Choosing SPC Flooring Thickness in Kenya: 4mm, 5mm or 6mm

You have settled on the colour. Then the counter asks whether you want 4mm, 5mm or 6mm, and the price moves by KSh 800 a square metre depending on your answer. On a three-bedroom house that is real money, and most buyers have nothing to go on beyond a feeling that thicker must be better.

Here is what those numbers actually describe, and how to choose without overpaying.

Reading the box: what [4+1]mm means

Look at the dimension line on any SPC card in our SPC Flooring range. Tsavo is listed at 930 × 465 × [4+1]mm. European Series: Rome is listed at 1524 × 182 × [4.5+1.5mm].

The bracket is not a wear layer figure. It is the rigid core plus the pad already bonded to the back of the plank:

• the first number is the stone plastic composite core, the rigid part that carries the traffic
• the second number is the IXPE backing, a closed-cell foam attached at the factory

So Tsavo is a 4mm core on a 1mm cushion, which puts it in the 5mm band. Rome is a 4.5mm core on a 1.5mm cushion, which is why it sits in the 6mm band and why its product sheet also reads 1524 × 182 × 6mm.

Where the wear layer actually sits

The wear layer is a third, separate figure: the clear film over the printed decor that takes the scuffing. It decides how long the pattern survives a passage or a shop floor, and it is not the second number in the bracket.

Our Afeef Premium SPC sheet spells all three out for FH-2438: click lock system, thickness 4.0mm + 1.0mm IXPE, wear layer 0.2mm.

Two floors both sold as 5mm can carry very different wear layers, so ask for that figure separately, and ask for the AC class alongside it. The Luxury 4mm and 5mm sheets quote AC3 (Class 23/31), described as moderately trafficked living rooms, conservatories and hallways, with E1 formaldehyde emission below 0.75 parts per million.

Which band suits which room

4mm: bedrooms and small offices

Residential and light-use areas, with a strong price-to-performance ratio. The titles in this band include the YK planks: YK11, Dryback Series: YK012, YK015, YK16, Dryback Series: YK17 and Dryback Series: YK018, all at KSh 2,000 per m².

Confirm two figures before you order in this band. The catalogue dimension line for these planks reads 914.4 × 150 × 2.5mm with 2.78 m² per box, while our 4mm product sheet reads 150 × 914 × 4mm with 1.37 m² and 10 pieces per box. Those two give very different box counts, so ask us in writing for the thickness and the pack size of the exact colour you have chosen before you convert square metres into boxes.

5mm: living rooms and kitchens

Suited to medium traffic zones, with better comfort underfoot and improved subfloor coverage. This is the band carrying the Kenyan names: Tsavo, Samburu, MT Kenya, MT Kilimanjaro and Amboseli, listed at 930 × 465 × [4+1]mm and KSh 2,000 per m². Some 5mm lines are also produced in a narrower plank of 1220 × 182 × (4+1)mm, so check the format as well as the band.

The Elite 5mm planks are a different shape again: 1220 × 184 × 5mm, KSh 2,125 per m² for colours such as SPC 5mm: Shadowed Timber Grey [YC009] and SPC 5mm ;Heritage Oak [YC-011], and KSh 1,850 per m² for SPC : Aquatone [YC002].

6mm: shops, offices and anywhere with a queue

Designed for busy areas such as commercial premises. The European Series: London, European Series: Paris, European Series: Madrid, European Series: Berlin and European Series: Viena all sit here with Rome at 1524 × 182 × [4.5+1.5mm], 2.22 m² per box, KSh 2,800 per m². The extra half millimetre of core and the thicker pad are what stand up to trolleys, chair castors and a full day of customers.

The price difference in real numbers

Take a 30 m² sitting room. At KSh 2,000 per m², the Luxury 4mm and 5mm bands both come to KSh 60,000 for material. The same room in European Series: London at KSh 2,800 per m² is KSh 84,000, a difference of KSh 24,000.

Two things follow. First, in the Luxury range 5mm is not dearer than 4mm, so unless the plank format is what you are after, there is little reason to specify 4mm for a room you actually live in. Second, the step up to 6mm is a genuine KSh 800 per m², so spend it where there is traffic to justify it rather than in the guest bedroom.

Budget the trims before you compare quotes. SPC Quarter Round [Rome] and SPC Stairnose [Rome] are 2.4 m pieces at KSh 1,500 each, and SPC T Moulding- Tana is KSh 1,200 per piece. On a house with several doorways and a staircase, trims are not a rounding error.

Subfloor: thickness will not rescue a bad screed

The IXPE pad on the back of the plank hides fine grain in the screed and quietens footfall. It does not level a floor.

SPC is rigid. Lay it over a hollow and it bridges rather than follows, so the click joint above that spot flexes every time somebody walks on it. Sooner or later the joint opens or the edge chips.

Our Elite SPC installation note is the whole rule in one line: prepare the subfloor so it is clean, dry and level, lay an underlay where you want extra sound insulation or cushioning, then click the planks with tight, even joints and trim at the edges and corners.

In practice, on a Kenyan build:

• have your fundi run a straight edge across the screed in both directions and fill the hollows before a single box is opened
• let a fresh screed dry properly. During the long rains that takes longer than the programme allows for
• on ground-floor slabs, and anywhere at the coast, deal with damp in the slab first rather than hoping the plank will cover it
• if the subfloor is stubborn, the 5mm and 6mm bands help slightly, because their sheets quote a bonded pad of 1mm and 1.5mm while the 4mm planks are quoted as a single 4mm figure. Slightly, not a lot

Waterproof core, and where laminate belongs instead

SPC is waterproof, scratch resistant, hard wearing and installed by interlocking, which is what makes it the sensible pick for kitchens, ground-floor rooms and anything that gets washed down. The Elite YC planks are quoted as 100 per cent waterproof on the click lock system, and the Luxury 4mm and 5mm sheets carry a 10-year warranty.

Laminate is what most buyers compare on price. River Series [Nile] is KSh 1,850 per m² at 1215 × 195 × 8.3mm and the print is convincing, but the core is high-density fibreboard, which is wood. Our guidance there is 8mm for residential and light commercial areas and 12mm for premium residential and commercial. Keep laminate upstairs and dry, and put SPC where water goes.

What to do next

1. Measure room by room and write down the doorways, because that is where thresholds and T-mouldings go.
2. Set the band per room, not per house: 4mm or 5mm in bedrooms, 5mm in the sitting room and kitchen, 6mm for a shop, office or reception.
3. Ask us in writing for the wear layer figure and the AC class of the exact colour you have chosen.
4. Get the screed straight-edged and dry before you order, and allow for offcuts, particularly in rooms with many cuts or a diagonal lay.
5. Add stairnose, T-moulding and quarter round to the quotation so you are comparing like with like.
6. Send your take-off and ask for a sample plank of the shortlisted colours before you commit.

Samples of every band are on the counter in Nairobi at Darosa Plaza, Ground Floor, Karen Road, and in Mombasa opposite Ratna Square. Bring your measurements and we will work the box count, the trims and the delivery with you.