Laminate Flooring vs. Engineered Wood Flooring Comparison Guide

	Engineered Hardwood	Laminate
Appearance	Real hardwood surface	Obvious simulation of wood
Cost	Only slightly more affordable than solid hardwood	Very inexpensive
Installation	Most types are nail-down or glue-down	Floating floor with interlocking edges
DIY or Pro?	Pro installation is more common	Very easy DIY installation
Resale Value	Offers better real estate value	Not as prestigious as wood
Life Expectancy	30 years or more	10 to 20 years on average

Appearance

Laminate

Laminate flooring, while it has become better at mimicking wood and other materials, will always come up short as a replica of wood. But top-quality laminates now have a richer, deeper embossing of simulated wood grain textures, giving the flooring a much more realistic feel. Thicker, premium 12 mm laminates, too, have convinced many buyers to experiment with the product in higher-end homes.

Engineered Wood

The biggest advantage that engineered hardwood flooring holds over laminate flooring is that its surface is real hardwood. It will always look better than laminate, especially close-up.

Best for Appearance: Engineered Wood

Both types of flooring come in hundreds of different colors and styles, and you will easily be able to find one that matches your design needs. But for realism, nothing beats engineered wood, because its surface is real, genuine hardwood.

Water and Heat Resistance

Laminate

While some types of laminate are advertised as “water-resistant,” this flooring material has a core layer of fiberboard that can be damaged if water seeps through the many cracks between boards. However, the plastic surface layer is resistant to water damage, provided moisture is mopped up immediately.

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood flooring is usually finished with a very tough, waterproof surface sealer, but both the surface veneer and the plywood base layers are wood, which can swell and warp if they get wet.

Best for Water and Heat Resistance: Tie

Neither laminate or engineered wood is a great choice for humid, damp locations, although both are better than solid hardwood in these situations. Even if the surface is kept well sealed, cracks between engineered wood or laminate boards can allow moisture to penetrate to the organic substrate (plywood or fiberboard), causing it to swell or develop mold. For frequently wet locations, ceramic tile or luxury vinyl are much better choices. Both flooring materials have decent resistance to heat and sunlight.

Durability and Maintenance

Laminate

Of the two flooring materials, laminate flooring is somewhat easier to care for, since the surface layer is plastic and can easily be wiped clean. However, laminate flooring cannot be refinished; when the flooring becomes badly marred, it must be removed and replaced.

Engineered Wood

Engineered hardwood flooring can be sanded and refinished at least once, and if the flooring has a particularly thick veneer layer, you may even be able to refinish it two or three times.

Best for Durability and Maintenance: Engineered Hardwood

These flooring materials are equally easy to care for, but the prefinished engineered hardwood has a very tough surface finish and can be refinished at least once.

Installation

Laminate

Laminate flooring is one of the easiest flooring materials to install, which makes it a favorite of DIYers. The planks are engineered with a unique “click-lock” edge treatment in which the edges of the planks interlock and “float” over a layer of foam underlayment spread over the subfloor. Most people find it possible to cover a room with laminate flooring in an afternoon.

Engineered Wood

Engineered hardwood floors, while often easier to install than solid hardwood, is more likely to require professional installation. These floors are often installed in the same manner as solid hardwood, by blind-nailing them to the subfloor with finish nails or staples driven at an angle through the tongues along the edges of the boards. But there are also floating versions of these floors, and engineered wood floorboards can also be glued down when installing then over a concrete subfloor.

Best for Installation: Laminate

Laminate floors are among the easiest of all flooring materials for DIYers. However, some forms of engineered wood flooring come close for ease of installation.

Cost

Laminate

Here, laminate flooring holds a big advantage, since it is one of the most affordable of all flooring materials. Laminate flooring can be purchased for $1 to $3 per square foot at big-box home improvement centers (although it’s possible to spend $10 to $12 per square foot on designer styles).

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood flooring typically starts at the lowest end at $4 per square foot, but the average is more like $8 per square foot.

And with an engineered wood floor, there is often the added cost of professional installation, which can bring the cost over $25 per square foot. With laminates, on the other hand, the DIY installation is so easy that you often need no professional help.

Best for Cost: Laminate

Low cost is the single biggest advantage that laminate flooring holds over engineered hardwood flooring.

Lifespan

Laminate

Laminate flooring is regarded as a 10- to 20-year flooring material, depending on the original quality of the material and how much wear it received.

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood flooring is more durable, with a lifespan that can easily run 30 years or sometimes much longer.

Best for Lifespan: Engineered Wood

With a lifespan of 30 years or more and the ability to be sanded down and refinished, engineered wood flooring holds a decided advantage over laminate flooring when it comes to lifespan.

Sizes

Laminate

Laminate flooring planks are usually 3 to 7 inches wide and about 48 inches long.

Engineered Wood

Engineered flooring boards can be as narrow as 2 1/4 inches or as wide as 7 inches, with lengths that can generally range from 36 to 48 inches. Some styles of engineered wood flooring are designed to be assembled with random board widths.

Best for Sizes: Tie

Sizes for these products are comparable.

Resale Value

Laminate

Laminate flooring will sometimes compromise a home’s value, but very high-end laminate flooring is by no means a drawback when it comes to marketing a home; it is going to go a longer way in terms of resale value in a low to mid-range house than carpet or vinyl. But it will never be viewed as favorably as any form of genuine wood.

Engineered Wood

Generally speaking, hardwood offers the greatest resale value to a home so it’s safe to say engineered hardwood would be of greater value to potential buyers than laminate. Engineered wood may even rival solid hardwood for prestige, though knowledgeable home-buyers will recognize that it does not have the longevity that solid hardwood does.

Best for Resale Value: Engineered Hardwood

Most prospective buyers will recognize engineered hardwood flooring as decidedly superior to laminate flooring.

Comfort and Sound

Laminate

Both engineered wood and laminate flooring is comfortable underfoot, but because laminate flooring typically “floats” over the subfloor, it may flex a bit underfoot, especially if the underlayment is not perfectly smooth and flat. Some homeowners also find that heels and pet nails click annoyingly on the plastic surface. But it also can be a “softer” floor, since laminate flooring is usually installed over a foam underlayment.

Engineered Wood

Engineered hardwood is a thicker flooring and is typically nailed or glued down, so it does not have the problem with flexing. It can, however, feel a little harder underfoot since it is usually not installed with the same foam underlayment used with laminate flooring.

Best for Comfort and Sound: Tie

Neither flooring has a decided advantage—it depends on how you view their performance characteristics.

The Verdict

For the look of a genuine wood floor, there is no choice: Engineered hardwood is the way to go. But if DIY installation and low cost take precedence over appearance, then laminate flooring is a good choice.

Top Brands

Several flooring brands manufacture both engineered wood and laminate flooring:

• Bruce was from many years owned by flooring giant Armstrong, but its wood flooring segment was recently sold to American Industrial Partners (AIP). Bruce makes a good selection medium-quality, affordable laminate as well as engineered hardwood flooring. Its products are sold principally at big-box home improvement centers.
• Shaw Industries is own by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s company. It is a flooring giant that sells nearly every type of flooring—including laminate, engineered hardwood, and solid hardwood. Its products are available mostly at specialty flooring stores or online suppliers. Prices tend to be a little higher, but the quality is excellent.
• Mohawk is yet another flooring giant; it. too, manufactures both laminate flooring (under the RevWood product lines) and engineered wood (the TecWood product line). Mohawk products are sold mostly at specialty flooring stores. Its laminate flooring is among the most realistic for mimicking natural wood.