When you’re choosing the flooring for your home, you always want a durable, economical, easy-care, and stylish flooring type. Among all the flooring types, two of them are most popular & come with these features. These are Vinyl and Laminate Flooring. But both these options are often confused with each other. So it is necessary to know the difference between Vinyl and Laminate Flooring for choosing an option for your home.
Yes, both of these floorings are durable, economical, and stylish & even they look the same. Still, there are many differences based on appearance, water resistance, installation, price, maintenance, etc. So let’s know about the difference between Vinyl and Laminate Flooring and more about these flooring options!
What Is Vinyl Flooring?
When remodeling or building a new home, vinyl floors are an excellent option since they are cost-effective, adaptable, and easy to customize.
Vinyl flooring is a man-made product consisting solely of plastic. Layers of vinyl flooring provide an impermeable and watertight surface. Solid Vinyl is encased in a printed vinyl layer and a wear layer on top of a wear layer.
From budget-friendly sheet vinyl to high-end luxury planks, vinyl flooring is available in a wide range of styles and price points.
As a general guideline, vinyl flooring is available in thicknesses of 1.5 millimeters (mm) to 5 millimeters (mm).
Vinyl is a good choice for rooms that get a lot of moisture because it isn’t going to get wet.
Vinyl Flooring comes in four layers:
- Backing Layer
- Solid Vinyl Core
- Print Vinyl Core
- Wear Layer
Types of Vinyl:
- Vinyl Plank
- WPC Vinyl
- Rigid Core
Pros of Vinyl Flooring:
- Most homeowners can easily install this on their own.
- The product is long-lasting and durable.
- Made entirely of waterproof materials
- Vinyl is available in a variety of styles, including stone, tile, and even wood.
- Vinyl flooring is extremely easy to maintain.
Cons of Vinyl flooring:
- Not all varieties are waterproof.
- Vinyl feels somewhat different to the touch than genuine hardwood.
- The cost of premium vinyl is rather expensive.
- The less expensive choices will simply not hold up to dents and scratches.
What is Laminate Flooring?
During the 1970s, laminate flooring became a popular choice for homeowners looking for a synthetic (man-made) option for their floors.
In the laminate floor core, wood byproducts are glued together with resins to make a durable floor. In this case, the top surface is made of hard, clear plastic that protects the printed design layer from damage. Laminate flooring boards have an overall thickness of between 6 and 12 millimeters.
If you like the look of hardwood floors but don’t want to spend a lot of money on them, this is a perfect option for you! Because of its thick construction, it’s a good choice for corridors and living rooms.
The moisture resistance of laminate flooring is inferior to that of Vinyl. It is possible for even water-resistant laminate flooring to be harmed over a lengthy period of time.
Laminate Flooring comes in four layers:
- Backing Layer
- Base Layer/Core Board
- Print Layer
- Wear Layer
Pros of Laminate Flooring:
- Affordable.
- Comfortable to stand on for extended periods of time.
- Due to laminate flooring’s exceptional longevity, it is an excellent choice for high-traffic areas.
- Laminate flooring features a durable wear layer that guards against scratches and dents.
- It can be used in conjunction with radiant heating systems.
- Realistic wood-like appearance.
Cons of Laminate Flooring:
- Not as resistant to water as vinyl flooring
- Not suitable for whole bathrooms or basements
- Within ten years, it may need to be replaced.
Difference between Vinyl and Laminate Flooring
Vinyl and laminate flooring have many of the same characteristics, such as their low cost and ease of installation. Moreover, they both are available in many designs, colors, and patterns. Although both types look the same, they have many differences. Let’s have a look at them:
1) Appearance, Designs & Comfort
Vinyl flooring, especially luxury vinyl plank flooring, can appear to be real. The deeper the embossing, the more resemblance to wood may be achieved with thicker solid core vinyl flooring. Vinyl plank and superior tile flooring is made with an image or photo layer that is under the hard, clear wear layer. However, as vinyl flooring are hard, it results in less comfortable for a long time.
Laminate flooring enables deep, realistic three-dimensional imprinting on its surfaces, resulting in exact representations of the represented material—wood, ceramic, or stone. Laminate flooring is available in nearly every color, species, and variety of natural wood and stone floors. Additionally, it is pleasant to stand on Laminate flooring for an extended period of time.
In case of appearance, laminate flooring looks more realistic and better than Vinyl.
