Learn how to install laminate floor for a perdurable , attractive , affordable dwelling upgrade . Even father can criticise out the project in a weekend !
If you get laid the look of hardwood floors but feel intimidated by the upkeep orcost , laminate wood floor is an first-class alternative . Prefinished laminate plank floor is easier to instal than hardwood and offers the same luxurious coming into court . The precision - milled tongue - and - channel edges make accurate facility a snap , and a thin , closed - cell polythene froth pad beneath the floor assembly think of you do n’t have to purchase and set up traditional underlayment . The best part ? Even beginners can learn how to install laminate floor , as the project is fairly simple and easy to execute . In fact , it often takes as little as a weekend to deploy the planks .
What is laminate wood flooring made of?
Laminate wood flooring planks are made of medium - density fiberboard ( MDF ) coated in plastic laminate . A polythene foam pad lines the underside of each plank , so freestanding rug pad is unneeded ( and one less project price ! ) . The top laminate looks like random - metric grain Natalie Wood , but its plastic paper makes it scratch- and stain - resistant . The fictile material also makes options like gray or dark shades possible , in addition to more rough-cut light and ardent finishing .
Is laminate flooring a good option for any room?
Installing laminate floor is an economical and durable choice when doing floor renovations . However , while laminate wood flooring is as practical as it is tolerant , there are a few experimental condition that sign laminate may not be the best choice .
Unlike othertypes of flooring , laminate is n’t urge for areas with high moisture level , as panel or boards may swell , shrivel , and expand due to the water or condensing standing at a lower place . The same thing may take place if laminate floor is exposed to unmediated Sunday or extreme heat . choose for different flooring , such as tile for your bathrooms , and check that your basement is juiceless and safe from leaks or implosion therapy before set up laminate wood planks .
How to Prepare a Floor for Laminate Installation
Prepping your base ahead of laminate installation is a must for professional - level resultant . Take the follow measures before installing your new flooring .
What You’ll Need
Equipment / Tools
Materials
Instructions
How to Install Laminate Flooring
Acclimate the Flooring
Your laminate woodwind instrument floor should sit in the room for at least 48 hour before initiation , commit it time to expand or contract in response to the room ’s temperature and humidity . This prevents warp and other problems after installment .
Remove Baseboards
take out the survive baseboard molding using the pry bar . part the skirting board from the wall carefully , coif the piece away for reinstallation . Floating laminate plank ( the form used in this labor ) should be put in over a hard , smooth open , such as vinyl radical . If the existing flooring is damaged , remove it to reveal the subfloor .
Optional: Install the Underlayment
remove the floor of staples , nails , and other debris , then ramble out the carpet pad . Do not overlap adjoining strips . habituate the public utility tongue to cut pieces as call for . The foam carpet pad deadens sound and help oneself the floor palpate more springy and durable .
Many flooring plank descend with underlayment padding already attached to the underside . If you have this type of laminate , you do n’t need to deploy the traditional underlayment .
Plan the Layout
The practiced layout for wood flooring is to lay your planks parallel to the longest and straight rampart . Avoid a narrow strip against the focal point wall — plank in the last row should be at least 2 column inch wide . If the last row will be less than 2 inch wide , add that breadth to the width of a full board and divide by 2 . gash board in the first and last rows to this width . Plan on a 1/4 - inch gap at each rampart .
Cut the First Row
bet on the dimensions of your room , you may need to cut the first row of plank lengthwise . If you ’re using apower saw , make cuts with the finished side down ; if using a carpenter’s saw , cut with the finished side up . Use clamps to steady the floor planks as you turn off them .
Use Spacers to Leave a Gap
Laminate wood flooring kits come with space chips . Wedge these between the paries and the planks to go forth an expansion gap of 1/4 in . The break wo n’t be visible once the skirting board are reattached .
Install the First Row
instal the laminate floor board with the clapper side facing the paries ( some manufacturers advocate you cut off the glossa edge of plank that face paries ) . Connect one board to another by link the knife and groove . You may be able to connect the planks snugly by hand , or you may need to use a pull legal community from the instalment outfit and a hammer to pull them together , or a solicit stop to exploit the joint together . issue the last board in the words to length .
save up fighting pieces if they ’re at least 12 inches long — you’ll be able to use them to start out a new row or to make smaller cut .
Install Additional Rows
keep laying board . As you snap on new quarrel , stagger the seams at least 12 in in adjoining row , much like you ’d see on awood impanel wallor a brick wall . get down a new run-in with the scrap from the plank you trim to terminate the previous row when potential .
Install the Last Row
You ’ll need to slide the planks for the last row of floor into emplacement at an slant , then gently pry them into place with the pry bar . Leave a 1/4 - inch expansion gap between the last row and the wall .
Cut Around Casings
Do n’t seek to cut the plank to tally around door casings . Instead , apply the jamb saw to turn out the door casing about 1/16 - in above the altitude of the flooring , giving the plank room to slue under the casing . To do this , rest a piece of flooring with carpet pad on the floor and against the shell . Rest the jamb saw on top and slue the shell to the desire summit .
Reinstall the Trim
After the planks are in place , reinstall the baseboard moldingusing the hammer and terminate nails . Install brake shoe shape over the expansion articulation and apply transition strips to touch base the laminate to adjoining surfaces , such as tiles or carpet .
When installing trim and transition strip , do n’t boom through the trading floor , just through the trim and rampart .
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes , beginners can find out how to install laminate floor as a DIY projection . The process ask a few basic tool , but nothing a initiate ca n’t deal to finish the update in a day or two .
Laminate flooring facility should follow the longest paries in your room . Begin in the left corner , instal board parallel to the paries .
Take the sentence to thoroughly prep your floor before laying your new laminate floor . You ’ll also want to bring the new flooring indoors at least 48 hours before induction to take into account the plank to acclimate to the temperature and humidity of the room . Additionally , it ’s authoritative to depart room for edge expansion around the perimeter of the elbow room so the planks do n’t buckle or falsify over meter .
Credit: Carson Downing
Credit: Carson Downing
Credit: Carson Downing
Credit: Carson Downing
Credit: Carson Downing
Credit: Carson Downing
Credit: Carson Downing
Credit: Carson Downing
