Laminate Flooring Questions

islander222

Hi,
We're about to take up the carpet in the living room and replace with laminate flooring. We've got a colour in mind that we both like but the two places that offer that colour have it in different specifications.
One is 12mm with AC3 rating and the other is 8mm with AC4 rating.

I understand that the AC4 spec is better but I'm not sure what the thickness offers or in our case what would we lose by going with the 8mm flooring? Is it important for noise reduction?

Also the flooring is a 'Natures Choice' brand - would anyone have an idea if thats a good brand?

Thanks,

tenbob1

"Natures Choice" is the name of the decor or range, not the name of the brand. The brand is "Krono-swiss", and yes its a good brand. Depending on the colour way you like, the exact same colour may come in 8mm/10mm and 12mm, in varying plank widths. I can check for you if you PM me the colour.

12mm AC3 floors are in my opnion left over from when shops sold laminates based on thickness alone. AC4 trumps any AC3 floor by a lot, its not just 20% better. See a post of mine from last summer on this. I would definately recommend an AC4 8mm floor, and if noise is a concern, you should be able to see a selection of noise reduction underlays in the store, go for 23dB.

tenbob1 wrote: »

Hi,

The thickness of a floor really does not reflect the quality. The simple most important part of the board is the AC rating. The best quality flooring that I sell is 3mm thick, and is currently being used in Next/Dunnes Stores etc.

Go for the AC4 rated floor ahead of the 12 mm AC3 rated board, there is currently some 12mm AC4 rated boards appearing, really because customers are getting wiser, and the concept of the thicker board is better quality is waning somewhat. If you are worried about the solid feel of the floor, go for a 23dB rated underlay, it easily makes up for it.

Bear in mind that an AC4 floor is not 20% better, its 100% better.

Here is the ratings.


Rating
AC 1 ≥900
AC 2 ≥1,500
AC 3 ≥2,000
AC 4 ≥4,000
AC 5 ≥6,000

mags345

i had the exact same question. Thats reassuring to hear that thicker is not better all the time.

goat2

is the laminate as hard wearing as linoleum, is it suitable where pets are concerned, i have a few pets and if there were an accident would the wee go through the joinings, my pets are always in sitting room with us, and i would like to know if it is suitable for the purpose,
does it stand up to heavy traffic

tenbob1

If you buy a quality product then your should have zero liquid going between the joints. However the main problem we have come across in the past, is that pet urine can stain floors.

Yea, a good laminate will work for you, having said that, if it was me, then where pets are concerned I would be more inclined to use linoleum.