Laminate Flooring Thickness Guide

Laminate flooring comes in several thicknesses including 7mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and even 15mm; but what exactly do the different thicknesses mean? Are they a guide to quality, durability, price or any other factor that might be really important when making your choice?

The bottom line when it comes to laminate flooring is that how it is made doesn’t change depending on the thickness of the board. Laminate flooring production is a clever process that involves four different layers. There’s the core layer, the backing layer, the décor layer and the wear layer. The core layer, as you’d expect is what gives the board its strength and stability. The backing layer provides support, the décor layer is what gives the floor its great looks and the wear layer is what protects your floor from day-to-day harm as well as making it easy to clean and maintain.

When you choose a laminate flooring solution, one of the first things that is likely to affect your decision is the décor layer – that’s to say, what the floor looks like. If you’re like most people, when you imagine your room, you have a mental picture of what you want your floor to look like. It may be that you want a rich, dark honey coloured wood look or you might want more of a light, bright, white washed look. Either way, with our range of laminate flooring which you can find here, you’ll be able to find exactly what you’re looking for.

When it comes to the thickness of the flooring you choose, if you choose the same flooring from the same manufacturer, only in a different thickness, there will normally be no noticeable impact on quality. What you may see is a slightly reduced price for a thinner option, but again this isn’t always the case. Ultimate durability is even unlikely to be affected by the thickness, as long as you choose well.

The main things that you need to consider when choosing the thickness of your laminate floor are the evenness of your subfloor and any reason you may have to be worrying about noise reduction.

If you have a subfloor that is in any way uneven, it pays off to choose a thicker laminate. It is also advisable that if you live in an apartment or are flooring an upstairs room and want to reduce noise in the rooms below, then a thicker laminate of 12mm or 15mm thick is advised.

However, if you have a perfectly even subfloor and have no concerns about noise transfer from floor to floor or from room to room, then you could more than likely get away with a thinner option such as 8mm thick. However, what you should always take into account and seek advice from your supplier on is the footfall you have in the room. Why? Because laminate flooring has what’s called an AC resistance level and it is advisable to choose the right AC level to suit your anticipated footfall.

As you will see, at Wood and Beyond, for now we’ve decided to offer 8mm and 12mm board thicknesses. In our view, these two options mean there’s something for everyone at prices that are accessible to every budget. For us, this means win/win, because you get a great floor and we’re not holding stocks that have only (literally) a millimetre of difference between them when in actual fact that millimetre isn’t in a game changer. It’s thinking this way that enables us to keep our prices so low and keep delivering the quality that you need and want.

If you’d like to find out more about this new laminate kid on the Wood and Beyond block, why not get in touch? Or hit the red FREE sample button on any of the product pages and see how great this solution is for yourself. We just know that you’re going to love this laminate flooring we’ve tracked down for you.