful collection of innovative, impactful flooring solutions for residential and commercial use.
Don’t hesitate to reach out or browse our website for more information.