1st off the concrete will not make much of a difference in sound deadening. The underlay will. If the pad is attached and excellence is desired, then I would not want one with the pad attached. I feel the separately purchased cushion are superior but they will cost you more as a total package. As far as lamett, I am not an advocate of it. The high gloss has had some serious issues and they were extremely poor at handling the claim. i had to threaten a lawsuit against them as a retailer as they were so unjust to a customer in my opinion. After the threat, they agreed to correct it. This laminate abrased tremendously in just 1 week in 2 different homes that was installed. One was the customer and they tried to blame the abrasions on improper installation and I (The retail store) told them they were out of their mind and I would replace and sue them for the money. They caved immediately. These are the facts and PS is why you should not by from an online retailer in my opinion. With issues you will never get anyone to battle for you and the retailer has much more clout than any customer has with the manufacturer. Good Luck. All above is just my opinion.

I'm with Mannington. The THICKER the laminate, the higher the consumer (homeowner) satisfaction will be. Sure, you can get an 8mm thick laminate for $0.79/sf at HD....but why would you? I like to START at 12mm thickness and then move up from there. Some of the top end brands will have 15mm thickness available around the $4/sf mark. Absolutely normal for that thickness. That being said, the Mannington laminate is a decent product with a decent reputation with a decent price tag with plenty of options. Win-Win-Win. I like to work with the planks that do NOT have under pad attached. That way you can mix/match your under pad/lay needs as the situation requires. You should ALWAYS plan on using an under pad....but everyone's situation is different. Someone in a home in S. Florida over slab on grade just needs the basic 2-in-1 vapour barrier + under pad in this situation. $0.50/sf is just perfect. Someone in a Low-Rise in NY City will NEED some SERIOUS acoustic insulation. Many of those co-ops or condo boards require 1/2" cork for any floor being installed. That means you need the floor + 1/2" cork. Again, I like to work with the planks that do NOT have the underpad so that you can mix and match PROPERLY to suit your situation. Attached underpad will PROHIBIT the use of ANYTHING ELSE underneath. And that gets upsetting to clients who purchase FIRST then ask questions of their condo boards LATER....very, very, very expensive mistake! Good luck with the Mannington. I have their product in my rental and it is 7+ years old (or more) and still going strong. No one would know this is a floor closer to 10 years old than 1 year old.

I was hoping that you would get more responses because I'm in the same state of confusion. We don't have dogs, but live in a rural area with dust, dirt, snow & temperature extremes. I've had wood laminate for the past 13 years (Wilsonart from when it first came out). What I really want is tile; however we're in our 50's and I have concerns over how hard it will be as we get older. So I'm leaning toward the Duraceramic or back to laminate possibly in a tile look. A young neighbor with small children put in the real tile & said it's hard to walk on so she's wishing she did the Duraceramic. I'm a little hesitant on the laminate because what we have looks fake, more plasticy, plus, it's peaked at the seams from the initial installation. We get a lot of sunlight so every seam is very evident. Have you checked on the differing needs for underlayment? That might influence your decision.

OK...AC ratings are only for laminates. That means vinyl doesn't even need to join the race. The same "concept" (toughness of the finish) for vinyl is the wear layer (ie. 20mil). For vinyl floors, that's what you work with for "toughness" and scratch resistance. https://www.hoskinghardwood.com/Department/Laminate-Floors/Laminate-Floor-AC-Ratings.aspx?dId=9&pageId=67 So....that means the toughest of the tough is the laminate (re: your options). The AC3 rating is considered good enough for HEAVY residential traffic (that's not very common) or MODERATE commercial traffic (think exclusive women's clothing retailer....not Walmart). That's pretty darn good. But Uh-oh. You want it to go in the kitchen. That laminate is out for that space. Oops. Now we start playing with the vinyl options: the 20mil wear layer is BETTER than 12mil. And 40mil is better than 20mil. So the TOUGHNESS you need for the AREAS you need it in have been established. Next question: Do you need the "heat stability"? Is your home open to sunlight through windows? That means, do you have "pools of sunlight" hitting any part of your floor during ANYTIME of the day? (most people have to deal with this...but not all) If so, you will need to know HOW HOT those spots GET! The regular vinyls (as in AduraMax) have upper limits of 85F. Oooh nooo. A pool of sunlight sitting on a floor (with older windows or low UV blocking windows) can heat past 100F. In a situation like that AduraMax will have MASSIVE issues. At that point, the Apex is a better option. So....at this point in your investigations, it is time to get out a thermometer (indoor/outdoor at Home Depot = $15) and start finding those sunny spots in your home and MEASURING the temperatures (and writing them down to keep track of it all). To me, this is the ACID TEST that will determine which vinyl to work with - toughness of finish be damned.