6 Best Laminate Flooring Options for Homes: Types, Pros, and Cons (2023)

If you’re looking to install new floors, but have found that hardwood flooring is outside your budget, then laminate flooring may be a great option. This material mimics the appearance of wood flooring while providing great durability and scratch resistance.

Laminate flooring is increasingly popular for residential use, even in high-traffic areas like living rooms and dining rooms. Many top flooring providers offer all-inclusive installation of these products with comprehensive warranties. Read on to learn more about the benefits of installing laminate planks or flooring during your next remodel.

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Best Laminate Flooring

Here are our picks for the best laminate flooring products. Each will have its pluses and minuses and will be differently suited to homeowner needs and style preferences.

Dream Home XD Laminate: Best for Noise Reduction

Dream Home XD Laminate is one of the most readily available, high-quality, and affordable laminate flooring options on the market. This line within LL Flooring’s Dream Home collection comes in varied shades of oak and hickory, with many including an attached padded underlayment. This flooring line’s noise-reduction qualities make it a popular choice for those with larger families.

Where To Buy Dream Home XD Laminate

You can purchase Dream Home XD laminate flooring through LL Flooring. As with all purchases through this retailer, you can request a full-service installation along with your premium laminate planks.

Cost

This flooring costs between $1.50 and $2.50 per square foot. Your exact pricing figures will depend on the thickness and whether you opt for the 50-year warranty.

Empire Laminate Flooring: Best for Quick Installation

Empire is one of the leading names in the flooring industry and produces a line of laminate flooring to match. These laminate options come with a high-density fiberboard core, photorealistic wood grain or real wood image, and a sturdy melamine wear layer. You’ll be able to purchase various options, including waterproof laminate flooring.

Where To Buy Empire Laminate Flooring

Empire Flooring’s transparent pricing for all-inclusive installation makes it a top choice for homeowners in 29 states. Contact them to set up a flooring consultation today.

Cost

Empire’s pricing is difficult to pin down as it varies by location. All pricing estimates are all-inclusive, but you must schedule an in-person consultation for a realistic cost analysis.

Shaw Premier Laminate From Floor Coverings International: Best for High-Traffic Areas

Shaw laminates come in a wide range of textures, widths, and thicknesses to suit residential and commercial flooring needs. Though Shaw’s laminate products do not have a defined AC rating, all reviews point to them being incredibly durable and long-lasting. As a bonus, Shaw’s Premier line of laminate is rated to withstand contact with water for up to a full day before cleaning.

Most other laminate lines do not offer this margin for error when dealing with water or moisture.

Where To Buy Shaw Premiere Laminate

Shaw laminate flooring is available through Floor Coverings International.

Cost

Shaw laminates cost between $4 and $7.50 per square foot without installation and labor. Luckily, when you purchase from Floor Coverings International, you’ll have access to this retailer’s price-matching program.

Pergo Outlast Plus From The Home Depot: Best for DIY Installation

Pergo is a founding name in the laminate flooring industry, and its Outlast Plus line of flooring is one of its top products. These water-resistant laminate products offer easy installation and come with a pre-attached underlayment to provide added protection and noise reduction.

Reviews show that this product is one of the leading options for those on a budget. However, customers looking to buy Pergo Outlast Plus should note that an expansion gap should be left along the molding to account for temperature fluctuations after installation.

Where To Buy Pergo Outlast Plus

Pergo laminate is available from any Home Depot location across the country. Its prevalence makes it a favorite among DIY home renovators.

Cost

Pergo Outlast Plus flooring costs between $2 and $4 per square foot. Depending on your contractor, associated labor to install it will cost anywhere from $4 to $5 extra per square foot.

Mohawk RevWood Laminate Flooring: Most Available Style Options

Mohawk’s RevWood line is among the best water-resistant, realistic laminate flooring options. It carries an AC rating that makes it perfect for heavy residential foot traffic, is rated for intermediate moisture exposure, and comes in 35 different colors and textures. Whether you install this yourself or hire a contractor, this advanced line of products will provide full protection for years to come.

Where To Buy Mohawk RevWood Laminate

Mohawk flooring products can be purchased at big box retailers, including The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and many other locally owned flooring warehouses across the country.

Cost

Mohawk RevWood is fairly affordable, between $2.50 and $3.75 per square foot.

Mannington Coordinations Laminate: Most Water-Resistant

Mannington’s entire line of laminate flooring products is constructed with environmental responsibility in mind. All laminates are FloorScore certified and are made with recycled wood within their rigid cores. The Coordinations collection utilizes a NatureForm film to emulate real woods, while water resistance is ensured via its SpillShield top layer.

Where To Buy Mannington Coordinations Laminate

Mannington laminate flooring products are available at many home improvement stores and local flooring outlets around the country. Consult the store locator page on Mannington’s website.

Cost

Between $2.75 and $3.75 per square foot. Installation for Mannington costs between $1 and $3 per square foot.

Types of Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring comes in two basic types: fully synthetic and engineered wood. We’ve outlined the differences between the two here.

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood laminate planks are made from several layers, including high-density fiberboard or unfinished wood products. These layers are pressed together and secured via adhesive, with a finished real wood wear layer on top. This type of flooring mimics the look of natural wood in appearance and feel. Unlike other partially synthetic flooring materials, it can be refinished to regain its factory look.

