LAMINATE OR HARDWOOD? PICK THE RIGHT FLOOR FOR YOUR STYLE AND BUDGET.

Byline: John Morell Correspondent

So your neighbors have installed hardwood floors throughout their house - the kitchen, living room, bathrooms, even the laundry room. Before you suspect they've won the Lotto and haven't told anyone, carefully check those floors.

Unless you have expertise in flooring, however, you may not realize that rather than a traditional hardwood floor, they've installed a laminate - a look-alike feel-alike wood floor that costs significantly less than the true hardwood variety.

Laminate wood floors began showing up underfoot in American homes in the early 1990s. Originally an export from Europe, laminates make up a larger share of flooring sales each year. ``Laminates give you a whole new world in flooring,'' said contractor Jack Johnson of Glendale. ``They let you put 'wood' anywhere you want in the house.''

You may be familiar with the term laminate if you've lived in a house built in the 1950s or '60s, since laminated kitchen and bath counter tops were fairly standard in tract homes built during that era. Made with thin layers of plastic molded over colored paper,the laminated counter was clean and durable, as long as you didn't use it as a cutting surface.

Over the years, manufacturers worked on making their laminates stronger until they developed a surface that could withstand a houseful of Doc Martens and high heels. A transparent polymer resin is used as a topcoat, and once it dries, it creates a rock-hard surface protectant.

Below the protectant, laminates have a highly compressed paper liner with a photographic image of wood. Below the image is fiberboard and another protective coating to guard against rising moisture. ``The greatest feature about wood laminates is that you can get the look of an expensive, exotic floor with lots of intricate inlays for a fraction of the cost of the real thing,'' said Chris Becker of Heritage Hardwood Flooring in Northridge. ``That's why they've grown in popularity.''

The price is nice

Considering that a ```mahogany wood'' laminate can cost around $10 per square foot, while a real mahogany floor can be $65 per square foot or more, its easy to see why the simulated wood is selling so well in the marketplace.

However, real hardwood floor lovers don't see it that way. ``A laminate is simply a product, but a hardwood floor is an addition to your house, it increases its value,'' said Eddie Movassaghi of Home Fix Flooring in Van Nuys. ``They can try to improve the quality of laminates, but nothing feels or looks like real hardwood.''

Despite the growing sales of laminate floors, Movassaghi says his customers are motivated to buy the real thing. ``If it's taken care of, your hardwood floor can last 30 years or more, and you'll get more satisfaction out of it than with a laminate floor.''

One of the downsides of laminates is the fact that while they look like hardwood, they often don't feel like it. ``They're sometimes installed with foam underneath to take away the hollow sound, but it doesn't always work,'' said Johnson. ``It's just preference. For some people, it would drive them crazy.''

Another issue is wear and tear. Unlike a traditional hardwood floor that can be refinished if worn down or repaired if there's a gouge, laminates don't roll with the punches too easily. ``The surface they come with is pretty tough, and it'll take a lot of abuse. But once that covering wears off or is damaged, you've worn it down to the picture and there's no wood there to fix. You've got to replace the floor,'' said Johnson.

It's that lasting quality that keep hardwoods - which can cost anywhere from $7 to $80 per square foot - a top-selling floor covering. ``There's such a wide range of woods to choose from nowadays,'' said Becker. ``In Southern California, we mostly see oak floors, but there's also some beautiful maple and birch varieties.''

Bamboo underfoot

One new wood flooring surface that appears to be gaining in popularity is bamboo. ``It's considered very environmentally friendly since it grows so quickly,'' said Becker. ``There are different varieties of it, and it has a very warm look. Don't think of it specifically if your house has an Asian decor; it goes with everything.''

The vast majority of hardwood flooring that's installed is prefinished and has a polyurethane topcoat. ``For lighter floors, a water-based urethane is generally used to prevent yellowing. Oil-based urethane yellows over time and adds to the patina of darker woods like oak,'' said Becker.

One issue that often comes up with wood floors is how do you add a new wood floor to a room with an old wood floor. Is it possible to make them match?

``You won't get the woods to match, no matter what you do,'' said Johnson. ``One is fairly new while the other on your floor has aged for a while, so they're just not going to look alike. The answer would be to install the new floor and strip and refinish the old one to look like the new one. That way, you'd get rid of the dents and nicks, and they'd have the same stain, which will make them look similar.''

With both laminates and hardwood, one thing to watch out for is water. ``Standing water will devastate your floor,'' said Movassaghi. ``The top coat protects it from moisture, but its not completely waterproof. You've got to watch for water problems.''

Overall, the choice between hardwoods and laminates is likely to continue to be a tough one. ``The quality of the laminates has improved over the years, and the manufacturers are probably going to keep trying to copy a hardwood floor,'' said Johnson. ``But until I get a splinter from a plank of laminate, I'm not going to be fooled.''

Floor tips

--Your hardwood floor needs to be recoated with urethane about every five years.

--If installing hardwood or laminate flooring in a bathroom, make sure your sink and toilet plumbing are in good shape to prevent leaks.

--Be careful to make sure the cleaning product you use is recommended for your floor.

--Use throw rugs inside and outside of doorways to prevent dirt and grit from being tracked on the floor and scratching it.

--Plastic or fabric glides under furniture will prevent gouges.

J.M.

CAPTION(S):

7 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Floor it

From low-cost laminates to real wood, it's time to warm up your home

Handfield laminate from Flooring America

(2 -- color) Red oak hardwood flooring with BonaKemi USA waterborne finish

(3 -- 4 -- color) Above, Adams Oak hardwood from Flooring America. At right, American cherry hardwood flooring with BonaKemi USA waterborne finish.

Courtesy of BonaKemi USA

(5 -- color) Hawaiian Bamboo laminate flooring from Wilsonart Flooring

(6 -- color) Madison Dark Cherry, Pergo Select Collection

(7 -- color) Balladeer laminate, Flooring America

Box:

Floor tips (see text)