4 Choices for Wood or Faux Wood Flooring

SAN LEANDRO — When choosing wood flooring, today’s consumers have three options: completely natural, partially natural or fully synthetic. Here are some popular choices:

Solid hardwood
Traditional, solid hardwood flooring is an unfinished product that’s installed with nails. In addition to its authentic old-world quality, solid hardwood gives homeowners complete onsite control of aspects such as color, finish and design. However, as a natural product, it’s highly susceptible to moisture, which can restrict its application. Solid hardwood also requires ongoing maintenance, including periodic refinishing.

Engineered hardwood
Engineered hardwood flooring combines authentic hardwood, plywood, and high-density fiberboard to create a resilient flooring material that’s easier to install and maintain than a completely natural product.

Laminate
Laminate flooring is an engineered product that’s often designed to resemble authentic wood. Composed of tightly fused high-density fiberboard layers, laminate flooring is easy to install, moisture-resistant, scratch-resistant and low-maintenance, making it a practical choice for rental properties or households with small children and pets.

Luxury vinyl tile (LVT)
Like laminate, LVT is often designed to imitate the look of natural hardwood, but instead of condensed fiberboard, it’s composed of thick vinyl tiles that click together. Besides being low-maintenance and scratch-resistant, LVT is unique among both natural and faux wood flooring products in that it’s 100 percent waterproof.