Q: Which flooring would hold up the best in heavy traffic areas? I was leaning towards wood, but heard laminate was good. Please give me advice.
Thank you,
Mary
A: This will be massively dependent on the quality level of the floors you are comparing. Generally speaking, most laminate will hold up better to higher traffic than most hardwood floors, but again this is highly dependent on the floors you are comparing.
Many of the cheap laminates out there are just that, cheap. If you want your best bet for holding up to traffic, looks into a laminate floor which is at least AC3, though AC4 and AC5 laminate is preferred. These laminate floors are built to deal with light levels of commercial traffic or moderate to heavy levels of residential traffic. AC5 laminate is meant for moderate and high levels of commercial traffic and if maintained well and cleaned regularly, these floors can stand the test of time very well.
Traditional wood flooring can take a bit of damage, but over time they typically will need to be refinished a few times in high traffic areas, which means an additional cost every few years. Some places refinish their floors every 2-3 years to ensure they remain in tip-top shape.
In the end here, I would suggest looking into a high-grade laminate such as Quick Step Perspective or Eligna, Westhollow South Pacific or 12mm Handscraped, True Flooring’s commercial collection or similar laminate floors.
