How to Choose the Best Laminate Flooring
Looking for laminate? You're in the right place.
Super affordable, versatile, and easy to install on your own, laminate flooring can be an incredible choice of flooring for a DIY home-renovation project. With a wide variety of styles, colors, thicknesses, and water-resistance levels to choose from, the best laminate flooring for your project will depend not only on your preferences but also on the traffic and moisture levels of your space. In this guide, we'll teach you how to choose the best laminate flooring for your home.
Tip!
Check out our favorite laminate flooring options in our guide: 8 of the Best Laminate Flooring for Completing Your Home Renovation
What is Laminate Flooring?
Best Laminate Flooring Styles
Wood-Inspired
Tile-Inspired
Best Laminate Flooring by Location
Best Laminate Flooring by Room
Best Laminate Flooring by Level
Best Laminate Flooring by Water Resistance
Best Laminate Flooring by AC Rating
What Is Laminate Flooring?
Laminate flooring is affordable, composite flooring designed to resemble real wood or tile. It is made up of several layers of material. Those layers include a clear, often glossy wear layer (highly durable to protect the flooring from foot traffic and other wear and tear), a thin print layer emblazoned with a detailed image of wood or tile, and a core layer made of sturdy plywood or fiberboard. Laminate flooring may also have a fourth layer – an underlayment – that sits beneath the core layer to cushion, insulate, and protect the laminate flooring from moisture.
With no pores or crevices to retain dust, dirt, and mold, laminate flooring is a family-friendly, easy-to-clean alternative to other flooring types, most notably real hardwood flooring, engineered hardwood flooring, and tile flooring. It's also hypoallergenic (which is great for combating allergies) and renowned for its ease of installation. Installing laminate flooring is easily DIY – it can be nailed down like hardwood, glued down, or clicked together to form nail-free floating floors. Laminate flooring's greatest weakness is its susceptibility to water – its fiberboard core can warp and swell after contact with water – but some waterproof options are available.
The construction of laminate flooring is very similar to vinyl flooring, except that the core layer in vinyl flooring is composed of completely synthetic materials, while the core layer in laminate flooring is composed of real wood that may or may not be combined with an adhesive like resin. Both flooring types are comparable in appearance and cost, though vinyl flooring is recommended for spaces that come in contact with water as it is generally much more water-resistant than most laminate flooring. Laminate flooring also tends to be thicker and more durable than vinyl flooring.
Laminate Flooring vs. Vinyl
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between laminate flooring vs. vinyl? The construction of laminate flooring is very similar to vinyl flooring, except that the core layer in vinyl flooring is composed of completely synthetic materials, while the core layer in laminate flooring is composed of real wood that may or may not be combined with an adhesive like resin. Both flooring types are comparable in appearance and cost, though vinyl flooring is recommended for spaces that come in contact with water as it is generally much more water-resistant than most laminate flooring, such as the bathroom. Laminate flooring also tends to be thicker and more durable than vinyl flooring, which can come in handy for rooms that experience high traffic.
Tip!
Psst! Are you looking to update your bathroom floors? Read this guide: How to Choose the Best Flooring for Your Bathroom
Best Laminate Flooring Styles
Wood-Inspired
Wood-inspired laminate flooring is an excellent alternative to expensive hardwood or engineered hardwood flooring as it is designed to look like real wood. Not only is wood-inspired laminate flooring much more affordable than real hardwood flooring, but it's also considered more durable and thus more versatile than real hardwood flooring. Wood-inspired laminate flooring is available in many attractive wood tones to match your home design style and your budget, outlined below.
Light Wood: Warm and sunny in color, light-wood-inspired laminate flooring can brighten any space. Light-wood flooring puts all of its knots and wood grain texture on display. Light-wood-inspired laminate flooring is easy to adapt to your preferences and great at hiding light dust and pet hair. However, dirt and stains don't blend in well so it may require frequent cleaning to look neat.
Medium Wood: The best laminate flooring if you're torn between sunny and dramatic flooring, medium-wood-inspired laminate flooring is a chocolaty blend of warm and impactful. It can be adapted to a wide range of home decor styles but is best in traditional homes. Medium-wood flooring can hide dirt, dust, pet hair, and some stains, so it's great if you'd rather not mop and vacuum daily.
Dark Wood: The most dramatic wood-inspired laminate flooring available, dark wood-inspired laminate flooring is gorgeous, rich, and deep in color. It's amazing at creating a refined, upscale look in a home. Dark wood flooring is also great at hiding dirt and dark stains, so it won't need to be cleaned for appearances quite as often as light wood flooring (unless you have pets with light fur).
Tip!
Hand-scraped and embossed laminate flooring is textured to resemble real wood. Hand-scraped laminate looks more antique, while embossed laminate looks shinier and newer. If you want your laminate flooring to look as authentic as possible, opt for one of these finishes.
Tile-Inspired
Because it is printed with a detailed design instead of constructed from real, whole materials, laminate flooring can be made to look like almost anything, even natural-stone tile! If you're interested in an affordable, easy-to-install alternative to real tile flooring, opt for tile laminate flooring instead.
