Laminate or vinyl flooring: which one suits your home?
Laminate and vinyl flooring both look like wood, and both are more durable than a real wooden floor. The choice mainly depends on how much water the floor has to cope with and what kind of subfloor it goes on.
Laminate: the look of wood and a very durable surface
Laminate flooring has an especially durable top layer that resists scratches and everyday wear better than natural wood. Põrandakeskus sells Quick-Step laminate, with more than 140 products in the range, including waterproof and antistatic laminates.
The advantage of laminate is the complete system: Quick-Step also makes stair treads, skirting boards and transition profiles in the same shade, so the floor, the stairs and the skirting all come from one series.
Vinyl flooring (LVT): 100% moisture resistant
Vinyl flooring, or LVT, looks like wood or stone but is 100% moisture resistant. The LVT vinyl floors at Põrandakeskus come from the Dutch manufacturer Aspecta. LVT withstands wear, scratches, UV light and chemicals.
There are two types of vinyl flooring:
- Glue-down LVT (2.0 / 2.5 / 3.2 / 5.0 mm) is glued to a level subfloor. Thin and hard-wearing.
- Click LVT (6.3 / 7.0 / 8 / 10 mm) is installed floating, and thanks to its built-in underlay no separate underlay is needed.
What to compare
| Laminate | Vinyl flooring (LVT) | |
|---|---|---|
| Moisture | Waterproof laminates also suit bathrooms and kitchens | 100% moisture resistant |
| Surface | Especially scratch resistant | Withstands wear, scratches, UV light and chemicals |
| Installation | Click, floating | Glue-down or click |
| Also in the series | Stair treads, skirting boards, transition profiles in the same shade | Wood, stone and metal designs, including herringbone |
Which one to choose?
- Living room and bedroom: both work. If you want the stairs and skirting in the same shade, Quick-Step laminate is the easy choice.
- Kitchen, hallway, bathroom: choose vinyl flooring or waterproof laminate. LVT also suits bathrooms, but not directly under running water, as water can get under the planks.
- Uneven subfloor: also look at SPC vinyl flooring. SPC has a rigid stone composite core and tolerates an uneven subfloor better than LVT.
You can see both floors in person at our Tallinn (Järve 2) and Tartu (Tehnika 3) showrooms, Mon-Fri 9-18, Sat 10-15. Installation can be ordered from Põrandakeskus.
