Many homeowners choose laminate flooring to give the illusion of wooden flooring without the expensive price tag. This type of flooring looks much like wood, but is much more durable and manageable for everyday use. Laminate looks great in almost every room of your home and is most effective for areas that are prone to moisture. These areas include bathrooms and basements where it is not recommended having solid wood flooring. A great benefit of this flooring option is that maintenance and upkeep are easy with all the new dusting sweepers available. The only factor that should be considered before you purchase such flooring is your desired thickness.
This type of flooring is normally measured in millimeters, which is a very small-scale measurement. Most brands of laminate flooring have the thickness measurement labeled on the packages or in the description next to their packaging. This measurement is of the entire plank thickness including attached pads. This means that the plank measurement given by the manufacturer does not involve just the core of the plank. The thicker the plank, the more resistant the flooring becomes to fracture from a dropped object and because plank is thicker, sound does not travel as well. Take note that if laminate is thicker, it does not necessarily mean that it is better, a thicker laminate could also be manufactured with lower quality materials.
Durability of laminate flooring is not always associated with thickness. However, thickness is an important variable to consider when looking for durable flooring options. If you purchase thicker laminate, you will be assured that falling objects will be less likely to cause fracture to your flooring planks. For this reason, a laminate floor of thickness is often recommended. Its thickness will also be able to withstand high levels of foot traffic without sustaining abrasions and markings. In most cases, 12 millimeter floor planks are considered thick enough to endure most types of stresses that are common for laminate floors.
However, thickness is only relevant if the floor planks are made of good quality. Thick planks that are made with low quality materials will not yield the desired results. If you have the high quality 10 millimeter floor planks, this would be better than 12 millimeter floor planks made from materials that are not as durable. Good quality thick laminate floor planks will be easier to install and last much longer than other flooring options. Therefore, the benefits to having thick laminate floors are much greater than other floor options of other thickness measurements.