Floating Laminate Floor Installation
© 2008 by Kelly Smith all rights reserved
Laminate flooring has become the flooring material of choice for many homeowners in the past several
years. There are many good reasons for this. Notably, it needs very little maintenance (unlike carpet) ,
it is incredibly durable, and it comes in a vast array of colors/styles.
Since being introduced to the US back in 1982, laminate flooring sales has seen a growth of up to
twenty per cent per year. This article is a step by step guide on how to install laminate flooring and
underlayment in your home.
Tools and Materials for This DIY Project
This type of job is much easier than installing hardwood floors. Many of the tools are the same.
- Rubber mallet
- Laminate flooring pull bar
- Tape measure
- Coping saw
- Utility knife
- Chopsaw, radial arm saw, or table saw.
- Laminate flooring planks
- Underlayment
Buying Project Materials
Whatever you do, don’t buy cheap planks, but do look for a laminate flooring sale. Look for a
brand name like Bruce, Armstrong, Pergo, Quickstep, or Mannington.
Likewise, when purchasing underlayment, go for quality. Buy a thicker type with the vapor barrier
attached. Some manufacturers recommend 3 in 1 underlayment. Regardless, ask about the acoustical
qualities. Quiet Walk and Whisper Walk are both good brands.
Determine Square Footage
In order to know how much laminate flooring and underlayment pad to buy you’ll need the square
footage. To get this simply measure the area’s footage right to left and then forward and back.
Multiply those figures together and that is your square footage.
It’s prudent to add at least 5% to 10% to that figure to allow for scraps.
Prepare Your Floor
If you’ve got another type of flooring, this is the time to get rid of it. Pull up your old
carpet and padding. Remove all of the tack strips around the room’s perimeter. You may need to
scrape the floor to get rid of any padding sticking to it.Vacuum it well. If there are any noticeable
dips, level them out. On a concrete slab, thinset may be skimmed on it.
Vacuum it well. If there are any noticeable dips, level them out. On a concrete slab, thinset may be
skimmed on it. On a plywood subfloor, use a non-shrinking wood putty.
Baseboard and Door Jambs
Remove the baseboards. You may be able to save these if you’re careful. Now use the coping saw
to cut off the bottoms of door jambs, case openings, etc. This will probably be 1/4”
to 3/8” dependent on the combined thickness of the floor planks and underlayment pad.
Time to Install the Flooring!
The first thing to do is roll out the underlayment pad with the vapor barrier faced up. Connect
the pieces together with wide, clear, plastic tape.
Laminate flooring is a type of “floating floor”, meaning that it is all connected to
itself but not secured to the subfloor. With this in mind, leave 1/4” clearance at each wall.
On the initial wall where you start, use spacers that you can pull out before
installing the baseboards.
Getting Started and Running With It!
In most cases, you can just start with a full-width plank on one wall. How your laminate planks
connect depends on the brand you buy but they are all rather simple; most simply snap together. Remember
to stagger the joints.
Installation Tips the Instructions Wont Tell You
Things will get tricky as you go through doorways; the manufacturer’s instructions most likely
won’t tell you about this because it impedes sales to DIY’ers.
In some circumstances the best solution is to use your utility knife to trim the snapping connections
on the adjoining planks so that they can slide together. In this case, use a few drops of wood glue to
keep them together.
Finishing up - Install the Baseboards
Once you’re done with installing the laminate flooring planks you can get on your baseboards.
If you’ve been careful with the removal you can reuse them. Otherwise, decide on which
type
of baseboard you want to install.
Keep in mind; only nail into the framing bottom plate and studs. Keep your laminate floating!
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