DIY-Hardwood-Floors... Synthetic vs. Authentic

I completed my DIY-Hardwood-Floors project when I remodeled my kitchen and living room a couple years ago and of course I purchased a beautiful Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring. Even though I may make money as a handyman, I still consider myself a DIY'er doing 90% of the work on my home. As a DIY'er my ultimate goal is to save money. Now, with that said, since doing the installation myself will save me money, it's only natural that I would want the finest material available for my project. Traditionally, that means choosing the genuine article... real hardwood flooring, real stone or brick... you get my point

When it comes to the synthetic products being manufactured these days I have say that I'm extremely impressed. The advancements in technology and manufacturing keeps improving dramatically! What I've found is that the "Real Deal" isn't always the best choice for a job. When it comes to engineered and laminate floors produced now a days the quality is unmistakable. They are nearly impervious to wear, rot and built to last a long time. The great thing for a DIY is the great number of them are available at your local home center.

The important thing is that they are made so well that you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart form the real McCoy. The icing for this cake is that they not only look like the "real thing" they will save you money to boot.

When it comes to deciding which type flooring to install one of the first things to consider is: What type of sub flooring you have?

Let's first take a look at some of the pros and cons of Engineered & Laminate DIY-hardwood-floors. Engineered floor boards are basically the same as a high-grade plywood with a thin layer of hardwood laminated on top. This makes them more stable than solid wood because they are less prone to expansion and contraction. I've also read that engineered DIY-hardwood-floors can be sanded and refinished because of the hardwood laminated to the top. However, I'd research that heavily with the flooring manufacturer because you can't do that with laminate wood flooring.

What's the difference between Engineered & Laminate flooring? Laminates often feature an image of wood attached to a fiberboard substrate and are even less expensive but still look great. Some lower end laminates lack the authentic look and feel of wood however.

The great thing about both engineered and laminate flooring is that they can be installed over a concrete subfloor. The plywood or fiberboard substrate means that you can install them as a "floating" floor or glue laminates right over the concrete. This offers a significant savings over solid wood.

If you need more info before you decide which flooring is best for you, learn how easy it is to clean-laminate-floors before you buy.