How to Install Laminate Floors
Choosing a Floor and Installation Type
There are hundreds of different laminate flooring options. When installing floors on your own, you want to consider the following questions:
- What kind of traffic will this floor have? If it's a heavy-traffic floor, or if pets will have access to it, you might consider flooring that has a lot of contrasting colors in it, to naturally hide small marks.
- What climate are you in, and how humid will the room be? Wood tends to grow when there is heat and moisture in the air, and to shrink when the air becomes cool and dry. This is even more pronounced with laminate flooring than with hardwood. In a cold environment with summertime air-conditioning, this is less of an issue. However, if you are in a hot and humid environment during the summer, then when the weather turns cold and dry, the wood may shrink and cause problems. It may be a good idea to choose hardwood instead of laminate if there will be large temperature differences. Also, it is never a good idea to install laminate flooring in bathrooms.
Preparation
- Get the amount of flooring you need:
- Measure the width and length of each room in feet.
- Multiply width x length of each room to find the square footage of each room, then add the rooms' square footage together to find the total.
- Order 10 - 15 percent more than your total square footage. This allows for irregular boards and for fixing mistakes and damage to the floor later on in its life.
- If you are on a concrete subfloor, check the moisture levels. If it is too moist, you need to either wait until the moisture levels go down, or apply a concrete sealant.
- If you are on a plywood subfloor, check for squeaks. If you find squeaks, use a long drywall screw to screw the sub-floor tightly to the joist below.
- You do not want your subfloor to vary in its flatness much more than about 1/8" -- if it varies more than that, you will get squeaking. You can use leveling compound to raise up shallow spots. If you use a grinder or concrete planer to flatten concrete, you will end up with a large amount of concrete dust, so it is not a good idea to grind the floor down if people are living in the building.
- Stack the flooring (laid flat, not standing on end) in the place where it is to be installed at least 72 hours before you begin installation. This allows the flooring to acclimate.
- Clean the subfloor thoroughly by vacuuming, and remove any shoe molding.
- If necessary, trim your door casings with a flush-cut dovetail saw so the flooring can slide underneath. You can measure the height of the cut by using an upside-down piece of your flooring (so that you don't scratch the top of the flooring with the saw).
- Lay out a box of boards to visualize their lengths and the pattern you want. Lengths should be random and at least 6 inches. When reaching the end of a row, it's better to cut a longer board and end up with a piece at least 10" long to start the next row. If you use a shorter board that is just barely too long, you'll end up wasting the little end that gets cut off.
- It is helpful to calculate the number of rows you will have and discover how narrow your final row will need to be. If it is very narrow -- only 1-1/2" or less -- you might consider cutting both the first row and the last row lengthwise, instead of just the last row.
- You will want knee pads. Find the softer kind that will not scuff the wood.
Directions
Before You Begin
Many floors that are tongue-and-groove or snap-together are not actually meant to be floated. Please make sure to get flooring that is designated for this purpose.
You will need:
- Underlayment to cover the entire floor
- Utility knife
- Glue and glue cleaner (not necessary for snap-together floors)
- Spacers
- Circular or chop saw
- Table saw or jigsaw
- Pry bar
- Tapping block
- Dead blow hammer
We recommend the Roberts Laminate Flooring Installation Kit, which comes with spacers, pry/pull bar, and tapping block.
Step 1: Underlayment
Lay down wood floor underlayment following the manufacturer's directions for installing the underlayment. Underlayment acts as a moister barrier and a sound barrier in one. We do not recommend the kind of flooring that has underlayment pre-attached to the flooring because it will not provide as good of a barrier.
Step 2: Spacers
Put spacers along all the walls. Use spacers that provide the amount of space suggested by the manufacturer for your wood and your climate. This is often something like 5/16".
Step 3: First Row
Place the first plank with its groove side towards the wall. If this is tongue-and-groove flooring, apply glue to the end of the plank and tap the next plank into the glue. Clean off excess glue immediately. If this is snap-together flooring, just slide the next plank into the groove without glue. For the last piece in the row, use a pry bar to lever the piece into place.
When you reach the end of the row, unless you are lucky, you will not have any boards that are the perfect length. Measure the length you need with the tape measure and cut a board on the tablesaw. The easiest way to measure is to turn the board around so that the end that is supposed to be against the other boards is pointing to the wall. Then you can measure at the point where the boards overlap.
Step 4: Continue Rows
If you are doing tongue-and-groove flooring, squeeze a continuous bead of glue into the groove and then slide it onto the tongue of the previous row. Set the tapping block against it and tap it with the dead blow hammer into the previous row to set them tightly. If you are doing snap-together flooring, gently snap the next row on and slide into place. Be careful to follow the manufacturer's directions.
Step 5: Last Row
Cut the last row of planks lengthwise on the table saw to fit the remaining space while still leaving the spacer gap. If you use a jigsaw, you can cut doorway notches. Then, remove the spacers. For snap-together flooring, just snap the last few pieces on. For tongue-and-groove, apply glue, then use the pry bar to wedge the piece tight. You may need to use the block and hammer to get it into place. Put in any trim or transition pieces at this time as well.
Step 6: Done
If you used glue, wait 12 hours before walking on the floor. With snap-together flooring, you can walk on it immediately. Then remove the spacers and put in your shoe molding.
