Which wood flooring is the best value for money?
Straight plank engineered wood flooring offers the best all round value. Straight plank floors are simpler and therefore easier to create than more intricate designs such as herringbone and chevron.
Engineered wood flooring is also more cost effective to produce than solid wood flooring due to the fact that it requires less natural wood to produce. Natural wood is more valuable than man made materials such as High Density Fibreboard, so the less natural wood used the less the floor costs to manufacture.
It is worth being aware however that solid wood flooring has the ability to last longer than engineered wood flooring, because the wear layer is the whole plank and can therefore be refurbished more times. The longer something lasts the better value it represents.
What wood flooring lasts the longest?
Providing it is installed and maintained correctly, solid wood flooring has the potential to last the longest. This is mainly because there is more natural wood to work when it comes to sanding and refinishing the floor.
Engineered wood floors commonly have wear layers of 3mm-6mm, whereas solid wood flooring planks are usually around 18mm. All of the solid planks can be sanded down rather than only the top layer of engineered planks giving the solid plank more room to be sanded down more times.
Something to keep in mind however is the cost of the flooring, if for example a laminate floor lasts half as long as a real wood floor but it cost half as much, the value is arguably still as good.
Is engineered better than solid wood flooring?
Engineered wood flooring has the advantage over solid wood flooring in aspects such as price and resilience to moisture and temperature. However it can’t be renewed as many times as solid wood flooring.
There are also those who simply consider solid wood to be the real thing and engineered wood not to be. This is true in the sense that engineered planks aren’t all natural wood, but when you consider the only part that you ever see or touch is natural wood you can see why many people don’t care.
As with many things it comes down to a matter of opinion.
Which wood effect wood flooring is the best value?
There are 3 main types of wood effect flooring, which are;
Sheet Vinyl – Very cheap but it does tend to feel it.
Luxury Vinyl Tile – A leap up from sheet vinyl but still 100% waterproof. This really is an excellent floor type, it does pretty much everything. Higher end versions even have textured surfaces (registered embossed) which replicates the feel of wood grain.
Laminate Flooring – Essentially does everything that LVT flooring does at a lower price. The 1 huge downside though is it is not waterproof like LVT. There are new water resistant laminate floors available now, but water resistant is not waterproof.
If it’s unlikely that you will get it wet then a good quality laminate floor will look and feel great for less money than luxury vinyl tile.
However, if you either know you will get it wet or simply want the peace of mind that it’s fully waterproof, then it’s worth spending a little more on luxury vinyl tile.
What patterns are available for wood flooring?
The most readily available patterns for wood flooring include;
Straight Plank Wood Flooring – The standard basic plank format. It’s not fancy but there is nothing not to like. Plank lengths vary for different products, some are the same and some are mixed lengths / random lengths.
Herringbone Wood Flooring – All the planks are the same size. Planks are installed at 90 degrees with the end of one plank against the side of the end of another. The name came from the similarity of the pattern found in the skeleton of Herring fish.
Chevron Wood Flooring – Again all of the planks are the same size but the ends are cut at 45 degrees and are installed end to end to create a V pattern.
Design Panel – This is where different designs are made on often square panels of flooring ready to be installed rather than patterns being made out of individual planks. It looks great and can be easier to install.
Is real wood flooring high maintenance?
Real wood flooring does require more maintenance than almost all other floor types. It is also more important for the installation to be completed correctly due to the reactiveness of natural wood.
With regards to ongoing maintenance, natural wooden floors will reach a point where they need to be sanded down and refinished. Whilst this will cost time and money, it makes the flooring look brand new again and prolongs its life.
Whilst other floors like laminate and LVT don’t need to be refurbished, the fact is that they can’t rather than don’t need to be, which means they don’t have the ability to last as long. Overall, real and natural wood flooring does offer exceptional value for money and providing you don’t opt for unusual styles and colours, it most likely won’t go out of fashion.
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
