Laminate Flooring thickness matters?

[bustednutz]

Its time to do my floors. Going over a concrete slab. Will be using a vapor barrier, quality padding, and I'd like to use a 12mm plank.
Question is this: How much of a"real" difference does thickness of the laminate make?
Will sound transfer and feel be noticably different between an 8mm plank vs. a 12 mm plank?

I know LOTS of you have experience here, so I'm looking for all opinions. The only reason I want to know is due to the fact that some of the flooring I like doesn't come as thick as 12mm
Oh and one more thing, is pre-attached padding any worse then roll out padding?

 

[jorton]

I have used 7, 8, and 11mm snap together flooring. The 11mm is commercial grade and it was not exactly DIY. It took 2 people to install it. In my mobile home the 11mm feels and sounds best. 7 and 8mm will conform to the flatness of the sub-floor. If the sub-floor is not flat cement board should be used. Take special care to get edges and ends close to the walls, or base boards may not cover(overlap) edges or ends of the new floor. Good luck!

 

[bepperb]

If it's a basement floor consider Platon or whatever the dimpled membrane goes by in your area. I used it at our current house, didn't at the last house, and the difference in temperature is considerable, plus the ability for water to flow beneath it. I think I did dimpled membrane, 7/16 OSB, 7mm laminate.

That being said once you get past the super cheap stuff the difference in thickness doesn't seem to matter to me. I've done attached and roll down padding and I preferred the attached, though I think the quality of it matters more than if it's attached or not. And the surface you're installing it to matters even more than that.

Best of luck, take your time.

 

[dernp]

I've installed floors for over 30 yrs. Laminate is ideal over concrete. If your basement is dry, you really only need 15 lb felt paper (roofing paper). Let price dictate thickness. Installing shoe mold plus base board will be your best bet.

 

[pandus13]

may i suggest stevesrt8?
he has a carpet cleaning business, but he saw the result of many laminate installations. some of it in the luxe/high money category.

good luck and take your time. you are doing it for you.

 

[bustednutz]

Its going on the main floor concrete slab. Not a basement. So not moisture issues to deal with. Still gonna do a vapor barrier though.

 

[Thermo1223]

Concrete slab or basement matters not you will still get moisture.

You need a product that seals the concrete prevent ground moisture from permeating through. They apparently make 2 in 1 glue & sealer now. That is direct wood contact though...

I've seem laminate installed(as well as carpet) with XPS foam on the slab with all joints sealed/taped so no moisture could get through and no heat loss. That will ensure a warm floor and you could forgo need laminate with padding attached.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: dernp
I've installed floors for over 30 yrs. Laminate is ideal over concrete. If your basement is dry, you really only need 15 lb felt paper (roofing paper). Let price dictate thickness. Installing shoe mold plus base board will be your best bet.


Once considering the cost of tar'd felt foam is only slightly more expensive and a far better product to use.
I'm a journeyman carpenter. We build everything from multi unit residential to 10000 sq/ft customs with elevators to get up and down.
When it comes to doing floors going cheap never pays off unless its a flip with no warranty expressed or implied.
We use felt under hardwood however its for moisture,laminate is a completely different application and different ruled need to be adhered to.
Using felt over concrete is a bad idea. Laminate needs a vapour seal. That's why the specialized foam underlay will have tape t the seams. It's usually not very good so I used the red tape that's commonly used to seal the seams of house wrap and vapour barrier to insure a consistent and positive seal.
I'll never use just felt. I don't need the headache of a customer complaining about why the floor makes cracking sounds under foot. It also helps with the cold.
I understand why some folks only do the bare minimum required however the way I see it for only a few dollars more you can provide a product that performs far better than the minimum.
When I worked in Detroit I was in awe of their building practices. Their codes are so absurd when it comes to insulation new homes reminded me of doing renos on houses built in the 50s.
Paper backed insulation stapled to studs,no vapour barrier anywhere. 2x4 exterior walls which translates to R-13 insulation value. Ant the most absurd practice I saw was running heat ducting up the exterior wall which basically cools the air before it gets upstairs to heat the upper rooms. Absolutely the most lax and poorest building practices I've ever seen.
They allow 2x10 to span 16',which translates to a trampoline for a floor. Here we don't even use dimensional lumber for floors anymore. We haven't for a decade. Can't get open concept main floors when you need load bearing walls every 12'.
Spend the extra pennies.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: bustednutz
Its time to do my floors. Going over a concrete slab. Will be using a vapor barrier, quality padding, and I'd like to use a 12mm plank.
Question is this: How much of a"real" difference does thickness of the laminate make?
Will sound transfer and feel be noticably different between an 8mm plank vs. a 12 mm plank?

I know LOTS of you have experience here, so I'm looking for all opinions. The only reason I want to know is due to the fact that some of the flooring I like doesn't come as thick as 12mm
Oh and one more thing, is pre-attached padding any worse then roll out padding?



The rolls of foam will provide a proper vapour seal,eliminating the need for a vapour barrier. Thicker laminate is better. It will deflect less and seems to be less noisy when walked on.
The foam backed stuff is a gimmick. Don't waste your money.