Laminate Flooring

A laminate plank is a high-density fiberboard core with a printed decorative paper on top, sealed under a melamine wear layer infused with aluminum oxide. That wear layer is the strong point: aluminum oxide is genuinely hard, and a good laminate resists scratching and scuffing better than most luxury vinyl at the same price.

The core is the weak point, and it is not a subtle weakness. HDF is compressed wood fiber. If water gets past the wear layer and into a seam or an edge, the fiber absorbs it and swells, and swollen fiberboard does not shrink back when it dries. The plank stays permanently raised at the joint. That single fact determines every recommendation on this page.

Laminate is graded by an AC (Abrasion Class) rating from AC1 to AC5, and it is the most useful number on the box. AC1 and AC2 are light residential — a guest bedroom at best. AC3 is the sensible residential standard and handles a normal household including hallways. AC4 is rated for light commercial and is what we would put in a busy family entry hall or a home with several large dogs. AC5 is heavy commercial and is overkill in a house.

Thickness is the number people fixate on instead, and it matters much less. A 12mm plank feels more solid underfoot and sounds less hollow than an 8mm one, but thickness says nothing about how well the surface resists wear. A 12mm AC3 will scratch sooner than an 8mm AC4. Buy the AC rating for durability and the thickness for feel.

Many current laminates are sold as water-resistant, and the claim is real but narrow: a wax-sealed edge treatment gives you a defined window — often stated as 24 or 72 hours — to wipe up a spill before it reaches the core. That genuinely covers a knocked-over glass or a dog bowl. It does not cover a supply line that lets go behind the dishwasher on a Friday and gets found on Sunday.

So the rule stays simple. Laminate belongs in bedrooms, living rooms, and hallways. For bathrooms, laundry rooms, mudrooms, and basements, use luxury vinyl plank or tile — the waterproof core means the worst case is a cleanup rather than a replacement. We would rather lose the upsell than install a floor we expect to be called back to repair.

Laminate floats, and a floating floor over a hard subfloor acts like a drum head — footsteps produce a hollow click that people immediately identify as a cheap floor. The fix is underlayment, and it is worth spending real money on. A quality foam or cork underlayment absorbs impact sound and adds noticeable comfort underfoot.

Underlayment also compensates for very minor subfloor variation, but it does not fix an unlevel floor, and it is important not to confuse the two. Flatness tolerances still apply, and dips still cause joint separation and eventual click-lock failure. Any leveling or subfloor repair required is assessed on-site and priced separately from installation.

Every floating floor needs a perimeter expansion gap — typically a quarter to three-eighths of an inch around every wall, cabinet, and pipe — so the whole field can move seasonally as one piece. Skip it, or trap the field by nailing shoe molding down through the plank into the subfloor, and the floor has nowhere to go. It buckles, usually in a ridge across the middle of the room.

This is one of the most common failures we get called to repair, and it is entirely preventable. Shoe molding fastens to the baseboard, never to the floor. Done correctly, the gap is invisible and the floor moves freely underneath it for its entire life.