Flooring spec sheets lean on shorthand. LVP means luxury vinyl plank and LVT means luxury vinyl tile. SPC and WPC name two kinds of core inside a vinyl plank. An AC rating is a laminate's abrasion class, IIC and STC are sound ratings for impact and airborne noise, the wear layer is the protective surface you walk on, and Janka is a hardness scale for wood. This flooring terms glossary keeps each definition short, ties most of them to a real label from our vinyl plank collection or our laminate and hardwood range, and points to the longer guide on that term.
The short version: nine terms in one table
Start here if you only need the meaning; the third column names the line to read on a product page.
| Term | Plain meaning | Where it shows up on our product pages |
|---|---|---|
| LVP | Luxury vinyl plank | Vinyl product names, next to SPC |
| LVT | Luxury vinyl tile, built in layers from top coat down to backing | Not used in our current vinyl names, which all say plank |
| SPC | A rigid vinyl core; our pages spell it out as Stone Plastic Composite | The Material or Core Material line on Riche vinyl pages |
| WPC | A vinyl plank with a foamed core, also called wood plastic composite | Not in our in-stock range, which is all SPC |
| AC rating | Laminate abrasion class on a scale from AC1 to AC6 | Laminate product names and the AC Grade or Durability Grade line |
| IIC | Impact Insulation Class: footsteps and dropped objects | The acoustics line on Riche SPC pages |
| STC | Sound Transmission Class: voices, music and TV | Beside the IIC figure on the same line |
| Wear layer | The protective top layer; measured in mil on vinyl and in mm of real wood on engineered hardwood | Vinyl product names and the Wear Layer line |
| Janka | A hardness scale for wood species, read as a guide to dent resistance | Some solid hardwood descriptions |
Six product pages we use to decode the terms
These six listings cover vinyl, laminate, engineered and solid hardwood, so every term below has a real label to point at.
| Product | Type | Spec lines worth reading | Box price | Sq ft per box | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riche Ultra-Thick 10mm SPC, Greige Mist | SPC vinyl | 10mm, 20mil wear layer, click-lock | $59.00 | 11.82 | $4.99 |
| Riche Heavy-Duty 8mm SPC, Driftwood Mist | SPC vinyl | 8mm, 20mil wear layer, click-lock | $59.00 | 16.55 | $3.56 |
| Egger EM7206 laminate | Laminate | AC3, 8mm, 7.60" wide, click-lock | $40.48 | 21.42 | $1.89 |
| Swiss Krono Grey Oak MV 803 | Laminate | AC5, 10mm, click-lock | $42.83 | 17.22 | $2.49 |
| Villa European Oak | Engineered hardwood | 3mm top layer, 7.5" wide, 3/4" thick, wire brushed, character grade, nail-down | $97.00 | 19.42 | $4.99 |
| Lauzon Essential Hard Maple, Sapphir | Solid hardwood | 4¼" wide, ¾" thick, nail-down | $99.80 | 17.0 | $5.87 |
Prices checked October 6, 2026. Box prices and coverage come from our current catalogue and are before HST.
Vinyl plank terms: LVP, LVT, SPC, WPC and the attached pad
LVP and LVT. Shaw Floors puts it simply: the two acronyms refer to luxury vinyl plank and luxury vinyl tile. Shaw Contract describes standard LVT as a stack of layers: a top coat, a wear layer, a print film, a core and a backing. The last letter tells you the shape of the piece, plank or tile.
SPC. On our Riche pages the core line reads "Stone Plastic Composite (SPC)". Shaw describes SPC as a solid polymer core product that is more rigid than WPC, so you may meet both spellings of the same letters. All 87 vinyl listings we have in stock today are SPC.
WPC. Shaw describes WPC as a vinyl plank with a foamed waterproof core that makes a thicker product that is quieter underfoot, and Shaw's builder flooring site adds that the letters are also read as wood plastic composite. Our SPC vinyl plank explainer sets SPC against WPC and sheet vinyl.
Attached pad (EVA or IXPE). An underlayment that comes already attached to the back of the plank. The Greige Mist page lists a "2mm high-density EVA pad pre-attached". Of our 87 in-stock SPC listings, 33 name an EVA pad in the title and 20 name an IXPE pad.
