It is not always easy to choose flooring for your home or office. There are a lot of proposals and options, from floor tiles and linoleum, to parquet and laminate. More often for living rooms, they still choose from the last two options, so parquet or laminate, which is better?
To determine this issue, you need to separately disassemble the characteristics of the laminate, the pros and cons of its composition and features of use.
The composition of the laminated floorboard is a four-layer compressed “sandwich” from the following components:
- outer layer – a high-strength film made of special resins, protects the product from external influences;
- the second layer is decorative, contains a drawing;
- third layer – high mechanical strength fiberboard;
- fourth layer – stabilizing layer.
Based on the characteristics of the composition of the laminate, we can note its indisputable advantages:
- the ability to withstand severe mechanical stress;
- resistant to ultraviolet radiation;
- has heat resistance;
- abrasion resistance;
- does not react with household chemicals;
- suitable for system installation “warm floor”;
- ease of installation;
- a wide range of colors and structures;
- easy to care for and clean;
- affordable price.
The result is a rather extensive list of the advantages of laminate, but you should not forget the disadvantages either:
- low sound insulation (for additional “jamming” need to apply “backing”);
- the coating is pretty cool;
- service life no more than ten years;
- it is impossible to carry out restoration work.
In comparison, the pros and cons of parquet are more obvious, but they also need to be listed for the comparison to be complete..
The composition of the parquet is less multilayer than the laminate. Parquet is a solid wood board covered with several layers of special varnish to protect.
Pros and cons of parquet.
Pros:
- “warm” coating, retains heat;
- high sound insulation;
- hypoallergenic;
- parquet flooring can be used for more than twenty-five years, it all depends on the quality of the material and laying;
- wood does not attract dust.
Of the minuses, it is worth noting:
- subject to external mechanical influences (scratches, dents);
- reacts to temperature changes and high humidity (swelling, cracks);
- special care is important for long-term use;
- high price.
Asking the question whether parquet or laminate is better, you need to more accurately determine the question for yourself. For what exactly it is planned to use the coating, in which room, for how long, what funds are you willing to invest. Choosing a laminate flooring pros and cons, which are now more understandable, you definitely save, you get the opportunity to change the coating without regret after a short time, with the next repair.
The pros and cons of parquet imply a long period of use, so it is worth choosing parquet when, firstly, you have such an opportunity, and secondly, you plan to operate the premises for many years.
Based on the above, it makes no sense to ask parquet or laminate which is better, these are two different coatings located in different price segments.
