Laminate flooring or wooden parquet?

At first glance they may seem to be the same thing, but they are not. Laminate flooring and parquet, although visually similar, are very different. Both add a touch of style to your home and are great solutions for creating modern rooms in line with the latest home design trends. But if you must decide which flooring option to choose, then the advice is to consider well the advantages of one and the other. Because sure, while aesthetic appeal is important, when it comes to flooring you also need to consider other, equally fundamental factors, such as durability, resistance, and maintenance.

So, let’s discover together the characteristics of parquet and laminate flooring and decide which flooring option is right for your home.

Laminate flooring and parquet: comparing materials.

Laminate floors are made of several layers of materials fused together. They are generally made of wood fibres and developed to faithfully replicate, at least from an aesthetic point of view, the performance of floors made of other materials such as stone, marble and wood. More specifically, the top, outermost layer is a transparent, waterproof protective layer and serves to protect the floor from abrasion, wear, and treading. The next layer is a decorative layer that can be made to resemble any type of material: this is a very high-definition die-cast print that lends the laminate the desired effect, such as that of wood with its typical grain and colours or that of marble. Just underneath, the middle layer is made of high-density wood fibre boards and resins and its purpose is to ensure the structural integrity of the floor. The last, bottom layer is a stabilising, moisture-resistant layer and serves to support all other layers. The processing that creates the laminate floor is a high-temperature process that presses all the layers together into a single panel.

Parquet flooring, instead, has a different soul. It is made of noble wood and the various pieces are arranged together in a repetitive pattern to form a complete home floor. The processes it can undergo are many and each imparts a different style to the floor. From sanding to sandblasting to planing: craftsmen skilfully work the material to give life to the floor you desire. The quality of the materials is certainly greater, and this is reflected in the result.

The advantages of laminate flooring: why choose one

Laminate flooring has become an increasingly popular choice for homeowners. The advantages they offer are unquestionably many, such as affordability, durability, and ease of installation. But let’s start with the definition of parquet flooring for interiors: parquet flooring for interiors: this definition is specified in the terminology standard UNI EN 13756:2018, entitled ‘Wood and parquet flooring – Terminology’, currently only available in English.

This standard, in force since 11 October 2018, provides the terms and related definitions associated with wood flooring and parquet. According to UNI EN 13756:2018 (it should be emphasised that it is a standard and not a legislative act), parquet flooring for interiors is defined as ‘a wood flooring with a minimum top layer thickness of 2.5 mm before installation’.
 The top layer is defined as the layer of valuable wood.

Read the article, parquet or tiles: which floor to choose?

The advantages of parquet flooring: why choose one

Parquet flooring, as we have seen, has little in common with laminate, starting with the quality of the material it is made of, the craftsmanship of the workmanship and finally the elegant and refined look it lends to any home. There is no doubt that this is a type of floor that becomes more resistant over time: wood is an excellent material, able to resist wear and tear, scratches, and dents, especially if treated carefully and using the right products. So, choosing parquet is an investment in time: once installed, the floor will not pose a problem to your home for many, many years. This is because the floor can be sanded to remove small marks and scratches. In contrast, laminate, when damaged due to wear and tear or because the protective layer is ruined, needs to be replaced.

Even if we look at the possibility of customisation, the parquet floor is superior: not only different types of wood, but also different types of workmanship combined provide an infinite number of solutions, all different in style, uniqueness, and value. One can opt for a classic style with a polished, smooth floor, or for a more rustic style with a floor in which the grains and signs of workmanship create patterns on each individual plank. So, it goes without saying that a parquet floor is unique, in the sense of being unrepeatable. No plank is the same as another, it is not possible that the craftsman’s hand and the soul of the wood combine always in the same way, as in a mass production, just like laminate which, as we have seen, finds its decoration in a print.

Also, from the point of view of maintenance, parquet is not as complicated as it looks: all you need to do is vacuum using bristles suitable for wooden floors and remove all debris from the floor before continuing with a damp, well wrung-out mop and a neutral cleaner for wooden floors.

Parquet can be installed either floating or glued, so if we initially think that if the need arises to preserve an existing floor, parquet cannot be used, we are mistaken.
 Thanks to floating installation, in fact, there is no need to remove an existing floor. In cases of renovation, for example, this can also be a decisive factor for cost containment. 

Laminate or parquet: which to choose.

As we have seen, choosing between laminate and parquet is no easy task. Both floors are excellent solutions, although they offer very different characteristics.
Firstly the budget: laminate is less expensive than a parquet floor and this is due to the quality of the materials, the craftsmanship of the workmanship and the installation process, which is longer and more laborious in the case of parquet than in the case of laminate, which is simpler and, in some cases, even do-it-yourself. Parquet is also a more solid and resistant type of floor, if treated with proper care and attention. Both offer a wide range of customisation possibilities, but only with parquet will you be faced with a unique solution, a floor that is unique in all its details.

So, there is absolutely no one solution which is better than the other. The choice is yours and depends only on your taste, budget, and the amount of maintenance you are prepared to do.