Vinyl vs laminate

Choosing flooring for your home can be tricky, especially when you’re trying to decide between similar types like vinyl and laminate. At Tapi, we want to help make one decision a little easier by giving you all the information you could need on vinyl and laminate flooring.

This guide to vinyl and laminate will explain their practical and aesthetic qualities. We’ll also be looking at which one is cheaper, and which rooms are best suited to laminate or vinyl. Finally, we’ll sum up the differences to help you decide whether you should choose laminate or vinyl.

In this guide:

Vinyl vs laminate: everything you need to know
About vinyl flooring
About laminate flooring
Which is cheaper: laminate or vinyl?
When to choose vinyl vs laminate flooring

Vinyl vs laminate: everything you need to know

There are two types of vinyl: sheet vinyl and luxury vinyl tiles. Both types are made similarly but laid differently. We’ll be focusing on sheet vinyl that comes on a roll, so read our LVT vs laminate guide if you want to compare luxury vinyl instead. You can find out more about how vinyl flooring is made and the breakdown of its composition in our guide, ‘What is vinyl flooring?'

Alternatively, our guide on what laminate flooring is can help you find out more about how laminate is made and its different benefits.

Whether you want to completely overhaul the kitchen or spruce up the bathroom, these two common flooring options sometimes get confused with one another – but we’re here to give you the full breakdown and show you how they measure up!

About vinyl

Sheet vinyl flooring is a practical, durable, and stylish addition to any room in your house. It’s made from different layers of synthetic materials including a wear layer to make it extremely hardwearing, and a protective topcoat that gives it water resistance and scuff proof qualities.

Pros

Like vinyl, laminate is also easy to maintain, just requiring consistent dusting, vacuuming, and the occasional light cleaning with a barely damp mop.
If laminate flooring is only lightly scratched or marked, it can be fixed by using colour-matched repair kits. Additionally, once the protective coating gets worn out, or if it suffers any sort of damage, laminate planks can get replaced individually, providing you’re able to get some extras.
Laminate is effective at mimicking real wood and can last as long as 30+ years. Quick-Step laminate flooring even comes with a manufacturer's lifetime wear guarantee.
With its simple click installation, laminate is quick and easy to fit – even if you’re a novice at DIY.
Laminate is made from FSC certified wood so it’s an eco-friendly flooring option.

Cons

Sheet vinyl can be harder to replace when damaged, as if one area is compromised it can affect the whole sheet.
Vinyl flooring will expand and contract with temperature changes so expansion gaps are required for a floating floor, especially in rooms with bigger windows.

Order free vinyl samples

About laminate

Laminate flooring is made of multiple layers, including a thick wood-based core of high-density fibreboard, which helps to give the individual planks their impressive strength. It has a printed wood-effect design layer covered by a clear protective top coat.

Pros

Like vinyl, laminate is also easy to maintain, just requiring consistent dusting, vacuuming, and the occasional light cleaning with a barely damp mop.
If laminate flooring is only lightly scratched or marked, it can be fixed by using colour-matched repair kits. Additionally, once the protective coating gets worn out, or if it suffers any sort of damage, laminate planks can get replaced individually, providing you’re able to get some extras.
Laminate is effective at mimicking real wood and can last as long as 30+ years. Quick-Step laminate flooring even comes with a manufacturer's lifetime wear guarantee.
With its simple click installation, laminate is quick and easy to fit – even if you’re a novice at DIY.
Laminate is made from FSC certified wood so it’s an eco-friendly flooring option.

Cons

Most laminate flooring is not water resistant. If water penetrates the protective top layer, it’s likely to damage the wood-based core, causing the layers to separate and the planks to lift. This is why, when cleaning, it’s really important to wring your mop out thoroughly.
Laminate can cope with temperature changes but because it’s a floating, wood-based floor, expansion gaps still need to be left along the edge of the room. This is especially important for conservatories or rooms with large windows as the temperature can fluctuate more in these spaces.