Best Laminate Flooring by Location
Laminate flooring is endlessly versatile, able to be placed anywhere hardwood flooring can be placed – and beyond. Some laminate flooring is designed to be super durable so it can be placed in high-traffic areas, while other laminate flooring is completely waterproof, which is great for bathrooms and basements. Filter your laminate flooring browsing experience by location to ensure you're choosing the best laminate flooring for your needs.
Best Laminate Flooring by Room
Want to get a better idea of what laminate flooring types are best for different rooms? Browse laminate flooring by room.
Living Space: Rooms that experience a lot of activity (living rooms, bedrooms, and other common areas, to name a few) require durable flooring that can withstand high traffic. If you're looking for flooring for high-traffic spaces, we recommend durable laminate flooring that is resistant to scuffs, scratches, and other damage.
Kitchen: Kitchens propose unique challenges to flooring, including dropped dishes, food stains, heavy traffic, liquid spills, and more. In order to withstand such challenges, kitchen-friendly laminate flooring must be highly durable, easy to wipe clean, and water-resistant or waterproof. Use the button below to shop laminate flooring recommended for kitchens.
Bathroom: Choosing appropriate flooring for bathrooms is uniquely difficult. It's a given that bathroom flooring will come in repeated contact with water, moisture, and humidity, so the best laminate flooring for a bathroom must be waterproof and easy to clean and durable to withstand the steam in this environment.
Basement: Basement floors also must be waterproof, as basements can be moist and may even experience flooding. Ensure your basement's laminate flooring is the best laminate flooring for the job by shopping the laminate flooring options linked below.
Tip!
The best laminate flooring for your space may also depend on additional features. Some laminate flooring is considered pet-friendly, durable enough to withstand high-energy paws and claws. Other laminate flooring is rated by its ability to be placed over radiant heat, ideal for heated floors.
If you want a broader understanding of what types of laminate flooring can be placed on different levels of your home, you can browse laminate flooring organized by grade.
On/Above Grade: Laminate flooring that can be installed on/above grade can be placed anywhere on the ground level of your home and above. It is not recommended for sub-ground-level spaces.
Below Grade: Below-grade laminate flooring can be installed in rooms beneath the ground level, ideal for the moist environments of basements and garages.
Best Laminate Flooring by Water Resistance
Laminate flooring's greatest con is perhaps its vulnerability to water damage – it's not often recommended for use in moist, damp, or wet environments. That said, there are some laminate flooring options available that advertise some or total water-resistance.
Water-Resistant: Water-resistant laminate flooring is able to resist the penetration of water to a certain degree, but may still be susceptible to water damage if water does reach its core layer. When discussing laminate flooring, water resistance often refers to the distance between laminate planks or tiles – water-resistant laminate flooring usually has tight seams between its planks or tiles that prevent water from creeping down beneath it and damaging it or the surface below. Water-resistant laminate flooring is great for locations that might come in contact with the occasional liquid spill, but not high-moisture locations that might come in contact with a lot of water, like bathrooms, laundry rooms, and basements.
Waterproof: If you're renovating a bathroom, laundry room, or basement on a super tight budget, waterproof laminate flooring can be a wallet-friendly option. That said, some waterproof laminate flooring options may still be susceptible to water damage. Laminate flooring technology is always advancing – if you pay close attention to product warranties and read customer reviews, you may be able to find completely waterproof laminate flooring options ideal for bathrooms and basements.
Best Laminate Flooring by AC Rating
A laminate flooring option's AC rating, or abrasion class rating, dictates its ability to withstand different levels of foot traffic – an AC rating is a standardized metric that gauges the durability of laminate flooring. This can be a valuable consideration when you're shopping for laminate flooring for different rooms in your home – high-traffic areas require highly durable laminate flooring, while low-traffic areas can be floored with more affordable (yet less durable) laminate flooring. AC ratings run from AC1 through AC5, with AC1 referring to low-traffic laminate flooring and AC5 referring to high-traffic, commercial laminate flooring.
AC1: AC1-rated laminate flooring is the best laminate flooring for areas with light residential traffic, like bedrooms.
AC2: AC2-rated laminate flooring is the best laminate flooring for areas with medium residential traffic, like living and dining rooms.
AC3: AC3-rated laminate flooring is the best laminate flooring for all residential traffic and light commercial traffic, like hotel rooms.
AC4: AC4-rated laminate flooring is the best laminate flooring for areas with general commercial traffic, like offices and small shops.
AC5: AC5-rated laminate flooring is the best laminate flooring for areas with heavy commercial traffic, like department stores or public buildings.
Tip!
Laminate flooring is available in a wide range of thicknesses, from less than 7mm to over 12 mm. Thickness likely won't have an impact on the flooring's durability (even thin laminate can be super durable), but thicker laminate flooring will do a better job of concealing imperfections in the surface beneath.
Now that you know how to choose the best laminate flooring, it’s to find the right style for your home!
