Are you building a house and you want wood floors despite your lack of budget for it? If so, there are some great alternative choices that will be much friendlier to your plans, but will still look similar to hardwood. You can easily go to a local flooring store and look at engineered wood floors, ceramic planks, linoleum and other products that look like wood. There are many benefits with any of these options besides just the cost.

Engineered Wood

Engineered hardwood looks just like real wood, it feels like real wood, but instead it's made of compressed materials. This is going to be substantially cheaper than the real wood, but still provide the warm and modern feel that natural wood brings to a space.

This wood is scratch resistant, easy and fast to install, and comes in a variety of natural wood stains. Some of the engineered wood products are even textured and grooved like real wood.

Ceramic or Porcelain Planks  

There are ceramic or porcelain tile planks that you can have installed that look just like wood planks. These come in barn wood style, driftwood colors and greys, and you can get planks that look like dark stained wood.

These are great because they don't have grout seams, they are impermeable to water, mud and spills that could discolor the floor, and they are easy to install. These are great for heavy traffic areas in the house and even for mud rooms or outdoor areas.

Linoleum

Many people install linoleum in their home because it's comfortable to walk and stand on, it absorbs sound, and it's easy for the experts to install. The material is also easy to clean. This is going to be water and stain resistant, it isn't going to be affected by changing temperatures, and it can easily last for up to 25 years or longer in the home.

If you can't afford the real hardwood that you want, any of these options are going to look great and be durable in the home until you have the money to make an upgrade, or until you need to spend the money to replace the floor. Get estimates on all of the different materials you think would look good in your home, and find out what sub-flooring has to be put down before the flooring is installed, and make sure that cost is included in the estimate.