Open an LVT flooring quote and you will often find the same product line split into 3T, 4T and 5T. The thicker one usually costs more, and the decision tends to rest on the assumption that the more expensive one lasts longer.
Yet what thickness actually changes is rarely spelled out in the catalogue. A single number reads as if it stands for the whole product, but in flooring, thickness is one property among several.
What Thickness Decides — and What It Does Not
LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) is built by pressing several layers together. From the top: a surface coating, a wear layer and a design layer, with backing layers stacked beneath them.
When a product moves from 3T to 5T, most of the added material sits in the backing. The wear layer — the part that actually erodes at the surface — does not thicken in proportion.
So "thicker wears less" is only half true. Even at 5T, a thin wear layer shows surface damage first in a busy space.
It is not the thick floor that lasts, but the thick wear layer.
Wear layer thickness is listed separately from overall thickness on the product data sheet. The two numbers mean different things, so check both while reviewing a quote.
How Standards Treat Thickness
Where a floor covering may be laid is set by its use class. The Korean adopted standard is KS K ISO 10874, which follows the same classification system as ISO 10874.
The first digit indicates the setting, the second the intensity of use. Busy offices and shops take 33 as the baseline, and areas with trolley traffic call for 34 or above.
This is where overall thickness is needed. Because the classification uses nominal minimum overall thickness as one of its conditions, a thin product struggles to reach a high class even with the same wear layer.
For the product specification itself, KS M 3802 (PVC floor coverings) is the one to consult. Indentation and residual indentation are among its test items, and its recent revision reorganised the slip resistance and lightweight impact sound reduction tests.
Placing the Three Thicknesses Side by Side
3T · 4T · 5T Specification Comparison
Compiled from the catalogue specifications of products distributed in Korea. Even at the same thickness, dimensions differ by manufacturer and product line.
| 기준 | 3T | 4T | 5T |
|---|---|---|---|
| One box, 600 mm square | 9 pcs · 3.24 ㎡ | 7 pcs · 2.52 ㎡ | 5–6 pcs · 1.80–2.16 ㎡ |
| Anti-telegraphing layer | Rarely listed separately | Varies by product | Listed as a separate layer |
| Availability in Korea | Widest | Few suppliers | Mainstay for commercial work |
Why 4T Is Rare, and Where It Fits
Few suppliers in Korea carry 4T. As 3T and 5T settled in as the mainstream, fewer lines kept the middle format in production.
So 4T is a format to start by checking stock for. The colour range is also narrower than 3T or 5T.
The place 4T occupies sits between 3T and 5T. What shows on a thin product is not only wear but telegraphing, and the fact that manufacturers give 5T a dedicated anti-telegraphing layer takes that weakness of 3T as its premise.
Moving up to 5T, however, raises the cost with it. Read the 4T catalogue and you can see the effort to secure as much performance as possible while keeping value for money — a thick top layer and a high-density core — with education facilities and commercial or office spaces of heavy foot traffic named as suitable settings.
On top of that, where the finish height is already fixed by overlay work, a millimetre can decide the choice. That, however, is a secondary reason — the main case for 4T is the trade-off between telegraphing and cost.
What Thickness Does on a Site with a Poor Subfloor
In refurbishment work the complaint that comes up most often is not wear but telegraphing — unevenness, joints and nail marks in the subfloor showing through to the floor surface over time.
The thinner the product, the more faithfully it reproduces that unevenness. This is why 5T-class products carry a separate anti-telegraphing layer and show it in their structure diagram.
Thickness does not, however, replace subfloor preparation. Levelling the substrate is required whatever thickness is used.
These figures compare one manufacturer's own lines with each other. Laboratory conditions differ from real spaces, and figures from different manufacturers were not measured under the same conditions, so they cannot be compared across brands.
Surface scratching is a separate axis. EN 16094, cited by Korean manufacturers, is originally a micro-scratch test method for laminate floor coverings. A specified pad is drawn across the surface for 160 cycles at a force of 4 newtons, and the result is graded from B1, no scratching, to B5, very heavy scratching.
Values obtained by applying this method to LVT are best read as a reference indicator. No matching Korean standard exists for this property, so manufacturers borrow the European one.
What Thickness Does Not Solve
A common question is whether more thickness will also deal with noise. Without an underlay, thickening the finish alone does not meaningfully reduce impact sound transmitted to the floor below.
Lightweight impact sound is measured on site to KS F 2810-1 and rated to KS F 2863-1. The performance comes from the underlay and the floor structure beneath the finish, not from the thickness of the finish.
The same holds for room reverberation. Hard floor coverings contribute almost nothing to sound absorption, so controlling reverberation means securing absorptive area on the ceiling and walls.
If the floor finish is still undecided, start with Office Flooring Compared — Carpet Tile vs LVT, which sets noise and underfoot feel side by side.
The Order of Decisions
Thickness is the last value to be fixed. Confirm the foot traffic, the state of the subfloor and the finish height you can afford, and the options usually narrow to one.
Choosing Thickness by Site Condition
Overlay work · light traffic
Spaces where the covering goes over an existing finish with almost no level headroom
Where 3T feels risky and 5T feels excessive
Education, office and commercial spaces with heavy traffic, where telegraphing makes 3T hard to justify
Commercial space · refurbishment
Shops and office lobbies with heavy traffic, or older buildings with a poor subfloor
Areas with frequent equipment movement
Areas with trolley traffic, or where heavy fittings stand in one place for long periods
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1Does thicker LVT always last longer?
Q2We want 4T but can hardly find products.
Q3Does thicker LVT reduce impact noise between floors?
Q4Can it be laid straight over an existing floor?
Q5Where do I check the use class?
Carpet Tile Formats and Thickness — How to Read a Spec Sheet
Alternative Flooring Types as Substitutes for Hardwood Floors
Glossary
- LVT — Luxury Vinyl Tile. A resilient floor covering made by pressing several layers together.
- Wear layer — The clear layer above the design layer. It is the part actually consumed as the surface wears.
- Use class — The classification showing which settings and intensities of use a floor covering suits.
- Telegraphing — Unevenness or joints in the subfloor showing through to the finished surface.
- Residual indentation — How much of a mark remains after a load is placed and removed.
- Plank — A long board-shaped floor covering, as distinct from a square tile.
References
- KS K ISO 10874 — Resilient, textile and laminate floor coverings, Classification (KSSN)
- KS M 3802 — PVC vinyl floor coverings (KSSN)
- KS K ISO 24343-1 — Resilient and laminate floor coverings, determination of indentation and residual indentation
- ISO 10874:2009 — Resilient, textile and laminate floor coverings, Classification
- EN 16094:2021 — Laminate floor coverings, micro-scratch resistance
- Hyundai L&C GoldTile Classic · Noble · Relic catalogues / LX Hausys Prestige · Prestige Special catalogues — dimensions, packaging units and manufacturer in-house test values (verified August 2026).