Hardwood flooring needn’t break your budget

installing hardwood in expanded areas of your home has become somewhat of a mainstay.

Hardwood flooring can often be more expensive than alternative flooring selections, and could cause sacrificed upgrades in other parts of your home, but here are some options that will provide you with the look of hardwood floors, without breaking the budget.

The most popular alternative to hardwood flooring is laminate wood flooring. Laminate wood flooring is a multi-layer synthetic product that has a thin veneer of real wood on the surface. Laminate wood floors are typically not fastened or glued down but “float” over a subfloor.

This flooring option is not necessarily known for its high durability, but does have some resilience when it comes to potential damages. Outside of surface scuffs or small marks that can be touched up or stained, laminate wood does not repair very easily. Any major gouges will need to be filled, and will normally not reflect the original floor finish.

My favorite alternative to hardwood would be luxury vinyl plank (LVT). Quality LVTs will provide you with a realistic look of many hardwood floors and also have backing that will give some comfort when walking.

The LVT preferred installation method would be a floating floor like laminate wood flooring, but can also be glued down to concrete flooring. LVT is extremely resilient to damage, due to its heavy-duty finish that can be sculpted to have a realistic wood look. I personally have LVT installed on the entire main level of my home, and guests have to bend down to feel that it isn’t real hardwood.