A Guide to Laminate vs. Vinyl Flooring

Laminate vs. Vinyl Flooring: Which One's Right for You?

Need help deciding between laminate and vinyl for your flooring project? Both combine style with practicality—offering the look of hardwood planks or stone tiles with easy installation. Each also has its own unique advantages. When comparing laminate versus vinyl flooring, consider factors such as how you’ll be using the space, the environmental conditions in the room, and your plan for installation. You may also have a personal preference when it comes to maintenance. Explore our vast laminate and vinyl selections and let the experts at LL Flooring help you decide on the best product for your home.

What is Laminate?

Laminate flooring is wood-based and made up of layers that each perform a specific function. There are different categories of laminate flooring, but generally speaking, you’ll find a clear wear layer that provides resistance against scratches, a décor layer that gives the flooring its design, an MDF core, and a balance layer for additional stability. Together, they make a flooring product that can mimic the look of hardwood, stone, or even patterns, and that can be installed almost anywhere in the home.

What is Vinyl Plank?

Vinyl plank flooring features a wear layer and a décor layer similar to laminate flooring. The differences start with the core. Luxury vinyl plank (LVP) flooring has a PVC core, while all our rigid vinyl plank (RVP) flooring features a stone-based polymer composite (SPC) core—making it our most dent-resistant vinyl. All vinyl flooring is waterproof, which can be another key consideration.

Comparing Laminate vs. Vinyl Flooring

Measuring a floor’s qualities can be subjective—much depends on your particular needs. Water resistance or waterproof performance may be your priority, or perhaps you need a floor that can stand up to heavy wear. Maybe the cost and ease of installation is your primary concern. Or, most likely, your decision hinges on a combination of these factors. Here’s how laminate and vinyl compare:

Appearance

Laminate flooring gained popularity for recreating the look and feel of hardwood, but today’s vinyl plank options also bring authentic wood looks and textures into your space. You’ll find stone-look designs in both types of flooring as well. Why not try using our Picture It! Floor Visualizer to see which colors, textures, and designs look best in your unique space?

Protection from Splashes and Spills

Because traditional laminate is a wood-based product, it's best suited to areas of the home that don't usually get wet. However, LL Flooring offers both water-resistant laminates, for areas that see occasional spills, and waterproof laminates, for worry-free installation in real splash zones such as bathrooms.

Vinyl plank flooring is a waterproof product, so you can feel confident installing it anywhere that water is a regular consideration—whether that's a kitchen that sees its fair share of spills, a mud room that needs frequent mopping, or even a basement.

Wear Protection

Laminate flooring offers resistance to scratches, staining, wear, and fading due to its UV-cured protective layer. You’ll find this same protection from wear, staining, and scratches in vinyl plank flooring as well. 

If you're worried about the impact of rough-and-tumble family life you might want to consider RVP flooring, as its SPC core offers increased resistance to denting.

Stability

Both laminate and vinyl plank contain layers that improve dimensional stability. Acclimating your planks before installation also helps to prevent the warping or buckling that flooring can undergo in response to changes in temperature and humidity. While we recommend acclimating both types of flooring, it's particularly important for wood-based products such as laminate.

Again, our CoreLuxe collection of RVP flooring contains a stone-based polymer composite (SPC) core that can feel more substantial underfoot.

Installation

When it comes to ease of installation, you can't go wrong with either vinyl or laminate flooring: Both offer DIY-friendly choices that make them quick and cost-effective.

You can create beautiful laminate or vinyl floating floors using simple click-together installation. Many come with attached pads that provide a base level of stability and insulation, but you could take this to the next level by installing a premium underlayment to enhance your floor's overall performance and its acoustical and thermal insulation.

With vinyl you also have the option of gluing down your flooring for a more secure finish, or choosing a simple peel-and-stick option. As with all flooring, follow the instructions included in the warranty, installation, and care guide accompanying your product.

Cost

In terms of cost, both vinyl and laminate flooring will offer you considerable value. Of course, as you peruse our wide variety of styles in both categories, you'll see that specific prices will vary according to the features of each product. Don't forget to factor in the relative ease of installation—doing it yourself could help you save on professional installation costs.

Maintenance

Both laminate and vinyl flooring offer hassle-free maintenance. You can sweep away debris or use a vacuum with a felt brush-type head (no beater bars or hard bristles). Remove spills using a soft cloth, and feel free to wet mop any of our vinyl flooring, as well as our water-resistant laminate and Dream Home waterproof laminate. Consider the level of activity in your household and the time you're prepared to spend on cleaning when making your decision. Whichever option you choose, a smooth-textured floor will generally be easier to clean as it will trap less dust.

Fitting felt protectors to the bottom of your furniture will help prevent scuffs and scratches to your floor, and adding doormats on both sides of exterior doors will help minimize the amount of abrasive material that makes it indoors. You'll find everything you need to keep all your flooring looking its best among the floor care and protection items we offer at LL Flooring.

Still haven’t quite decided between vinyl or laminate for your flooring project? At LL Flooring, you have a variety of ways to narrow down your choices. Both our laminate and vinyl selections allow you to use our Floor Visualizer tool to get a sense of how each particular floor would look in your space.

You can also order free samples of the flooring you're interested in so you can feel the texture and thickness of the material and see how it looks in your space. If you need more information, you're always welcome to contact us—we're here online and in any of our 400+ stores to help you bring your vision to life.

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In this video, Mark shows a magic trick you could try when replacing YOUR flooring, and then demonstrates important steps before the planks are actually installed.