Home Depot carries a wide range of laminate flooring, and its listings pack in specs and filters. Knowing what each spec tells you, and what it leaves out, makes it much easier to compare two floors that look alike in photos.
When we checked in November 2026, the laminate brand filters included Pergo, Lifeproof, Home Decorators Collection, TrafficMaster and Dekorman, among others. Lineups and specs change, so check the current listing before you buy.
Start With the Filters
The filter panel on Home Depot’s laminate pages works as a spec checklist on its own. These are the filters worth using.
- AC Rating
- Water Protection
- Product Thickness
- Underlayment Options
- Minimum Acclimation Period
- Plank Width and Plank Length
- Location, such as kitchen, bathroom or basement
- Radiant floor heat compatibility
Here’s how to read each spec once you open a product.
AC Rating
The AC rating grades how well the surface stands up to wear. It comes from a European testing scheme that checks resistance to wear, impact, stains, burns, chair casters and edge swelling.
Home Depot’s filter labels AC3 as Residential Heavy Traffic and AC5 as Commercial Heavy Traffic. Other retailers label the same numbers differently, so go by the number, not the adjective.
For most homes, AC3 is the minimum worth considering. AC4 is a common step up for busy households with kids and pets.
Thickness
Check whether the thickness includes a pad. Pergo’s Outlast+ listings say 12 mm, and Pergo’s own spec sheet breaks that into a 10 mm board and a 2 mm attached pad.
Then compare like with like. In the listings we saw, TrafficMaster boards ran 7 to 8 mm and Lifeproof’s waterproof laminate ran 14 mm. Thicker boards usually cost more, and makers pitch them as more stable underfoot, but thickness is only one part of durability.
Water Protection
Home Depot sorts laminate into three water tiers.
- No water protection, so spills need to be wiped up right away
- Water resistant, which handles spills for a limited time
- Waterproof, which handles more, with conditions
On a laminate listing, waterproof is a spill rating, not a promise for floods. The Pergo Outlast+ warranty, for example, requires spills to be removed within 24 hours and excludes flooding, leaking pipes, appliance leaks and moisture coming up from below.
The same warranty requires the room’s entire perimeter to be sealed with 100% silicone sealant. Ask your installer about that step before the floor goes down.
Underlayment Options
This filter has three settings, and they matter more than they look.
- Required, sold separately. Budget for underlayment on top of the flooring.
- Required, pre-attached. The pad is built in, and Pergo’s Outlast+ warranty says adding another underlayment voids the warranty.
- Not required. Check the installation guide anyway, since concrete subfloors usually still need a vapor barrier.
Over concrete, the Pergo warranty specifies a 6 mil polyethylene film, along with moisture testing before the install.
Acclimation
Some listings call for a minimum acclimation period, such as two days, while others say no acclimation is required. Follow the product’s instructions, and keep the house at normal living temperature and humidity before and during the install.
Plank Size
Home Depot filters widths as medium, 5.1 to 6.9 inches, or wide, 7 inches and up. Lengths are standard, 48 inches or less, or long, 48.1 to 58.9 inches.
Wide and long planks suit open rooms, but they’re less forgiving of an uneven subfloor. If your floor has dips, a standard size can save prep work.
Location Tags
Home Depot also tags laminate by location, such as bedroom, living room, hallway, basement, bathroom and kitchen. Treat those tags as a starting point, not a guarantee.
The warranty decides where a floor really belongs. A product tagged for bathrooms may still exclude standing water, and some makers bar laminate from any room with a floor drain, so check the fine print for the room you have in mind.
Price per Square Foot and Case Coverage
Listings show a price per square foot and a coverage figure per case. Pergo’s Outlast+ in Vintage Pewter Oak, for example, covers 19.63 square feet per case, while Pergo lists 13.74 square feet per carton for the narrower Applewood.
Use the coverage figure to count cases. Measure each room, add about 10% for cuts, then divide by the square feet per case and round up. Buying every case at once also helps keep the color consistent across the job.
Core and Certifications
The core is the fiberboard that gives a plank its strength. Pergo’s product pages list a high-density fiberboard core and FloorScore certification, an indoor air quality certification for flooring. If a listing doesn’t show the core, the manufacturer’s spec sheet usually does.
Read the Warranty PDF
Most listings link to the warranty and the installation guide as PDFs. Read them before you buy, because that’s where the real terms live.
The Pergo Outlast+ warranty is a good example of what to look for.
| Coverage | What the warranty says |
|---|---|
| Residential | Lifetime coverage for wear, fading, staining, moisture resistance and joint security, for the original buyer |
| Light commercial | 10 years for wear, fading and staining in listed commercial spaces |
| Manufacturing defects | 6 months from purchase |
| Water | Spills removed within 24 hours, perimeter sealed, no flooding or leaks covered |
| Installation | Moisture testing, a vapor barrier over concrete and fully locked joints |
The care section matters too. It calls for a dust mop and a well-wrung mop with water, or with a cup of vinegar per gallon of water, and it rules out steamers, soaps, wax and polish.
A Quick Spec Checklist
Before you check out, make sure you can answer these.
- What’s the AC rating, and does it fit your busiest room?
- Does the thickness include a pad?
- Which water tier is it, and what does the warranty require?
- Does it need separate underlayment or a vapor barrier?
- Is your subfloor flat enough for the plank size?
- Is it rated for radiant heat, if you have it?
Comparing stores? Our guide to Lowe’s laminate by room matches ratings to each part of the house, and our Costco laminate guide shows how to judge a shorter listing.
Quality Installs is a family-owned flooring installer in Glenview that installs laminate, hardwood and vinyl plank. Our laminate flooring installation page explains how we handle laminate projects.