8mm and 12mm Laminate Flooring: What is the difference?

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laminate flooring

When planning to renovate your home, flooring is the most crucial part that one cannot miss. There are numerous options to choose from such as solid wood, vinyl, laminate and engineered wood flooring.

Homeowners like to have the best quality flooring that can last long and add to the aesthetics of their dream home. These days herringbone engineered flooring is trending.

If you are considering laminate wood flooring for your home or office renovation, then you will have to decide on the thickness of the flooring before purchasing it. It can be overwhelming to find so many options available to select, ranging from the 6mm, 8mm, 10mm to 12mm thick flooring. Which one would be ideal for your requirement?

Laminate flooring

Your choice will depend on your budget apart from other considerations. It is recommended not to purchase laminate with thickness less than 8mm as it’s not worth it.

After installation all these options look similar and it is almost impossible to point out the difference. But yes, the thickness matters and can really make a big difference.

The thickness of the flooring is measured from the base of the plank to the top of it. First, let’s talk about the cost. As the thickness increases, the flooring becomes expensive.

The thicker the laminate, it feels more like a solid wood flooring underfoot. Also, thickness impacts the aesthetics and durability of the flooring.

Which one is better – 8mm or 12mm Laminate Flooring?

Let’s consider the difference between the most popular laminate thickness available – 8mm and 12mm.

  • Since 12mm laminate flooring is thicker than the 8mm option, it feels much more comfortable when you walk around.
  • The more the thickness, the higher is the impact resistance. If any object falls on the surface, its impact would be less on the thicker floorboards.
  • 8mm laminate flooring would be noisier than the 12mm one because of the thickness difference. You would hear echo when you walk on the thinner one.
  • Thicker flooring can hide the subfloor imperfections making the installation look impeccable.

When it comes to cost, 6 to 8mm laminates can help you save money as they are cheaper options. With each mm increase, the price also increases. Thus 12mm will be costlier than the thinner versions. But as mentioned above 12mm laminate have advantages over the thinner versions. So it is recommended that you choose the thicker laminate, which will be durable and will last longer.

Are you looking to buy laminate wood flooring? Floorsave offers an extensive range of flooring options to choose from. Ranging from solid wood, vinyl click, engineered wood flooring to oak herringbone flooring, they have  a wide selection of cost effective styles in unlimited colours and finishes. They also have an amazing collection of herringbone pattern in all the above mentioned materials.

You can explore their wide range of engineered parquet flooring. In the laminate section, they have 12mm laminate flooring styles available. With simple click lock system, laminate flooring is super easy to install. It is scratch resistant and durable and is affordable as well.

For those looking for darker flooring ideas, Versailles Walnut Herringbone Laminate in 12mm thickness could be an ideal choice. The thickness makes it hardwearing. It is low maintenance and easy to clean flooring. It comes with 12 year guarantee. 

Let’s dive a little deeper and understand the difference that the thickness can bring about in your flooring.

Solid wood look

The thicker floorboards can offer the look and feel of solid wood floors. When you opt for thicker versions, you will get a wide range of designs to select from, especially the embossed ones. Thinner boards look cheap and feel like plastic underfoot.

More the thickness, higher is the sound absorption


As the thickness increases, the capacity of sound absorption too rises. The reason for this is the high density fibre core; it doesn’t let sound transfer through the boards. This makes it less noisier as compared to thinner floorboards.

Higher impact resistance


As mentioned above, the thicker floorboards will be more impact resistant than 8mm. If a sharp object fell accidentally on the 12mm laminate, it will have negligible impact on it. This makes 12mm floorboards apt for high traffic areas.

Can hide subfloor imperfections


Thicker the boards, easier it it to hide the subfloor imperfections.12mm floorboards can be installed effortlessly compared to thinner ones. For 8mm thick boards, you need to have perfectly flat and levelled subfloor.

Thickness is directly proportionate to longevity so it becomes an important consideration before making the final buying decision. Thinner options are budget friendly but offer a short term solution, the 12mm laminate is high quality, durable and offers a long term flooring solution.