Buyer's Guide

Laminate, without the myths.

It isn't the cheap floor it was in 2005. Modern laminate is harder than hardwood and prints better than most vinyl. Here's how to read an AC rating, and the one thing laminate still can't survive.

12mm laminate flooring installed in a modern room — Toucan TF6310-F EIR Collection, from Advanced Flooring in Kitchener-Waterloo

What laminate actually is

A photograph of wood, sealed under a layer of cured resin so hard it will blunt a saw blade, pressed onto a dense wood-fibre core. It is not vinyl and it is not plastic — the body of the plank is compressed wood.

That resin wear layer is why laminate outperforms real hardwood on scratches, and by a wide margin. And that wood-fibre core is why laminate has exactly one weakness — which we'll come to.

Layer 1
Melamine wear layer
Aluminum-oxide-infused resin. Extraordinarily scratch resistant. This is laminate's superpower.
Layer 2
Decorative print
High-resolution imagery, often with EIR texture pressed to match the grain. Good laminate is genuinely hard to tell from wood.
Layer 3
HDF core
High-density fibreboard. Rigid, quiet, dimensionally stable — and made of wood, which absorbs water.
Layer 4
Balancing backer
Keeps the plank flat and blocks moisture from below. Sometimes with an attached pad.

The AC rating is the number to buy on

AC stands for Abrasion Class, and it's the closest thing flooring has to an honest, independently tested durability scale. It runs AC1 to AC5. Ignore the thickness and the marketing adjectives — find the AC.

Rating Rated for In plain terms
AC1 Light residential Closets and spare bedrooms. Don't buy it for a home.
AC2 Moderate residential Bedrooms only. Still too light for most of a house.
AC3 Heavy residential / light commercial The minimum for a real home. Kitchens, halls, kids, dogs. Most quality residential laminate starts here.
AC4 Moderate commercial Offices, cafés, boutiques — and the smart choice for a busy family entrance.
AC5 Heavy commercial Retail floors and public buildings. Overkill at home, but it will never wear out.
Thickness is not durability. A 12 mm AC3 plank and an 8 mm AC3 plank resist wear identically. The extra thickness buys you a more solid, less hollow sound underfoot and better tolerance of a slightly uneven subfloor — worth having, but it is a comfort spec, not a wear spec.

The water question — answered straight

This is where laminate gets oversold, so here is the truth. The core is compressed wood fibre. Wood fibre swells when it absorbs water, and once a laminate core swells, it does not come back. The plank is finished.

Standard laminate
Wipe a spill up and you're fine. Leave a puddle sitting on a seam overnight and the edges swell and peak. Keep it out of bathrooms.
Water-resistant laminate
A treated core and sealed edges buy you a stated window — often 24 to 72 hours of surface spill resistance. That's a spill rating, not a flood rating. Our Toucan 72HR range is exactly this.
"Waterproof" laminate
Some products now genuinely qualify, with sealed cores and locking systems, and carry warranties to match. Read what the warranty covers — most exclude standing water and any water coming up from below.
Our honest position: if the room has a floor drain, a toilet, or a history of water, put in LVP or tile. Laminate is superb everywhere else — and trying to force it into a bathroom is how good floors get ruined.

Laminate vs LVP vs hardwood

Laminate Luxury vinyl plank Hardwood
Scratch resistance Best of the three Good at 20 mil Weakest — but refinishable
Water Its one weakness Waterproof core Poor
Dent resistance Very hard surface Softer — heels and point loads mark it Depends on species
Underfoot & sound Harder, more click; needs good underlay Quieter, softer, warmer The real thing
Repairable Swap planks only Swap planks only Sand and refinish
Choose it when You want maximum scratch resistance on a dry floor, at the best value on this page. Water is anywhere in the picture — basements, kitchens, mudrooms. You want a floor that appreciates, and can be revived.

Installation

Laminate is always a floating floor. Planks click edge to edge and rest on an underlay — never glued, never nailed. That makes it the fastest hard-surface install there is, and the easiest to lift out later.

