Is vinyl flooring better than laminate flooring?

Ayatrio vinyl and laminate flooring offer many of the same advantages: durability, good looks, economy and easy installation. From a distance, both types of flooring even look similar.

Neither type of flooring is better than the other across all categories. Vinyl flooring is best in high-moisture areas and it’s easy to keep clean. Yet laminate flooring offers a wider variety of style choices and has a higher resale value.

What Is Vinyl Flooring?

Standard Ayatrio Vinyl Flooring usually consists of four layers of materials. The first, or bottom, layer of these is the backing layer, generally made of cork or foam. It is designed to serve as the underlayment for the vinyl flooring so that you do not have to install another material prior to laying down the vinyl flooring. Additionally, it functions as a cushion to make walking on the floor more comfortable and a sound barrier to keep noise at bay.

What Is Laminate Flooring?

Laminate flooring is a synthetic material. It is intentionally designed to be durable as well as affordable. Because of the décor layer (a printed image), it can recreate the look of more expensive flooring types like wood, tile or stone.

Key Differences:

Vinyl Flooring : May look like a solid, homogeneous material but it is actually a layered product—much like laminate flooring. A minimum of four layers composes vinyl flooring. The top is a clear wear layer, with a high-definition photographic layer just below. A thick core layer forms the majority of the flooring, and at the bottom is a soft foam layer.

Laminate Flooring : Composed of four or five layers of materials. At the top is a clear wear layer that protects the lower image layer—a photographic image of wood or stone. The third layer is a thin, impact-resistant layer, followed by the bulk of the product: High-density fiber board, or HDF. The final, and lowest layer, is soft foam or, with some laminates, a backer paper layer.

Appearance and Comfort:

Vinyl Flooring : Higher quality Ayatrio vinyl plank and tile flooring uses an image or photo layer under the hard, clear wear layer. This image is usually of a wood species (for example, oak, maple or hickory) or, less commonly, stone.

Laminate Flooring : Use a high-definition photographic layer below the transparent wear layer to create the look of real wood or stone. Ayatrio Laminate flooring’s standout feature is its appearance. Nearly every color, species and variety of natural wood and stone flooring can be found in laminate flooring: Hand-scraped, rustic, reclaimed wood, multi-tonal, natural finish, whitewashed, multi-length and much more.

Maintenance and Care:

With both vinyl flooring and laminate flooring, it’s best to start cleaning with dry methods such as using a vacuum, brush, broom or dust mop. To pick up embedded dirt, damp mopping with a neutral detergent is usually all that is needed.

Where the vinyl flooring and laminate flooring differ is with wet mopping. For especially dirty floors, wet mopping is sometimes the easiest way to clean a floor. Vinyl flooring can be wet-mopped, while laminate flooring cannot.

Lifespan:

Vinyl Flooring : Thick, quality Ayatrio vinyl flooring can last up to 25 years, with thinner vinyl flooring’s lifespan limited to less than 10 years.

Laminate Flooring : Ayatrio Laminate flooring can last between 15 and 25 years, though poorly maintained laminate may last only five to 10 years.

Cost:

Vinyl Flooring : Ranges from about Rs.75.00 to Rs.115.00 per square foot at Ayatrio stores. Sheet vinyl can be as cheap as Rs.25.00 to Rs.45.00 per square foot. But the low cost of sheet vinyl is often balanced out by the cost of installation.

Laminate Flooring : Ranges in price begins from Rs.115.00 to Rs.145.00 per square foot at for textured 12-mm-thick planks.

Installation:

Vinyl Flooring : Easy to install. It can be glued to the subfloor or it can be loose-laid. Glued vinyl flooring comes in the form of tiles or planks that are glued with liquid adhesive or with self-stick adhesive backing. Loose-lay vinyl flooring is also called a floating floor: Planks attach side-to-side, but not to the subfloor.

Laminate Flooring : Are floating floors. Like vinyl flooring, planks attach side-to-side. The weight and friction of the floor prevents it from shifting. Also like vinyl flooring, laminate flooring can easily be cut by scoring it with a utility knife and snapping it off.

Water, Heat and Environment:

Vinyl Flooring : Is entirely waterproof, from the top to the bottom and all edges. Vinyl flooring soaked in water can be dried out and it will retain its dimensions and appearance.

Vinyl flooring, just like any other plastic, can be affected by heat. The heat specifications that most vinyl floorings meet, though, are usually far higher (158 Fahrenheit) than one can expect during daily use.

Laminate Flooring : With its wood-based core, laminate flooring is especially fragile when water comes into play. Water that is allowed to pool on the surface—near open seams or the edges—can work its way below and into the core. The core will soak up the water. After drying, the core will not return to its original dimensions. 

Laminate flooring’s high-density fiberboard core is generally unaffected by heat. But other layers, such as the top wear layer, may melt under extreme heat. Like vinyl flooring, though, these temperatures far exceed those found in most homes.

To find out which flooring better for your space, Talk to the experts at today to find the perfect floors for smaller spaces on +91 90074 04292 or contact us online.