Why does flooring thickness vary in our lineup?

Urban Surfaces offers a variety of flooring collections with various degrees of thickness. But before you assume thicker is better, you should consider usage, flooring construction and the type of installation method.

Flooring Thickness In GlueDown LVT.

For this type, thicker flooring reduces what’s called “telegraphing,” when you can see the subfloor irregularities through the flooring. Without thicker flooring, it would not be a pretty sight. But sometimes too much thickness can also be a bad thing. For more structural support, thick wear layers must have a thicker base construction. For example, a plank with a 2mm thick base is unable to have a 20 mil wear layer. Why? The wear layer is so strong it would cause the 2mm base to curl and warp. To accommodate a 20 mil wear layer, the base thickness should be increased to 3mm. Urban Surfaces GlueDown LVT product thickness:
  • Studio LVT – 2mm
  • Main Street – 2mm
  • City Heights – 2mm
  • Level 7 – 3mm

Flooring Thickness In Click/Floating Floor.

Thicker flooring with denser materials strengthens the click system. On the other hand, a thin core weakens the click system, making it unable to stay together. For that reason, Urban Surfaces products come with a core thickness measuring no less than 4mm. Among other flooring brands, the core thickness measures 3mm. That’s too thin. Based on what we’ve seen, those products tend to fail prematurely. Besides overall thickness, the core material plays a big role in the making of a strong click system. Dense by nature, limestone serves as an excellent base material in flooring. Stone polymer composite (SPC) consists of over 60% limestone. By comparison, wood polymer composite (WPC) is made with 20% – 30% limestone, mixed with foaming agents for thickness. Can WPC flooring match the strength of SPC click systems? Yes. But, the wood polymer composite would need to be milled to be much thicker, increasing costs. Urban Surfaces Click/Floating floor product thickness:
  • Studio SPC: 5mm (4mm core + 1mm foam pad underlayment)
  • Sound-Tec: 6mm (4.5mm core + 1.5mm foam pad underlayment)
  • Sound-Tec Plus: 6mm (4.5mm core + 1.5mm foam pad underlayment)
  • Sound-Tec Tile: 6mm (4.5mm core + 1.5mm foam pad underlayment)
  • SurfaceGuard: 8mm (6.5mm core + 1.5mm foam pad underlayment)

Flooring Thickness In LooseLay Vinyl

Our LooseLay flooring measures 5mm thick, which enables it to:
  1. Mask subfloor inconsistencies.
  2. Float evenly over existing hard surface floor covering.
  3. Lie flat with minimal adhesive.
A LooseLay plank is like a “double thick” GlueDown LVT plank with a fiberglass mesh sheet running through the core for stability. Urban Surfaces LooseLay Floor product thickness: InstaGrip – 5mm