Tattoos, Time & Flooring: Hardwood Flooring vs. Vinyl Flooring—Which Ages Better?

The trouble with a good idea is that too many people will like it and attempt to recreate it. This is especially true with personal forms of expression like tattoos. If it's too good, and people see it, you run the risk of starting a trend. Once too many people get the tattoo, then the public gets sick of it, and no one cares that you were the first one with barbed wire around your upper arm.

Selecting flooring for your house is a similar commitment. It's going to be there a long time, so you want it to age gracefully. A big trend in flooring in the mid-2010's was a white oak floor with a grey stain. White oak isn't cheap, and staining it grey made it even more expensive. The problem is that manufacturers based in China, India and Vietnam started mass producing a vinyl version at a significantly cheaper price point. I get it; flooring is the last thing that goes into your house in any new construction or renovation. Every project goes over budget, so it's appealing to pay less for a floor that looks similar to something popular. 

It's gotten to the point where every renovated hotel or building has a cheap looking vinyl floor that's made to look like real wood. I have an extremely biased opinion, but to me it's like going to a restaurant and getting food served on a Styrofoam plate made to look like a high-end dish. Like Styrofoam, vinyl flooring is extremely bad for the environment. Vinyl flooring is a plastic product that will end up a landfill. The clothing industry is having a similar issue with 'Fast Fashion' practices that produce cheap and trendy cloths that are not meant to last. They don't end up in a vintage store. They end up in a dumpster. 

In the hardwood lumber industry, we're constantly thinking about the future. Holt & Bugbee has been around for 201 years, and there are several companies in our industry that have been around for over 100 years.  The average hardwood tree takes about 90 years to reach full maturity. Vinyl flooring will last 15-25 years max while hardwood flooring will last 75-100 years and can be refinished multiple times to look brand new. There's even a whole 'reclaimed' market for old wood, so the floor usually lasts longer than the house. Wood is also biodegradable, so it won't sit in the dump for hundreds of years.

One of the most thrilling things that can happen when you purchase and renovate a new house is ripping out a dated old carpet and finding the original hardwood floor underneath. A natural American hardwood floor is always the best option. It's also a safe investment because it's proven to stand the test of time. Unlike that butterfly that you had tattooed on your lower back when visiting the Jersey Shore in 2004.

Key words: hardwood flooring vs. vinyl flooring