Underlay is not optional
It cushions, quiets, and smooths minor subfloor variation. Over concrete you also need a vapour barrier — 6 mil poly, or a combined underlay that includes one. Some planks come with a pad attached; adding a second one under those causes movement and failed locks.
Flatness and expansion
Subfloor flat within 3/16" over 10 ft. Leave a 1/4"–3/8" expansion gap at every wall, pipe and door frame, hidden under baseboard or quarter round. A floating floor pinned tight at the edges will buckle — it's the most common install failure we're called out to fix.
Order 7–10% extra for cuts and waste, more for angled or diagonal layouts. Dye lots shift between production runs, so buying a top-up box next year rarely matches.

Where laminate shines

Living & bedrooms
Wood look, at a fraction of the cost.
Halls & stairs
AC4 shrugs off the traffic. Matching stair sets available.
Kitchens — with care
Water-resistant grade, and wipe spills up.
Rentals & flips
Tough, fast to lay, shows beautifully.
Where it doesn't
Bathrooms and laundry rooms. No exceptions worth taking. Tile or LVP.
Basements below grade. Slab moisture rises. If you must, it's a rated water-resistant product over a proper vapour barrier — and LVP is still the better answer.
Homes chasing silence. Laminate is a hard floor over a floating cavity. Good underlay helps a great deal, but LVP with an attached pad is quieter.

Reading a spec sheet

AC rating Abrasion class, AC1–AC5. The durability number. AC3 minimum for a home.
Thickness (mm) 8 mm to 12 mm typically. Affects sound and feel, not wear. Check whether an attached pad is included in the figure.
Core density HDF beats MDF — denser, stronger locks, better moisture tolerance. If a listing just says "fibreboard," ask.
EIR Embossed in register — texture aligned to the printed grain. The difference between convincing and obvious.
Bevel Painted or pressed micro-bevel defines each plank and disguises minor height differences between boards.
Water resistance Look for a stated number of hours, not the adjective. "Water-resistant" without a figure means very little.
Locking system Angle-angle, angle-drop, or fold-down. Drop-lock is far easier in tight spaces and against door casings.
Coverage per box Divide your area by this, add 7–10% waste, round up to whole boxes.

Keeping it looking new

✓  Sweep or vacuum on hard-floor mode. Grit is what dulls the surface.
✓  Clean with a barely-damp microfibre mop and a laminate cleaner. Damp, never wet.
✓  Wipe spills immediately, especially along seams.
✗  No steam mops. Steam drives moisture straight into the core through the seams. This voids most warranties, and rightly so.
✗  No wet-mopping, no buckets, no vinegar.
✗  No wax or polish. The finish can't absorb it — it just sits there and hazes.

Common questions

Is laminate still the cheap-looking floor it used to be?
No. Print resolution, embossed-in-register texture and bevelled edges have changed the category completely. Put a good AC4 laminate next to engineered oak and most people can't pick the difference standing up.
Can laminate go in a kitchen?
Yes, with a water-resistant product and the habit of wiping spills up. The risk in a kitchen isn't a splash — it's the dishwasher that leaks quietly for a week under the cabinet. If that thought worries you, choose LVP.
Can it be refinished?
No. There's no wood on the surface to sand. Damaged planks get replaced individually — so keep a spare box, and note the dye lot.
Why does my laminate floor sound hollow?
Because it's floating over a cavity. Thicker planks, a denser underlay and a flatter subfloor all reduce it. It's the trade-off for an install that takes days rather than weeks.
Does it work with radiant heat?
Many laminates do, but only if the product is explicitly rated for it, and the floor surface stays under roughly 27°C. Exceed that and you'll dry the core out and open the seams.
How much do I need?
Length × width in feet = square footage. Add 7–10% for waste. Divide by box coverage and round up. We'll do the takeoff on a quote, including underlay, transitions and trim.

Not sure if laminate is the right call?

Tell us the room, the traffic and how much water it's likely to see. We'll tell you honestly whether laminate, LVP or hardwood is the better buy — and quote supply-and-install.

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