Plastic/Synthetic

Plastic laminate flooring is ideal for high foot traffic. Due to its harder, more durable construction, it is far more resistant to dents and scratches and can maintain its original factory appearance for longer than its real wood counterparts. Its cost-effectiveness has made it a popular choice for commercial use. Moreover, laminate products have improved in quality and appearance over the years and are far less distinguishable from real wood than they once were.

Types of Laminate Flooring Installation

Apart from its actual appearance, laminate flooring will vary by installation type. This may influence whether you opt for professional or do-it-yourself (DIY) installation, which is worth paying attention to.

Glueless

Glueless laminate planks often come with a locking system on the outer edges of each plank. This type of laminate will often require professional installation for optimal appearance and performance.

Pre-Glued

Some laminate flooring will come with pre-glued peel-and-stick backing. This is similar to certain varieties of vinyl plank flooring and makes DIY work far more accessible. Most flooring manufacturers offer this along with click-locking laminate options.

Factors To Consider When Buying Laminate Flooring

Before deciding on a high-quality laminate flooring option, you should consider the following relevant factors.

Coating

The thickness of your laminate flooring’s wear layer should be taken into account. The thicker and more durable your wear layer, the longer you can expect your flooring to last and stand up to daily wear and tear.

Cost

Full-scale laminate flooring installation will cost more than simply purchasing laminate flooring planks from a retailer. Getting free estimates or quotes from a flooring pro and comparing these figures to the per-room or per-square-foot cost of flooring materials will help you to decide which route to take.

Plastic or synthetic laminate flooring installation costs between $5 and $6 per square foot for plastic, with labor included. Without labor, you can find quality laminates for $2 to $4 per square foot in most cases. Engineered wood laminate flooring installation costs (materials and labor) range from $3 to $9 per square foot.

In comparison, hardwood flooring often costs between $16 and $23 per square foot to install, or $4 to $10 per square foot without labor. You could save a lot of money in the short term by going with laminate flooring. This is especially true if your project requires new flooring for your entire home.

Installation Type

If your goal is a hassle-free, easy installation, this can affect the laminate flooring you purchase. Click-and-lock laminate is typically best reserved for professional installation, while pre-glued laminate is often more suited for DIY installation.

Pattern and Texture

Your floors will play a huge role in the overall look of your home. Most laminate flooring brands will offer outwardly similar lines of products that are made to mimic real hardwoods, including walnut, hickory, pine, oak, and more.

Additionally, laminate flooring comes with different surface textures, including planking with embossing, hand-scraped varieties, and more.

Resale Value

While going with hardwood flooring is a better way to up your resale value, installing high-quality laminate flooring can give homeowners a decent return on their investment. Laminate floors mimic the appearance of hardwood and, if maintained well, can last for decades.

Warranty

All flooring manufacturers will offer a warranty with their products. This will differ from retailer to retailer and will often be split into labor and material warranties. Labor warranties will often be shorter, ranging between two and five years.

Pros and Cons of Laminate Flooring

All flooring types will have positive and negative characteristics. Laminate is generally considered the leading budget-friendly alternative to hardwood and can last anywhere from 10 to 30 years, depending on maintenance, regular cleaning, and quality.

Tips for Installing Laminate Flooring

If you’re conducting a DIY installation for your new flooring, we’ve listed a few tips to keep in mind when you begin.

Sand and Level Your Subfloor

This should be your first step in any flooring installation project. Once your old flooring has been torn up and disposed of, you’ll need to ensure the quality and stability of your subfloor. Most laminate flooring is fairly rigid, which means that a non-level subfloor will have pronounced effects on your finished floors once the installation is complete. Sand down any bumps or ridges, and fill in dips with wood putty. If there is any rot or decay in the planking, you should replace the faulty sections of the subfloor before you begin.

Start on Difficult Areas

We recommend starting your flooring installation on whichever wall has the most variances or doorways. Beginning on a difficult wall and making precise cuts into full-sized planks is far easier in the long run and will add stability to the row of planking that lines this end of the room in question.

Use a Tapping Block

Many click-and-lock laminate flooring planks will require some force. Using a tapping block and a scrap piece of laminate flooring to cushion the blows from your mallet will prevent any damage to your laminate planks during installation.

Use Transition Strips

Transition strips are a great tool that DIYers should utilize when installing laminate flooring in multiple rooms. Transition strips are placed under doors and are meant to conceal laminate plank edges from multiple rooms, allowing you to treat each area as its own project.

Wear Knee Protection

Even if you’re not used to manual labor, working for hours while stooped over on your floor will take a toll on your body. Your lower back and knees are sure to feel the effects first. You can mitigate this by wearing knee pads throughout the installation process.

A professional two-person team can expect to install between 750 and 1,000 square feet of laminate daily. If you’re working on your own, don’t plan to be able to install more than 300 square feet per day.

Be Wary of Heavy Furniture

Laminate flooring will expand and contract over time due to fluctuations in temperature or humidity. This natural process can be inhibited by overly heavy furniture. Pool tables, large cabinets, bulky solid wood furniture, and similar items can pin laminate planks in place and lead to your flooring buckling over time.

Final Thoughts: Best Laminate Flooring

If you’re in the market for new flooring, and have an intermediate budget, then laminate flooring may be the right choice. Many of the options we’ve listed are more affordable than hardwood but will still mimic its high-quality appearance exceedingly well.

Additionally, many laminate flooring options have longer lifespans—between 20 and 30 years—and competitive manufacturer warranties to ensure the performance of your floors for years to come. While it may not be as water or scratch-resistant as many vinyl flooring options, the laminate products we’ve listed are still great options for aesthetics and longevity.