Vinyl flooring and laminate flooring offer many of the same advantages: durability, good looks and economy. From a distance, both types of flooring even look similar.

Neither type of flooring is better than the other across all categories. Vinyl flooring is best in high-moisture areas and it’s easy to keep clean. Yet laminate flooring offers a wider variety of style choices and has a higher resale value.

What Is Vinyl Flooring?

Standard vinyl flooring usually consists of four layers of materials. The first, or bottom, layer of these is the backing layer, generally made of cork or foam. It is designed to serve as the underlayment for the vinyl flooring so that you do not have to install another material prior to laying down the vinyl flooring. Additionally, it functions as a cushion to make walking on the floor more comfortable and a sound barrier to keep noise at bay.Vinyl flooring is made from 100 percent plastic. This composition gives it superior resistance to moisture. When water sits on vinyl floors, even for extended periods of time, it won’t damage the surface. Vinyl’s water resistance makes it an excellent choice for rooms that are prone to moisture. For example, kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and basements.

What Is Laminate Flooring?

Unlike natural flooring options like wood, stone or cork, laminate flooring is a synthetic material. It’s made up of four different layers—wear, décor, core and backer—that are sealed together in the lamination process. It is intentionally designed to be durable as well as affordable. Because of the décor layer (a printed image), it can recreate the look of more expensive flooring types like wood, tile or stone. Laminate is a budget-friendly flooring type, laminate does not perform well when it comes to moisture. Some types of laminate have water-resistant properties, but these flooring options are not waterproof and will become seriously damaged if water sits on them for an extended period of time.

Recommended Installation Areas

	Laminate Floor	Vinyl Floor
Bathroom, Full or Partial	No	Yes
Powder Room	Maybe	Yes
Kitchen	Maybe	Yes
Dining Room	Yes	Yes
Living Room	Yes	Yes
Bedroom	Yes	Yes
Home Office	Yes	Yes
Mudroom	No	Yes

Appearance and Comfort

•  Vinyl Flooring

Higher quality vinyl plank and tile flooring uses an image or photo layer under the hard, clear wear layer. This image is usually of a wood species (for example, oak, maple or hickory) or, less commonly, stone. Not all vinyl flooring has this realistic look, though. Older and lower-priced sheet and tile vinyl flooring is printed with a rotogravure process (like a cylindrical printing press) and topped with a clear wear layer.

•  Laminate Flooring

All laminate floors use a high-definition photographic layer below the transparent wear layer to create the look of real wood or stone.Laminate flooring’s standout feature is its appearance. Nearly every color, species and variety of natural wood and stone flooring can be found in laminate flooring: Hand-scraped, rustic, reclaimed wood, multi-tonal, natural finish, whitewashed, multi-length and much more.

PROS AND CONS

– LAMINATE

Pros: 

• Realistic wood and stone look. 
• Wide range of textures available. 
• Scratch-resistant.
• Low maintenance.
• Comfortable to stand on for long periods.
• Suits most room designs.

Cons: 

• Less water resistance compared to vinyl.
• Not recommended for full bathrooms or basements.
• Loud when walked on.
• Last less than Vinyl.

– VINYL

Pros: 

• Realistic wood and stone look.
• Easy to maintain. 
• Resilient, waterproof options are available.
• Scratch resistant.
• Products look more realistic than the plastic look of years past. 
• Ideal for moistures risks area.
• Best option for kids and pets.
• Can last twice as long as laminate.

Cons: 

• low-quality planks scratch and dent easily.
• Usually more expensive than laminate.

Final Considerations

Considering the resistance and durability of vinyl floors, mostly of people choose for vinyl options looking for a long time of durability in one trustable material, however the laminate floor can provide you a wood look with low invest but it can not provide you a warranty against moisture and waters accidents. So, if you are looking for resistant and waterproof materials with long lifetime, the vinyl floor is your best choice.