2) Water-resistance
When it comes to water resistance, Vinyl comes out on top. You can dry it out if it gets wet and then uses it again. Almost all modern vinyl floors are made of 100% polymer materials, which also means that they can stand up to a lot of water.
Laminate can’t withstand a lot of moisture. It can get soft or swollen if it’s exposed to water content for a long time. Most products have a fiberboard core that can do this. Someday the top layers will come off because this center is so wet that it will be hard to dry.
3) Maintenance & Cleaning
Vinyl is a low-maintenance flooring option. These floors are safe to mop with a wet mop, and you may use safe cleaning chemicals to get rid of tough problems. Many different ways can be used to clean Vinyl, and it doesn’t need a lot of attention other than to be cleaned.
Laminate flooring requires a more sensitive approach to cleaning and maintaining because of its weak water resistance. Dry techniques, such as a broom or dry mop, are recommended.
So definitely, Vinyl is easier and better in terms of cleaning and maintenance.
4) Installation
Vinyl flooring is really simple to install. It can be bonded or loose-laid to the subfloor. However, Sheet vinyl is a little more challenging to work with since it is heavy and requires careful cutting around the shapes and angles in your space.
Laminate flooring is installed with a click-and-lock system. This implies that the planks are fitted into the grooves of adjacent boards and fastened in place, thus closing the seam.
Thus, laminate flooring is a bit easier to install.
5) The cost difference between vinyl and laminate flooring
In terms of price, Vinyl and laminate flooring are on par. They’re both cheaper than hardwood or porcelain tile, which are more expensive options. However, when you look into luxury flooring alternatives, you may find that Vinyl costs more.
Glue-down sheet vinyl costs about $1 per square foot. Luxury vinyl planks can cost as much as $5 per square foot, and they can last for years.
Laminate flooring typically costs between $1 and $5 per square foot to buy.
So the cost difference between Vinyl and laminate flooring is not much different, but there are more premium types of Vinyl available which can cost more.
6) Durability
As with anything else, not all laminate and vinyl flooring are made equal. However, when it comes to high-end flooring, Laminate and Vinyl are both extremely durable and have a longer shelf-life.
Laminate flooring is supposed to be far more durable than Vinyl, but now Vinyl can accomplish everything laminate can do and manage water even better!.
So, in terms of durability, Vinyl is more durable than Laminate flooring.
7) Lifespan
When compared to the 10-year lifespan of thinner vinyl flooring, the thicker, higher-quality kind can endure up to 25 years.
Poorly maintained Laminate can only last five to ten years, even if it has a lifespan of 15 to 25 years.
8) Sound
Vinyl is known for being quieter & creates less sound when walked on. However, the Laminate is also good in sound resistance, but it can produce a hollow sound when installed poorly.
Which is better Laminate or Vinyl?
Both flooring options are good in their distinct features. While buying flooring for your home, you should consider the features of both the options & then match them with your needs.
You should consider that laundry rooms, wet baths, and mudrooms are the greatest places to install vinyl flooring, which is impermeable to water. You’ll generally want to go for vinyl flooring for those spaces because of its moisture-resistance properties.
Laminate flooring is a good choice for places that are dry. Moreover, laminate flooring often offers more design possibilities for buyers than vinyl flooring does.
So according to us, both the options are good & it is difficult to choose better among them.
Is vinyl and laminate flooring the same?
Now, both the flooring options are different from each other. They may look similar, but both the flooring options are different in terms of features and composition.
Vinyl flooring is made entirely of synthetic materials. When it comes to traditional sheet vinyl and vinyl tiles, fiberglass is typically used as the foundation, followed by PVC vinyl and a plasticizer to provide a durable finish.
However, Wood byproducts bonded with resins make up the core of the product. The printed pattern layer is protected by a strong, clear plastic wear layer on the top surface.
The base material also results in the difference in water resistance. As in Vinyl, plastic is base, so they are water-resistance; however, in Laminate, wood is base, who9ch is why it is not water-resistant.
Bottom Line
So this was all about Vinyl and Laminate flooring and the difference between vinyl ad laminate flooring. When you will buy the flooring for your home, consider your personal factors & check which option is better suited to your requirements. Overall, you should go for vinyl flooring in water usage areas like bathrooms laundry areas.
In other areas, you can go for laminate flooring, which also offers more variety.
We hope this article was helpful & informative. Leave your valuable thoughts & suggestions in the comments!
Thank you for reading!
