How to Install Laminated Flooring Guide

Laminated floors are beautiful and will improve the look of any home or office. Installation of laminated floors is not incredibly simple, however, you can carry out this task all by yourself if you follow this guide closely. This is how to install laminated flooring.

STEP 1 - PREPARING THE FLOOR

The bottom line here is, whatever is down on top of the subfloor needs to come up. If you have carpet and padding, this is usually an easy task, just be sure to remove any tacks or carpet nails stuck into the sub floor. If the padding is glued down, you must get a scraper to remove this and any excess glue. The sub floor must be as smooth as possible and may require you to use a machine that will buff the sub floor smooth.

STEP 2 - REPAIR PLYWOOD SUBFLOORING

Once the floor has been cleared, it is time to inspect the subfloor plywood. Be sure to replace any pieces that are warped or bent or otherwise damaged. In addition, take care to remove baseboards so that they may be used again once the laminated floors have been installed.

The combined thickness of the laminated floor will probably be between 1/4'' to 3/8". The best recommendation is to use the thicker pad; although it is expensive it is worth it due to its strength and durability.

If you want to know how much laminate underlay pads you need to buy then you will have to take the square footage of the room or the place that you are going to apply it in.

First, measure the area's footage right to left, then forward and back. Then multiply those figures together and you will have your square footage. It is better to add a little more to that measure for the scraps.

STEP 3 – INSTALLING LAMINATED FLOOR CORRECTLY

It is very easy to do it, first, simply roll out the underlay pad then connect the pieces together with a wide, clear, plastic tape. I suggest that you buy the best brand to connect the laminate planks so they will be simply snapped together.

We will be installing the laminated flooring on a “floating floor”, which means that the laminate flooring isn't connected to the house but it is connected to itself instead. It is best that you leave 1/4'' clearance at each wall. When you start on a wall, use spacers on the wall you had started on so that you can pull out before installing the baseboards.

By the time you are finished with a section you will need to use a mallet and a pull bar to snug things up. Gentle taps will help you too.

When you are completing your laminated floor project, You may run into some difficulties here are there. A common occurrence is that you will have to trim the laminate pieces so that they fit together properly. Keep a sharp blade nearby for this task. In addition, a bottle of strong wood glue may come in handy when fitting pieces together.

THE LAST STEP – INSTALL THE BASEBOARDS

After finishing the laminated floor planks, you can install the baseboards. You can use the old baseboards if they are still good and after finishing with them, be sure to caulk at all the joints. Remember that you don't put nails into the planks because this is a floating floor. If you are ready and you find out that you have cut the planks too short, don't worry, all you need to do is add a quarter-round at the floor line.

While this is just a basic introduction into installing laminated floors, if you take your time and follow the instructions included with your materials carefully, then before you know it, you can be enjoying a brand new laminated floor and reap the benefits of this beautiful and long lasting flooring system. I hope you have learnt now how to install laminated flooring!