Get the High-End Look Without the Associated Costs by Choosing Wide-Plank Laminate Flooring
Wide-plank flooring continues to be one of the most popular styles of wood floor available today. With planks two or three times wider than most traditional hardwood styles, a wide-planked floor will have much fewer visible seams. This creates an illusion that makes rooms look larger and gives an overall high-end look to your home. Wide-plank laminate flooring offered by Empire Today® achieves these same style goals while mitigating some of the downsides that come along with traditional wide wood planks.
What is Wide-Plank Laminate Flooring, and What are Some of its Benefits?
In general, anything wider than 4 inches can be considered “wide-plank,” though Empire® carries laminate wood flooring in planks nearly twice that width. Wide laminate planks tend to also be longer than their narrow counterparts, to help maintain a length-to-width ratio that is aesthetically pleasing.
The elegant, airy look of wide, real wood planks is highly sought after, but like many popular design schemes, it can come with a price. On the whole, a wide-plank hardwood floor will most likely cost more than the same floor finished in narrow planks, even with the same wood species. This is due to the higher cost associated with manufacturing the wide planks, which usually need to be sourced from larger, older trees. Choosing wide-plank laminate flooring is a great way to cut down on the cost of materials since laminate floor planks are not made from solid pieces of lumber.
Wide planks of real wood can also be visually hit-or-miss, because it’s harder to avoid knots, burls, and other wood defects with such a large continuous surface. This is another area where wide-plank laminate flooring beats its real-wood counterpart. Because the wood grain is a photo-realistic printed image, manufacturers can create visually stunning planks that are free from the imperfections common in real wood.
