AC wear rating
If the label skips AC rating, ask the store or pick another line — traffic class is the fastest filter for pets and kids.
- AC3: light residential — bedrooms
- AC4: general residential — living, dining, hallways
- AC5: heavy residential / light commercial
- Higher AC = harder wear layer — better for dogs and kids
Thickness and underfoot feel
7–8 mm: budget, needs flat subfloor. 10–12 mm: quieter, more forgiving of minor dips. Thickness does not equal durability — wear layer AC rating matters more.
Attached pad feels softer but can hide an uneven subfloor. Flatten first; pad does not fix dips that cause click failures.
Water resistance
Basements and ground-level slabs with moisture risk often favor LVP over standard laminate. Compare options in laminate vs vinyl plank.
- Standard laminate: wipe spills quickly
- Water-resistant core: waxed edges, short exposure OK
- Waterproof laminate / LVP: for kitchens and mudrooms — read warranty limits
How many boxes after you pick a product
Once you choose a SKU, enter room size and the carton coverage in the laminate flooring calculator. Default 10% waste covers straight layouts; bump waste for hallways and diagonals.
Pets, kids, and scratch reality
AC4+ with a textured or matte finish hides claw marks better than glossy AC3. Felt pads on chair legs matter more than another millimetre of thickness. Dark floors show dust; mid-tone wood looks hide everyday traffic.
If you have large dogs and a history of standing water near bowls, skip standard laminate and go waterproof LVP — swelling at seams is the #1 laminate complaint in pet homes.
Retail label checklist
Bring a phone photo of the label home. Coverage and AC rating are the two numbers you will enter later — not the marketing name on the endcap.
- AC rating matches room traffic (AC4+ for hallways)
- Waterproof claim — read warranty exclusions
- Box coverage sq ft — enter in calculator, not guess
- Attached pad? — skip double underlay unless approved
- Batch/lot number — buy all boxes same run