Flooring 12mil vs 20 mil

Fresno, California
General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Flooring 12mil vs 20 mil

Craig Cann
New to Real Estate · Fresno, CA · Member since 2025 · 49 posts · 29 votes

Hi Everyone,

We are crossing our fingers and hopefully getting are first rental and closing this upcoming week. We are just waiting for the official "clear to close" form our lender. I'm trying to prep as much as possible and looking into flooring. We'd like to do the entire house with the same floor; living room, kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, etc. We want to install something that's gonna last 7-10 years (if that's even possible with a rental).

I am open to all suggestion and type, wear use, size etc. I keep gravitating towards waterproof LVP 20 MIL with attached underlayment. 

What is everyone else putting into your rentals? How long have you had the flooring installed? If you could do it better what would you do differently?

Thanks in advance, Craig 

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JD MartinBusiness Member
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Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 17k+ votes
11mo

Years ago we started with typical laminate. Today I wouldn't use anything that wasn't waterproof. The wear layer being 12 or 20 wouldn't influence me much either way - I haven't had any of our 12 mils wear through yet. Scratches are a bigger issue than wear through. That said, I've got some very inexpensive laminate in some houses (back then, under $1/sf) in bedrooms that still look great now more than a decade later. So it also depends on what room it's going in. Living rooms and kitchens are the hardest on floors in terms of wear. Bathrooms in terms of water exposure. 

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  • Dave Charron
    Investor · Syracuse, NY · Member since 2010 · 166 posts · 76 votes
    11mo

    we use lifeproof Vinyl floors from home depot. 22mil.  Holds up very well

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  • JD MartinBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    11mo

    Years ago we started with typical laminate. Today I wouldn't use anything that wasn't waterproof. The wear layer being 12 or 20 wouldn't influence me much either way - I haven't had any of our 12 mils wear through yet. Scratches are a bigger issue than wear through. That said, I've got some very inexpensive laminate in some houses (back then, under $1/sf) in bedrooms that still look great now more than a decade later. So it also depends on what room it's going in. Living rooms and kitchens are the hardest on floors in terms of wear. Bathrooms in terms of water exposure. 

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  • Craig Cann
    OP
    New to Real Estate · Fresno, CA · Member since 2025 · 49 posts · 29 votes
    11mo

    @Dave Charron

    Thanks! I'll look into that one. 

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  • Craig Cann
    OP
    New to Real Estate · Fresno, CA · Member since 2025 · 49 posts · 29 votes
    11mo

    @JDMartin

    Would you use different types in different parts of the house? Is there any brand you'd recommend?

    Thanks 

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    • JD MartinBusiness Member
      Moderator
      Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 17k+ votes
      11mo
      Quote from @Craig Cann:

      @JDMartin

      Would you use different types in different parts of the house? Is there any brand you'd recommend?

      Thanks 


       The main thing I look at aside from a reasonable wear layer and pattern & texture (hides scratches) is the quality of the locking system. Unless you have a perfectly flat floor, the floating floor is going to flex as people walk on it, put furniture on it, etc, and the worse true your floor is the better that locking system has to be to keep the planks from coming apart. I prefer thicker, hard plastic tongue & grooves to paper/cardboard/rubber as they seem to stay locked together better over time. 

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  • James Mc Ree
    Rental Property Investor · Malvern, PA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 939 votes
    11mo

    I use Lifeproof LVP. No issues with wear with their original 7mil up through 20. Life proof has the color through the plank which keeps the color with scratches.

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  • Craig Cann
    OP
    New to Real Estate · Fresno, CA · Member since 2025 · 49 posts · 29 votes
    11mo

    @James Mc Ree thanks. That brand is about $2.50-3 per sq ft in my market but you're the second person to recommend it. I don't wanna be cheap but I found 'Home Decorators Collection' on sale for Black Friday for only $1.59 per sq ft. its 20mil its also scratch, stain resistant, and waterproof. Our place is 1350 SQ FT and we are already over budget. Do you think they are all the same at the end of the day?

