Uncategorized

Hardwood or Laminate? The Great Debate

When it’s time to replace your flooring, the debate between both hardwood and laminate materials is one that many homeowners can be faced with. Hardwood and laminate flooring can both be great options to enhance the design of your home, but the best way to feel confident about choosing the right material for your interior is by exploring the pros and cons of each option.

Durability


Hardwood is more susceptible to scratching


Hardwood is made of natural wood, so it will show signs of wear and tear easier than laminate. Dragging furniture along the floor or dropping toys on it can scratch it up easily, especially if you have a busy household where you expect your floor to deal with a lot of rough, excessive foot traffic.

Laminate stands up better against wear and tear


Laminate isn’t a natural wood and is instead, comprised of pressed wood. Therefore, it won’t be as easily prone to wear and tear or scratches. This is what makes laminate a more favourable option within active households, especially with young children or pets.

Aesthetics


Hardwood is beautiful and adds character


Hardwood surpasses laminate with appeal and aesthetics. The natural warmth, charm, and character from hardwood make it one of the most popular choices for flooring among homeowners.

Laminate isn’t as timeless


Laminate can be much more durable and easier to maintain, but the artificial look that it displays can be a major drawback. From afar laminate mimics the look of wood, but up close it doesn’t compare with the real deal.

Price


Laminate is the affordable option


Laminate flooring is cheaper than hardwood since it is made from composite wood. The composite materials that are contained in the laminate wood are much cheaper than the real, natural hardwoods. Therefore, if you’re searching for the most budget-friendly option, laminate is the better option.

Hardwood is more expensive, but adds tremendous value


Hardwood requires a much more labour-intensive process since it is harvested from trees, milled into planks, graded, planed, smoothed, leveled, and stained. Pricing will vary depending on the type of species that you choose. Though hardwood is more expensive per square foot, the value it adds to your home makes it worth the price.

Repair


Refinishing gives new life to hardwood floors


Hardwood is more prone to displaying scratches and wear and tear, but this can also add character to the surface. However, when it is time to perform some necessary repairs, this can be done by sanding away the imperfections and then refinishing the surface.

Before off replacing laminate than repairing


Laminate often comes in individual segments that are installed by snapping them together. Although these pieces can sometimes be replaced, they can highlight the difference if the surrounding pieces have endured much wear and tear, or have faded from natural light over the years. This makes laminate more difficult to repair than hardwood.

If you’re debating between hardwood or laminate flooring, consider the price, durability, and repair of each. Beyond the visual appeal, it’s important to select a material that will keep up with your lifestyle. If you have young children, pets, or don’t plan to be in the home for long, then laminate wood could be the best option for you. However if you are looking to incorporate that timeless look into your design and add value, hardwood is the right material for your home.  Contact us, or give us a call at (613)727-9427

Adding a Basement Games Room

The wintertime is perfect for spending quality time inside together with the people you love the most. But after a few months of feeling cooped up at home, all that time spent indoors can begin to wear on you and family, leaving you feeling restless and bored. A games room can offer the perfect kind of entertainment that you and the family can embrace all year long – especially during those cold spells that keep you cooped up at home.

So why not embrace that quality time at home together with a games room that the whole family can have some fun with? Here’s how to plan it out and get started!

Consider Where it will be Located

Whether it’s your basement or a spare den off of the main floor, wherever you are considering housing your games room, give it some careful thought. Location is important. When those air hockey pucks go flying, you don’t want them to be anywhere near your fragile furniture. A games room is all about having a room to escape, get a little crazy, while still being able to keep your home safe and well intact. Put some careful thought on where yours should be located.

Make it Comfy and Inviting

Having a games room doesn’t just mean throwing a few games in a room for the kids. This can be your space, too. So consider adding those elements of comfort and luxury that you will enjoy. Maybe it’s big, comfy chairs, or a cute little bar. Whatever it is, add some elements that will make it a warm and inviting space that you will actually want to use.

Consider Games to Add

Of course, your games room should be tailored with games that you and the family will love. So take the time to think about what type of games you want. Maybe it’s pinball machines and air hockey, or foosball and a beautiful pool table as the main feature. Or you could add an entertainment system with the latest and greatest 3D consoles. The options are endless, so let your imagination run wild!

Having a games room is all about providing a space where you can have some fun and entertainment at home while spending quality time together. Whether it’s throwing down a game of foosball or setting up a snooker tournament with your friends, an entertainment space that you can call your own is the perfect addition to any home, especially during those long winter months when you’re cooped up inside!

Have you got a basement renovation on the mind?  For more info on adding a basement games room, give RenosGroup.ca a call at (613)727-9427 to book your free in-home consultation and discover what opportunities await.

Refacing Kitchen Cabinets

One of the simplest (and least expensive) home renovation projects you can tackle all on your own is the project of completely refacing your kitchen cabinets.

You’ll be able to breathe a lot of life into an otherwise old and outdated kitchen with this kind of upgrade. Better than that though, you’ll be able to completely transform the way that your kitchen space looks like without wasting any money on and oversized budget – making this one of the savviest construction projects you can choose to tackle.

To better help you with your kitchen cabinet refacing project we’ve put together the information in this quick guide. Shall we dive right in?

Determine whether or not your cabinets should be refaced in the first place


Even if you are really committed to refacing your kitchen cabinets and saving quite a bit of money, you have to be 100% certain that your kitchen cabinets can – and should – be refaced in the first place.

This project saves money, but it will require some serious sweat equity. You don’t want to undertake this project only to find out in a couple of months – or even just a year or two – that all of your work is for naught because your cabinets are falling apart and need to be completely replaced.

Figure out whether or not you are going to be able to handle this project from start to finish


If you are working with solid “bones” as far as your cabinet frames are concerned, you really don’t have all that much skilled or challenging work ahead of you. A little bit of paint, some new hardware, and a handful of simple and straightforward refinishing tricks are usually more than enough to transform your cabinets.

At the same time, if you have to repair the structure of your cabinets (especially your upper cabinets) things can get out of hand pretty quickly. This is especially true if you don’t have a lot of construction or woodworking experience to lean on. Repairing damaged wood is not the kind of project most people feel completely comfortable tackling, and it’s easy to see why.

Make sure you’re up for the task at hand before you dive in!

Fall in love with YouTube


At the end of the day, it’s possible to find tips, tricks, and tutorials about pretty much anything and everything imaginable on YouTube.

If you’d like to better understand the project that you are about to undertake or even just pick up a couple of new tips and tricks to help the project go faster be sure to jump on YouTube and watch videos to your heart’s delight.

You can save a bit of money by choosing to reface kitchen cabinets, but you’re going to want to leave the big projects to the pros to handle with finesse and expert techniques. RenosGroup.ca is here to guide your Ottawa kitchen renovation project at every step of the way to make the kitchen of your dreams a reality.  Contact us, or give us a call at (613)727-9427

Scroll to top