What is the cheapest alternative to hardwood flooring?
Laminate is the cheapest thing that looks like wood, followed by luxury vinyl. But the comparison people usually have in their head — cheap fake wood versus expensive real wood — is out of date. Engineered oak in our range starts at £25.99 per m² excluding VAT, which overlaps with mid-range laminate and undercuts premium vinyl. Before settling for an imitation, it is worth checking what the real thing actually costs for your room.
The honest summary: laminate wins on price alone, engineered wood wins on everything else and often costs less than expected, and solid hardwood is the expensive option that only makes sense on a suitable subfloor.
Hardwood flooring is without a doubt the most beautiful, strong and timeless type of wood flooring. It can add a unique elegance to any home design. However, they don’t work for all circumstances and budgets. Many find it difficult to maintain hardwood flooring and the hefty price tag seems inevitable. Luckily, there are numerous low-cost alternatives to hardwood flooring in UK. May be someday you would love to have hardwood floors but it’s not a practical choice. Especially when you have children, cats or dogs at home.
Here, we have put together a list of top low-cost alternative to hardwood flooring. Some of them will solve your issues and concerns that arise with hardwood floors like moisture, scratches, dent, budget and maintenance.
However, if you are set on buying Solid hardwood Flooring, we support you wholeheartedly. But if you are looking for cheap and strong hardwood floor alternatives, we have got some amazing options for you. Read on to find out more!
Top Low-Cost Alternative to Hardwood Flooring:
1. Engineered Wood Flooring:
Engineered wood flooring look very similar to hardwood flooring on the surface. It’s made from a thin layer hardwood on top, bonded with high quality plywood as base layer. Engineered wood flooring is cheaper than hardwood flooring but provides the same benefits. The top layer of engineered wood floors can sometimes be refinished or sanded down whenever you find it necessary. They are available in numerous designs and can be easily installed in any room. Generally, these wood floors can be laid down over an underlay without attachment to sub floor.
Shop for Engineered Wood Flooring.
2. Laminate Flooring:
Laminate flooring is a multi-layer synthetic flooring designed to imitate the appearance of real wood. The top layer has an imprinted textured image and the core layer is primarily made of melamine resin and fiber board material.
However, laminate floors have a lot to offer and can be a suitable alternative to hardwood flooring for your home. These days, advances in printing have made laminate flooring virtually indistinguishable from other types of flooring it’s made to imitate. There numerous reasons to choose laminate floors and one of it is being extremely adorable than solid hardwood floors.
Shop for Laminate Flooring.
3. Wood Look Tiles:
Wood look tiles have been around for a vey long time and can be a low-cost alternative to hardwood floors if you want something waterproof. They are available in a variety of shades textures and styles. Many homeowners install them in areas like kitchen, bathroom, basement as well as entryways. They are most popular in warm areas as it can keep the space cooler on hotter days. But, in cooler climates, they can be cold on your feet. So, it’s suggested to use rugs to keep warm foot during cold days.
4. Clearance and end-of-line wood:
The cheapest way to a real wood floor is usually not a substitute for wood at all — it is wood that is being cleared. Discontinued colours and surplus batches are the same boards, to the same specification, at a lower price; the only catch is that the quantity is fixed and cannot be repeated.
Measure the room before you look, and add about ten per cent for cutting. Clearance works when the quantity on the shelf covers the room with that margin; it does not work when you need to come back in a year for a matching board, because there will not be one.
Our clearance shelf is small and changes often, so it is worth asking what is on it rather than waiting for it to appear online.
See the clearance floors currently in stock.
By now, we hope these 4 top low-cost alternatives to hardwood flooring has helped you to make the right decision. But, if you are still considering more options, then end your research by getting in touch with the flooring experts at Wood4Floors, They will be more than happy to help you. Contact us now!
Like us on Facebook & Follow us on Instagram for all exclusive updates.
| Laminate | Luxury vinyl | Engineered wood | Solid hardwood | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Printed photo of wood over fibreboard | Printed vinyl over a plastic core | Real wood wear layer on a plywood core | One piece of timber throughout |
| Typical cost per m² | Lowest | Low to middle | From £25.99 in our range | Highest |
| Can it be sanded | No — when it wears, it is replaced | No | Yes, two to four times depending on wear layer | Many times |
| Water | Swells at the joints and is then ruined | Best of the four | Tolerates spills wiped up promptly | Least tolerant of the woods |
| Underfloor heating | Usually yes | Yes | Yes — the best wood option | Generally not |
| Underfoot | Sounds hollow and feels hard | Quiet, slightly soft | Feels and sounds like wood | The real thing |
| Lifespan | 10–15 years, then replaced | 15–20 years | 30 years or more with refinishing | A lifetime |
Where the Real Saving Is
A cheap floor that is replaced twice is not a saving. Over twenty years, a laminate floor fitted three times costs more than one engineered floor sanded twice, and the fitting labour is paid three times rather than once. That is the calculation worth doing before choosing on the headline price per square metre.
If the budget genuinely will not stretch, the two moves that save real money on a wood floor are choosing a rustic grade rather than a prime one — the same wood, sorted differently, at a lower price — and buying from clearance stock, where there are currently 11 floors from £22.00 per m².
What Real Wood Costs Here
Our range runs to 130 engineered wood floors, of which 83 are priced online between £22.00 and £117.75 per m² excluding VAT, median £47.99. Herringbone starts at the same £25.99, and we also stock solid wood.
We do not sell laminate or vinyl, so treat the comparison above as coming from someone with an interest — and check it against a laminate supplier before deciding. What we can do is give you a real figure for your rooms: send the measurements and we will price it, or order three free samples and see what the real thing looks like next to the alternative.