Laminate vs. hardwood flooring
This one usually comes down to budget versus longevity. Laminate gives you a great wood look for a fraction of the price and stands up to daily scratches — but it can't be refinished, so you replace it eventually. Solid hardwood costs two to three times as much, but it's the real thing: it can be sanded and refinished for decades and it adds genuine resale value. Here's the full comparison.
The quick verdict
- Choose laminate if you want the most floor for your money, you're doing it yourself, or the room sees heavy scratching from kids, pets, and furniture.
- Choose hardwood if you want a lifetime floor, the authentic look and feel of real wood, and the resale value — and the budget can stretch to it.
What they're made of
- Laminate is a dense fiberboard (HDF) core topped with a high-resolution photo of wood and a tough clear wear layer. The realistic print and hard surface are its strengths; the wood-based core and thin printed top are why it can't be refinished and dislikes water.
- Solid hardwood is exactly that — solid planks of real wood (oak, maple, hickory, walnut), the same material all the way through. That's why it can be sanded back to fresh wood again and again. Engineered hardwood is a real-wood veneer over a plywood core: most of hardwood's look, more dimensional stability, and usually one or two refinishes.
Side-by-side comparison
| Factor | Laminate | Solid hardwood |
|---|---|---|
| Material cost | $1–$4 / sq ft | $4–$12 / sq ft |
| Installed cost | $3–$8 / sq ft | $8–$15+ / sq ft |
| Look & feel | Very convincing wood look | The real thing — authentic depth & warmth |
| Scratch resistance | Excellent (hard wear layer) | Softer; dents and scratches show |
| Refinishing | Cannot be refinished — replace it | Refinish multiple times |
| Water resistance | Water-resistant at best | Poor — can warp and stain |
| Resale value | Little added value | Recognized premium feature |
| DIY install | Easy (floating click-lock) | Harder (nail/glue down) |
| Lifespan | 15–25 years | 30–100 years |
Cost compared by room size
Hardwood runs roughly two to three times the installed cost of laminate. Using typical installed ranges (materials + labor), here's a finished floor by room size:
| Room size | Laminate ($3–$8/sq ft) | Hardwood ($8–$15/sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| Small room — 120 sq ft | $360–$960 | $960–$1,800 |
| Bedroom — 200 sq ft | $600–$1,600 | $1,600–$3,000 |
| Living room — 320 sq ft | $960–$2,560 | $2,560–$4,800 |
| Main floor — 800 sq ft | $2,400–$6,400 | $6,400–$12,000 |
Laminate is the bigger DIY saver too, since its floating click-lock planks remove most of the labor; nail- or glue-down hardwood is harder to do well yourself. The numbers above use typical national ranges — see our methodology for how we build cost estimates.
Know your square footage and box count first
Whichever you choose, the flooring calculator turns your room size into square footage, boxes to buy (with a waste allowance), and an editable cost.
Open the Flooring CalculatorWhich should you choose?
- Tight budget, or flooring a large area → Laminate. You get a convincing wood look for a fraction of the cost, and the savings grow with square footage.
- Forever home, you want real wood → Hardwood. The authentic look, the feel underfoot, and the ability to refinish make it a true lifetime floor.
- Kids, big dogs, heavy traffic → Laminate resists surface scratches best — though hardwood's appeal is that scratches can be sanded away later.
- Selling soon → Hardwood for the resale premium, or quality laminate if you simply need to replace worn carpet affordably before listing.
- Kitchens, baths, basements → honestly, neither loves water. Consider luxury vinyl plank in genuinely wet rooms.
Installation & maintenance
Laminate is a floating click-lock floor — planks snap together over a foam underlayment with no glue or nails, making it one of the most DIY-friendly floors there is. Solid hardwood is usually nailed or glued down to a wood subfloor, which is slower, needs more tooling, and is best left to a pro for a flawless result. For upkeep, both want sweeping and a barely-damp mop (never a soaking wet one). The key difference is the long game: when laminate wears through, you replace it; when hardwood dulls or scratches, you sand and refinish it and it looks new again.