Laminate: the AC rating
The abrasion class, AC1 through AC6, comes from a standardized test that measures how many cycles of abrasion a laminate's wear layer survives along with impact, stain, burn and swelling tests. AC1 and AC2 are light residential and have mostly disappeared. AC3 is general residential: bedrooms, guest rooms. AC4 is heavy residential and light commercial: living rooms, halls, kitchens, kids, dogs. AC5 is general commercial: rentals, home businesses, large dogs. AC6 is heavy commercial.
For a Puget Sound house, AC4 is the floor and AC5 is the upgrade. The price difference between AC3 and AC4 is small; the life difference is large.
Vinyl plank: the wear layer
The wear layer is the clear top coat that takes the abuse, measured in mils, thousandths of an inch. Six and eight mil are entry level and scuff quickly. Twelve mil is the practical minimum for a home. Twenty mil is the standard for families, dogs and rentals and where most commercial warranties begin. Twenty-eight mil and above is commercial.
The wear layer decides longevity far more than total plank thickness. A thin SPC plank with a 20-mil wear layer outlasts a thick WPC plank with a 12-mil one in a busy house.
The other numbers
Thickness affects feel, sound and how the floor bridges subfloor flaws. Core type on vinyl, SPC versus WPC, affects dent resistance and softness. Attached pad affects sound. Water resistance rating on laminate, often stated as hours, covers spills, not floods. Residential warranty years scale with the rating and are voided by installation outside the rating or outside the manufacturer's instructions.
What to buy
Living areas, halls, kitchens, families, dogs: AC4 laminate or 20-mil vinyl plank. Rentals, large dogs, home businesses: AC5 or 20-mil and up. Guest rooms and formal rooms: AC3 or 12 mil if you must save. Wet rooms: vinyl plank at 20 mil regardless of the laminate elsewhere. Bring samples home; the numbers tell you how it wears, your eyes tell you how it looks.
