Are you remodeling your home? If so, whether you want a change in appearance or want to increase the value of your home before sale, it can be difficult to decide on the types of floors you want to use. You want flooring that can give you a high return on investment without spending too much per square foot. Hardwood is fantastic but can cost as much as $12 per square foot to get installed. Luckily, you can mimic the appearance of hardwood for much less with vinyl or laminate flooring. What’s the difference between vinyl vs laminate flooring? Here’s what you need to know.

What Are Vinyl Floors?

First things first, let’s define what counts as vinyl flooring. It’s similar to laminate flooring, in that they’re both low-cost alternatives that can mimic more expensive floor replacement options like hardwood or tile. However, vinyl planks, especially luxury vinyl planks, have several layers of planks to give them structural integrity.
You can have vinyl floors glued to the subflooring, or else install them in an interlocking fashion above your existing carpet like a floating floor. Vinyl planks are waterproof, which makes them a great choice for any room in the house.

What Are Laminate Floors?

Laminate floors, like vinyl floors, tend to get sold in packs of interlocking tiles. Like vinyl, they can mimic almost any other floor texture. In fact, laminate is better than hardwood at mimicking the feel and look of a hardwood floor.
Laminate floors can be harder to install and have weaker core integrity than vinyl floor planks. This can lead to some warping due to temperature and moisture, which is not the greatest look for your new floors.
So, if you want to use laminate flooring, try to place it somewhere that won’t get too much moisture. That way, you can avoid wrecking the look of your gorgeous floor replacement.

How Can You Get New Floors Installed?

No matter who wins out for you in the battle of vinyl vs laminate, you’re going to need someone to come and install your choice. You can try reaching out to a local contractor to get the job done. You could even conduct a DIY installation with vinyl floors.
However, you’re better served going with a professional floor company. (Especially if you want to install laminate, which requires more specialized tools to install properly.) The best in the industry can even conduct next day installation, if you need to get your remodel done in a hurry.

Vinyl vs Laminate: Which Is Best?

When trying to decide which is better for your home with regards to vinyl vs laminate, it’s best to look at your desired installation costs and the humidity levels of your home. If you end up miscalculating, your floors could look fake or warp under the pressure.
If you’d like more tips to help you find the best new floors for your home, then check out the Lifestyle section of our blog. We update each day with more aspirational home improvement and decor content like this. 5elifestyle