Hardwood Flooring Designs

Hardwood Flooring Patterns

If you wanted to buy a new shirt or blouse and the salesclerk told you that there was no difference between polyester and silk - what would your response be?  They only have two things in common.  The first is that they are both fibers and the second is that they can be woven into a cloth like material.  A similar scenario applies to laminate and hardwood.  Except that they have one thing in common, they can both be used as a flooring material.

As there is no comparison between polyester and silk, nothing can match the rich appearance of a hardwood floor and a picture of a hardwood floor is not a substitute.  That is exactly what laminate flooring is, a picture of a hardwood floor laminated and compressed with adhesives and other materials to produce a composite product.

A hardwood floor has a unique appearance that cannot be captured in a photograph.  No two pieces of hardwood flooring are the same, where laminate flooring is a repeat of a picture - over and over.  Some of the latest laminates have gone so far as to apply textures to try and get closer to the real hardwood - nice try, but no cigar!  One of the beauties of hardwood is the imperfections in grain and coloring that make each hardwood board unique, a manufacturing process can only provide a continuous repeat of what it has done before.  Not only is there a difference in the visual appearance of the products but you can feel and hear the difference when you walk on them.

So why are the big box home improvement centers and flooring retailers devoting so much space to laminate flooring.  There are two primary reasons:

• Installation:  Laminate flooring is very simple to install and the bigger the room or area to be undertaken, the easier the project becomes.  Virtually any home handyman or handywoman can install a laminate floor, there is no need for specialized tools, although a fine toothed carbide blade on a circular saw does make the job go quicker.  You can virtually lay laminate over any flat surface including short fiber carpet. Laminate floors should be installed over a foam underlayment as this prevents the floor from moving, provides walking comfort, a moisture barrier and a sound barrier between floors.

Whereas there is technique involved in the installation of hardwood as the hardwood boards aren't always true and you really need to have either a manual or compressed air nailer to do a proper job, which requires some experience.  A professional installer will look at the subtleties of each board before laying them to ensure a beautiful installation.

• Material Cost:  If you are a good shopper you will find laminate flooring at prices as low as $0.75 per square foot with a top end price of $3.50 per square foot.  Hardwood on the other hand, even on sale, will start at $3.00 per square foot, (very low quality) and can, for some of the more exotic hardwoods, in excess of $20.00 per square foot.  In both cases it is the finishing pieces that increase the costs of the floor dramatically.  A floor transition from carpet to laminate can be $10.00 a piece and in hardwood that same floor transition could easily run $80.00 for a six foot length.  In the case of hardwood, if you are laying a basic rectangular floor you will need to purchase 10% more material than the square foot calculation.  If you are laying a patterned floor such as a herring bone, you will need 20% more material than the square foot calculation.

Without some fancy installation techniques, solid hardwood in general should not be installed below grade or on a concrete slab sub-floor because moisture transmitted through the sub-floor will cause the hardwood to warp and curl.

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