Order free laminate samples

Which is cheaper: laminate or vinyl?

If cost is the deciding factor for you when it comes to choosing between laminate or vinyl, then you’ll want to know which flooring is within budget. Both laminate and vinyl are great, cost-effective methods of getting the look and feel of stone or wood in your home without having to shell out for the real deal.

The cheapest laminate currently on offer at Tapi is £12.99 per m2, and the cheapest vinyl is £19.99 per m2. There will also be additional accessories needed, such as edging strips, threshold transition strips, and scotia when fitting most flooring types, and you’ll need underlay for your laminate flooring, so it’s worth bearing in mind that these are not the final costs.

Based on a 3m x 4m room, and excluding fitting and accessory costs, our cheapest laminate flooring would cost roughly £155 while the cheapest vinyl option would cost approximately £240. To get a better idea of what you can get for your budget, there's a handy flooring cost calculator on all our product pages that can estimate how much your floor will cost (excluding fitting).

Laminate and vinyl are fitted in different ways. Installing laminate works using the click-and-lock system – separate boards with unique grooves slot together and click in place, locking the entire flooring piece together as one. Sheet vinyl comes on a roll that you lay in one large sheet so you need to cut very carefully before installing!

We’d always recommend you let us arrange fitting with one of the independent fitters we use, although you can also find out how to install vinyl flooring with our guide.

When to choose vinyl vs laminate flooring

Still unsure which flooring is best for your home? Check out our comparison of vinyl vs laminate below. Of course, if you still can’t decide, come and see us in store or book a free home visit for our expert advice.

	Vinyl	Laminate
Price	£10 - £30 per m²	£10 - £60 per m²
Durability	Resilient, long-lasting and water resistant, with a protective wear and tear layer	Lasts around 10-25 years – very hardy with a scratch resistant protective layer
Maintenance	Easy to clean with a broom and damp mop	Easy to clean with a broom and lightly damp mop; hypoallergenic topcoat
Installation	Professional fitting recommended but can also be DIYed	Click fit - DIY friendly
Look	Patterned or plain designs that imitate wood, tile, marble, and stone	Wood-effect - the high-quality photographic layer has a uniform repeating pattern
Sustainability	Long lifespan, low VOC (volatile organic compound) and largely recyclable	Uses wood from sustainably managed forests where a new tree is planted for every tree cut down

Choose vinyl flooring if:

You’re concerned about water or humidity in the room you’re decorating (vinyl is always a wise choice for bathrooms as it’s water resistant!)
You like a softer, slightly cushioned feeling underfoot, or want to reduce the sound of your footsteps without opting for carpet
You want heavy-duty flooring for high-traffic areas of the home
You want to imitate stone or tile flooring without the expense or upkeep
You’re looking for flooring in a wide range of colours and patterns

Choose laminate flooring if:

You want a sustainable option for eco-friendly flooring. The wood used for our laminate floors is responsibly sourced by our manufacturers and can be recycled
You like the smooth, sturdy look and feel of hardwood floors – but not the cost of the real thing
You want flooring that’s more resistant to temperature changes
You want lasting floors for frequently used spaces
You want low maintenance flooring that’s easy to clean
You want flooring that is much cheaper to buy and fit (and easier to fit too!) than real wood
You want the reassurance of flooring with a hygienic anti-bacterial topcoat

Quick Step Capture Natural Varnished Oak

£44.99 m²

Kefe - Colonial Oak

£25.99 m²

Quick Step Impressive Classic Oak Beige

Still unsure whether laminate or vinyl is right for you? Have a read of our vinyl vs carpet guide to see comparisons to other flooring options that we have to offer.

We’re also happy to book a free home visit for you today to talk it through. Or if you’ve made up your mind and are ready to choose either vinyl or laminate flooring, visit your local Tapi store for a look at all the incredible samples that we have.

Prices checked at last update.