Total thickness vs core thickness. On both Riche pages here, the headline number includes the pad. Greige Mist is sold as 10mm, and its page breaks that into an 8mm SPC core plus the 2mm EVA pad. Driftwood Mist is 8mm, made of a 6mm core and the same 2mm pad. Our guide to core vs total thickness and EVA vs IXPE pads goes line by line through those labels.
Waterproof. A yes or no field on our product pages, and every SPC listing in stock says Yes.
Wear layer, mil and millimetres
Wear layer (vinyl). The protective layer that sits above the print film in Shaw Contract's list of LVT layers. The Heavy-Duty Driftwood Mist page calls its 20mil layer a "thicker protective surface" and gives it as "20mil (0.5mm)".
Mil. A thousandth of an inch. NIST, the United States standards agency, defines it as 1 mil = 0.001 in, which is why a 20mil wear layer is about half a millimetre. Across our 87 in-stock SPC listings, 42 carry a 20mil wear layer and 45 carry 12mil. The 12 mil vs 20 mil guide covers which one to pick for which room.
Wear layer (engineered hardwood). Here the term means real wood, measured in millimetres. The Villa page lists "Wear Layer: 3mm Real European Oak (Sanding & Refinishing Capable)". Our product data calls the same figure the top layer. Our comparison of 2mm, 3mm and 4mm engineered wear layers explains what the extra millimetre buys.
Wear layer (laminate). Laminate has a protective wear layer on top as well, in the laminate association's description, but our laminate pages rate it with an AC class instead of a thickness figure.
A quick catalogue view shows how these fields split across what we stock right now, and what each group costs per square foot:
| Field on the product page | Value | In-stock listings | Price range per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl wear layer | 20mil | 42 of 87 | $3.56 to $4.99 |
| Vinyl wear layer | 12mil | 45 of 87 | $2.66 to $5.08 |
| Laminate AC class | AC3 | 14 of 58 | $1.33 to $2.49 |
| Laminate AC class | AC4 | 6 of 58 | $1.99 to $2.39 |
| Laminate AC class | AC5 | 23 of 58 | $2.39 to $3.59 |
| Laminate AC class | AC6 | 4 of 58 | $2.99 to $3.39 |
Two things stand out. The 12mil range reaches higher at the top than the 20mil range, so a wear layer figure on its own is not a price tier. And 11 of the 58 laminate listings do not state an AC class in the name, so check the page before you compare.
Laminate terms: AC rating, core and click-lock
Laminate. The North American Laminate Flooring Association says what sets laminate apart is its wood-based construction, which adds the strength and resilience of wood fibres. Its layer diagram puts a protective wear layer on top and a wood-based core underneath, and that wood-based build is the line between laminate and vinyl.
AC rating (abrasion class). Swiss Krono explains that the scale runs from AC1 to AC6 and that the higher the abrasion class, the greater the panel's resistance to abrasion. So AC5 is two classes above AC3 on the same scale. On our pages, the Egger EM7206 listing describes its AC3 as "Residential Heavy Traffic" and the Swiss Krono MV 803 listing calls its AC5 rating "Commercial Grade". Our AC3 to AC6 rating guide matches each class to rooms.
Click-lock and floating. Planks that click together along their edges and float over the subfloor instead of being glued or nailed to it. The Egger page describes its Valinge system as a floating installation with no glue or nails required. Every one of our 58 in-stock laminate listings, like all 87 SPC listings, gives click-lock as the installation method.
Egger vs Swiss Krono. Both brands appear in our laminate range, and both featured listings say Made in Germany. On the spec lines they differ: the Egger plank is AC3 and 8mm at $1.89 per sq ft, while the Swiss Krono plank is AC5 and 10mm at $2.49 per sq ft. That is a difference of $0.60 per sq ft for two more abrasion classes and 2mm more thickness.
Hardwood terms: solid, engineered, Janka, wire brushed and grade
Solid hardwood. The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) defines it as one piece of wood from top to bottom. The Lauzon Hard Maple page reads "¾" (19mm) Solid", and its installation notes say it must be nailed or stapled to a plywood subfloor.
Engineered hardwood. Real wood too, but built from multiple layers with a high-quality wood layer on top, in the NWFA's words. Villa is engineered: 3/4" thick overall with that 3mm oak top layer. For how total thickness varies across engineered boards, see our engineered hardwood thickness explainer.
