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Flooring: Fake Beats Real
 August
2006
‘WOOD’ THAT CAN TAKE IT Armstrong’s high-scoring
Nature’s Gallery American Duet is among the plastic laminates
that beat the real thing in our abuse tests.More and more genuine
hardwood flooring is hitting stores with a hand-scraped, worn finish
that looks as if it spent years in a rustic country kitchen. But
for real-world kitchen scrapes, scuffs, and dents, the fake stuff
wins.
We accelerated the effects of foot traffic, dragged-in pebbles,
dropped plates, splattered juice, and sunlight to see how well more
than 30 varieties of flooring stood up to daily abuse. The best
vinyl, linoleum, and laminates typically lasted twice as long as
solid-wood flooring before their surface began showing wear.
Plastic laminates like those from market leaders Pergo and Shaw
are the fastest-growing alternatives to wood. Essentially dense
fiberboard with a photo of the real material beneath a clear protective
layer, it can mimic nearly anything from oak to marble. Easy click-and-lay-it
installation, called floating, is also a plus for those who want
to sidestep the strip-by-strip nailing needed for solid wood.
A downside to plastic laminate: Some can have a repetitive pattern.
Worn flooring can’t be sanded and refinished like solid wood,
and replacing a damaged section is hard since it can’t be
nailed to the subfloor. But as with wood, choosing a matte finish
for laminates can help hide minor damage.
We also tested engineered-wood flooring, a growing solid-wood alternative
that uses a wood veneer over plywood and can often float like plastic
laminate. Many exotic woods come only in this type. But you’re
likely to prefer the solid stuff if you insist on real wood. Months
of testing also show that some premium vinyl isn’t premium
in performance, and some “greener” flooring options
can change color prematurely.
Engineered wood wore quickly. Engineered wood began showing wear
far sooner than solid wood in our abrasion test. While you can sand
and refinish a solid-wood floor several times, engineered wood can
often be refinished just once before its wood veneer is gone. What’s
more, small spills can damage it.
Bamboo can change on you. Bamboo reaches harvesting age faster
than wood and is considered more renewable. But it could be a problem
with lots of natural light. Two, the Mannington Statements and Anderson
Pacific Hemispheres, quickly darkened in our UV tests. Experts say
color change can be a problem with other exotics, plus walnut and
cherry.
Linoleum varied widely. Often confused with vinyl, which is plastic,
linoleum is mostly linseed oil and wood products. Two brands we
tested were best at handling dents and sunlight. But one was vulnerable
to scratches, the other to wear.
Some premium vinyl can’t take it. Premium vinyl is designed
to more closely match stone, tile and grout, and even oak. The best
also resisted wear and scratches better than standard vinyl, though
two high-priced models scored among the lowest for scratches and
stains.
HOW TO CHOOSE
More than half of home buyers consider hardwood floors important.
But you may not care if you aren’t selling and you value toughness
and easy installation.
See Types to decide which flooring works best for you. Then see
our Ratings and CR Quick Recommendations for top performers in each
category. Here are some other tips:
For solid wood, consider the finish. More and more is factory-finished
like the kind we tested. Unfinished wood costs roughly 40 percent
less, according to RSMeans, a leading construction-data firm. But
installation can offset that savings, since the floor must be sanded
and finished over several days to seal it from moisture. Prefinished
floors should hold up better than site-finished floors in wear resistance,
and their warranty comes from the manufacturer, not the installer.
On the downside, the beveled board edges on many examples may not
be for everyone.
For vinyl, look for easy installation. Most vinyl flooring comes
in sheets. Vinyl tiles, such as the top-scoring Congoleum DuraStone
and NAFCO Better Living flooring, and planks like those from Mannington
Adura, are easier to handle but can take longer to install.
Consider spills. Vinyl proved tops in our moisture tests, with
linoleum, plastic laminate, and solid wood nearly as good. But engineered-wood
products we tested from Lauzon, Bruce, Armstrong, and Tarkett buckled,
warped, or separated after 24 hours, even with little moisture.
Look for safety. Nearly all flooring was judged good or better
in slip-resistance both dry and wet. Two exceptions were the
solid-wood Anderson Pacific Cumberland and plastic-laminate TrafficMaster
by Shaw (a Home Depot exclusive), which scored only fair.
(This article was also published in Consumer Reports magazine.)
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/home-improvement/flooring-8-06/overview/0608_flooring_ov.htm
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