Firstly,
what are the main differences between engineered oak flooring and laminate
flooring?
Well…
the differences are massive and being an oak lover myself with oak flooring
throughout my own home, I find it hard to even consider them in the same thought
process.
Laminate
flooring is constructed of a base layer that has a kind of photographic pattern
either bonded to it or embossed into it.
This
means that laminate flooring is virtually impossible to repair when even
slightly damaged and creates a very repetitive finished floor appearance (only
a certain amount of patterns are made, so some boards appear exactly the same
as others).
Engineered
flooring however is constructed of a natural solid oak wear layer that’s heat
bonded to a plywood underside, which provides the stability required for most installations.
The
minimum wear layer thickness on the products supplied by Oak Floors Online is
4mm, so it can be repaired by sanding many times over, and being a natural
grown material you will never get two planks that appear the same.
Oak
Floors Online also supply a range of 21mm thick engineered oak flooring that
has a full 6mm wear layer of oak for incredible durability.
Most
laminates are very thin and are meant to be installed using the floating
method, which means that there is often a ‘spongy’ feel to the floor or it is
bouncy when walked upon.
No
such problems are encountered with a 15mm engineered oak product because it is
very strong, although if your subfloor is not perfectly level and flat, you
should use the 21mm structural grade engineered oak flooring for this
situation.
Yes,
laminate flooring is usually cheaper than natural engineered oak flooring but
when its durability and life expectancy is considered and compared… the most
cost-effective and value for money product is always going to be the engineered
oak flooring.
Take a look at the range of engineered oak flooring that Oak Floors Online offer here; http://www.oakfloorsonline.co.uk/?template=searchProducts.html&category=engineered-oak