Janka. The NWFA says the hardness of solid wood is measured on the Janka Scale, and that the scale gives a good indication of how well a species can withstand dents and dings. It is a rating for the wood species.
Wire brushed. A surface texture. Bona, which makes finishing equipment, describes wire brush attachments that remove the soft grain, adding depth and texture to the surface. All 35 of our in-stock engineered listings carry Wire Brushed in the finish field.
Character grade. Grade names differ from one product line to the next: our solid hardwood listings use names such as Prestige, Advantage and Excel. The Villa page defines its own grade as "Character Grade (Natural knots and grain variation)".
Full length. How much of the box is made up of boards at the line's full length rather than shorter pieces. Villa's product data reads "Ultra-Premium Planks (70% Full Length)".
Nail-down and staple-down. The boards are nailed or stapled to a wood subfloor; the Lauzon page specifies plywood. All 35 engineered listings give nail-down as the method, and so do all 37 solid hardwood listings in stock, with 4 of those also listing staple-down.
Sound ratings: IIC and STC on a product page
IIC. The National Floor Covering Association of Canada sums up Impact Insulation Class as noise caused by impact, such as footsteps. Under ASTM E989, the rating increases as the floor-ceiling structure blocks more impact sound, so a higher IIC number is the better result.
STC. Sound Transmission Class covers airborne sound: the same association lists voices, music and TV.
Both Riche planks above list IIC 73 / STC 72 on their pages. A rating describes a tested floor-ceiling assembly, and the association cautions that a figure means little unless the product also states the testing standard behind it. Ask which standard a number comes from, and check your building's own rules before you order. Our guide to quiet floors in condos and multi-level homes goes further.
Shopping terms: sq ft per box, price per sq ft and plank width
Sq ft per box and price per sq ft. Sq ft per box is how much floor one box covers, and the box price divided by it gives the price per sq ft. The two Riche planks show why this matters: both boxes are $59.00, but the 10mm box covers 11.82 sq ft and the 8mm box covers 16.55 sq ft, so the per-sq-ft prices are $4.99 and $3.56. Comparing on box price alone would hide a gap of $1.43 per sq ft.
The same habit helps when you set our quotes beside a big-box store's. Our Toronto cost comparison with Home Depot flooring walks through that kind of side-by-side.
Plank width. The face width of each board. Read it from the product name where it is given: Villa is 7.5" wide, the Egger plank is 7.60" wide and the Lauzon board is 4¼" wide. If a page and a spec field disagree, ask us to confirm.
Installation method. Click-lock, nail-down or glue-down. It decides which labour line appears on your quote.
Flooring terms FAQ
What does LVP stand for in flooring?
Luxury vinyl plank. In our range those planks have an SPC core, so a name such as "SPC LVP" describes one product from two angles: the shape and the core.
What does AC5 mean in laminate flooring?
It is the fifth of six abrasion classes, and a higher class means more resistance to surface wear. The Swiss Krono MV 803 listing labels its AC5 rating "Commercial Grade", and 23 of our 58 in-stock laminate listings carry AC5 in the name.
What does wire brushed flooring mean?
A wire brush has been run over the boards to take out the soft grain, which leaves a textured surface with more visible depth. Villa and every other engineered board we stock today are wire brushed.
Is a higher IIC number better?
Yes. ASTM E989 says the rating rises as the floor-ceiling structure cuts more impact sound. STC is a separate number: ASTM E413 uses it to compare the potential sound insulation of floors or partitions tested in a lab, so compare IIC with IIC and STC with STC.
How does Egger laminate compare with Swiss Krono?
Compare the spec lines rather than the brand. Egger EM7206 is AC3, 8mm and $1.89 per sq ft; Swiss Krono MV 803 is AC5, 10mm and $2.49 per sq ft.
Ask us about any spec line before you order
If a label still reads like code, send us the product name and the line you are unsure of, and we will go through it with you. You can request a quote online with your room sizes and the floors you are weighing.
Top Floorings Depot
3781 Victoria Park Avenue, Unit 1, Toronto, ON M1W 3K5
www.topfloorings.com
Call: 416-499-0117
Text: 416-770-8819