Laminate Floor Thickness vs. Underlayment Quality

[Mike M.]

I have a rehab that is two weeks from flooring and I'm stuck on the issue of laminate thickness versus underlayment quality. Specifically, can you achieve acceptable feel & noise characteristics with a thin (ex., 7-8 mm) laminate; if so, what quality underlayment is required? As a followup, does thicker laminate allow for a lesser quality underlayment yet provide a similar finished product? My thinking is you get no buyer credit for the pad - only the laminate. So if you can achieve the same product at the same cost using a 12mm and cheap pad, this is better than a 7mm and expensive pad. Right? 140K ARV house - mainly first time homebuyers in my area. Laminate appropriate for neighborhood My assumptions: 1. Thicker laminate is better, all else being equal (how do you verify all else is equal is probably another thread) 2. Underlayment cost is indicative of quality (noise reduction and underfoot feel). I would like to go with TrafficMaster Lakeshore Pecan 7mm in this house. Underlayment costs vary widely (4-5x); I don't want a floor that is noisy or feels cheap, but I also don't want to spend $60/100sqft on an underlayment if I can go cheaper and compensate with a thicker laminate. All experience welcome. Thanks!