Hardwood, laminate or LVT? It’s the question we get asked more than any other.
We fit all three, week in, week out, across Edinburgh and the Lothians. We’re not a showroom pushing one product, so we’ve got no reason to steer you towards any particular box.
What we do have is years of seeing how each floor performs in real homes. Busy family kitchens, top-floor tenement flats, new builds and everything in between.
Here’s the honest comparison — the same one we give customers standing in their own hallway.
The three types, in plain English
- Engineered hardwood — real wood. A solid oak top layer bonded to a plywood core. It looks and feels like timber because it is timber. It can be sanded and refinished. The premium option.
- Laminate — a photographic layer of wood grain under a tough wear layer, on a fibreboard core. Not real wood, but modern laminate is very convincing and seriously hard-wearing.
- LVT (luxury vinyl tile) — a fully synthetic plank or tile with a printed wood or stone design. Its big advantage is that it’s 100% waterproof. Click-fit or glued down.
You’ll notice solid hardwood isn’t on the list. In Scotland’s climate, with our central heating and humidity swings, engineered boards are far more stable and suit far more homes — including over underfloor heating, where solid wood shouldn’t go.
When customers say ‘hardwood’, engineered is almost always what we’d recommend.
Engineered hardwood — the real thing
Nothing else looks, sounds or feels like real wood underfoot. And nothing else adds the same value to a property.
A quality engineered board with a decent wear layer can be sanded and refinished once or twice over its life. That means a lifespan measured in decades. Scratches become character in a way they never do on a printed floor, and an oiled finish can be spot-repaired rather than replaced.
There are trade-offs. It’s the most expensive of the three to buy and to fit. It doesn’t love water — spills need wiping up, and we’d think carefully before fitting it in a bathroom. And it needs a little ongoing care: the right cleaner, the occasional re-oil, felt pads under furniture.
Choose engineered hardwood if this is your long-term home, you want the genuine article, and you’re happy to look after it. Living rooms, hallways, bedrooms and dining rooms are where it belongs. If you are comparing boards, here is what to look for in engineered timber.
Laminate — better than its reputation
Laminate still carries a slightly unfair image from the bouncy, plasticky boards of the 1990s. Modern laminate is a different product altogether.
A good AC4-rated board handles claws, toy cars and heels better than most hardwood — and often better than LVT. The wear layer on quality laminate is genuinely one of the most scratch-resistant surfaces you can put on a floor.
The weakness has always been water. Standing moisture can swell the fibreboard core, and once a board swells it can’t be repaired. Today’s water-resistant ranges have improved a lot though, and with sensible habits laminate is fine in most kitchens.
The other honest criticism: it can sound hollow underfoot if it’s fitted cheaply. The fix is proper subfloor preparation and a quality underlay — the kind of detail a good fitter won’t skip.
Choose laminate if you want maximum durability for your money. For rental properties, kids’ bedrooms, home offices and busy family spaces on a budget, it’s often the smart choice.
LVT — the practical all-rounder
LVT’s rise over the last decade comes down to one word: waterproof. Not water-resistant — waterproof.
Spills, pet accidents, an overflowing washing machine — nothing soaks into the core. That’s why it’s become the go-to choice for kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms, and why families with dogs love it. It’s also warmer and quieter underfoot than laminate.
The catch is preparation. LVT is thin, and it will show every lump and hollow in the subfloor through the surface. A proper LVT job in an older Edinburgh property almost always means levelling first — plywood overlay or smoothing compound — and that’s where a chunk of the cost lives.
Skip the prep and even the most expensive LVT will look and wear like a cheap one. It’s also worth knowing that a deep gouge in LVT can’t be sanded out the way hardwood can.
Choose LVT if you want wood looks in wet or hardworking rooms, or one seamless floor running through a kitchen-diner and hallway.
How they compare on the things that matter
- Upfront cost (supplied and fitted): laminate is usually the cheapest, LVT sits in the middle, engineered hardwood is the investment option. Prep costs can narrow the gap.
- Lifespan: engineered hardwood 25+ years, because it can be refinished. Quality laminate and LVT typically 15–25 years — when the wear layer goes, the floor goes.
- Water: LVT wins outright. Laminate and hardwood both need spills dealt with, though modern laminates are far better than they used to be.
- Scratches: quality laminate edges it. Hardwood shows marks but can be repaired. LVT sits close behind laminate.
- Feel and sound: hardwood feels the most solid and quiet. LVT is warm and soft. Laminate depends heavily on underlay and fitting quality.
- Resale value: real wood is the only one estate agents mention in the listing.
The five questions we ask every customer
When we quote, we’re not really asking which floor you like. We’re asking these:
- Which room, and what happens in it? Kitchens and bathrooms point us towards LVT. Living spaces open up all three options.
- How long are you staying? Forever home — buy the floor once, go engineered. Five-year flat — spend smarter.
- Who lives here? Dogs, small children and laminate’s scratch rating get on well. Waterproof LVT forgives puppies.
- What’s under the floor? Uneven Victorian boards change the maths — prep can cost as much as the difference between products.
- Underfloor heating? Then it’s engineered (never solid) or LVT, fitted to the manufacturer’s temperature limits.
Our honest verdict
There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all floor. Every home is different, and every customer has their own preferences on colour, texture, width, finish and style.
If we’re pushed: engineered hardwood for the rooms you’ll love for decades, LVT for the rooms that get wet, and laminate when durability per pound is the priority.
And remember — half the result comes from the product. The other half comes from the preparation and the fitting, whichever you choose.
Our job is to guide you through the options. The final choice should always be yours. After all, you’re the one who’ll be living with it every day.
Still torn?
Send us a photo of the room and tell us how you live. We’ll tell you what we’d fit in our own homes, and give you a free, no-obligation quote.
Call us on 0131 285 6435 or send us a message through the website.
Related questions
See our flooring installation service or get an estimate.
We install floors across Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian.