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  • James Mc Ree
    Rental Property Investor · Malvern, PA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 939 votes
    11mo

    @Craig Cann I haven't used the Home Decorators brand, so I can't really comment on it.

    The flooring specialist at Home Depot told me years ago that Lifeproof is solid PVC with the color blended in throughout. He said you can throw it in a lake, pull it out 20 years later, wipe it off and use it like new. I never tested that, but it mostly makes sense. There might be some color loss, but PVC will last forever.

    I've been using it for the last 12 years. The only issue I've ever had is the consideration JD Martin mentioned above regarding the locking mechanism. It broke in a spot at two of my properties. At the worst, we took out that section back to the wall and re-installed new planks. There were some very large people living in the hosue and the floor flexed, breaking the connection. My only disappointment was we couldn't just re-lock the boards in place after taking them up. The locking mechanism wasn't working well on the re-install. The planks would click together, but didn't seem as strongly connected as their original installation.

    The 2nd failure I had was about 6-12" or so in the seam right where my tenants stood in the kitchen to prepare meals. We just pressed the 2 boards down to close the seam with some superglue in between and it worked fine.

    It's also important to make sure your locking mechanism seals against liquids. My tenants as the same house with the failed floor section also had a couple of dogs that peed all over. I did not have good tenants there and they did not clean up after themselves, including spills. There was only a tiny bit of leakage through the planks to the underlying hardwood. That protected me from having to pull it all up.

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  • Craig Cann
    OP
    New to Real Estate · Fresno, CA · Member since 2025 · 49 posts · 29 votes
    11mo

    @James Mc Ree thanks a lot of great info. Thank you very much! 

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  • Isadore Swartz
    Member since 2025 · 45 posts · 47 votes
    11mo

    Cant say how much longer 20 lasts over 12, but I have been using 20 for the last few years (3 rentals now). Look great and make the home show well.

    The cost is not that much more, and you still get to depreciate it so the cost offsets some of the rent income.

    I did have one event to tell you about.  Installed it in a condo, 6 months later a toilet bowl failed and flooded the place.  So much for water proof, the water got under the flooring and vapor barrier.  It still looked great but had to be torn up and replaced to prevent future mold.  Insurance took care of it thankfully.

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  • Craig Cann
    OP
    New to Real Estate · Fresno, CA · Member since 2025 · 49 posts · 29 votes
    11mo

    @Isadore Swartz I thought the same as far as the minimal cost difference. We are definitely leaning towards the 20 mil. 

    Now we can’t decided on the overall thickness. One brand is just less than 1/4” for about $2400 and the other is about 1/2” twice the thickness for about $3300. 

    Thanks for your feedback. 

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    • JD MartinBusiness Member
      Moderator
      Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 17k+ votes
      11mo
      Quote from @Craig Cann:

      @Isadore Swartz I thought the same as far as the minimal cost difference. We are definitely leaning towards the 20 mil. 

      Now we can’t decided on the overall thickness. One brand is just less than 1/4” for about $2400 and the other is about 1/2” twice the thickness for about $3300. 

      Thanks for your feedback. 


       Assuming the floor is reasonably true thicker is better as it will have less deflection, and deflection is what's going to wear out/break your locking mechanism. 1/2" thick LVP is a pretty good thickness as most brands are about 6-8 millimeters thick (about 1/4"). If you're installing it yourself 1/2" thick LVP will be a lot tougher to install because thicker means more rigid, which makes locking the planks more difficult, but if someone else is installing it's pretty much a no-brainer. 

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  • James Mc Ree
    Rental Property Investor · Malvern, PA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 939 votes
    11mo

    Keep in mind that 2" oak hardwood installed in 1950 was only 5/16" thick total and is still in service in a lot of homes today. A 1/4" wear layer may only last you 75 years. 8-) The hardwood can be refinished while LVP cannot. I would go with the $2,400 1/4" between those choices.

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