Preparation and Required Tools for Installing Laminate Floors

When buying laminates, always remember to buy an extra 10%. Room temperature should be set at 65F or 18C, turn on the air conditioner to keep the room at normal temperature if it’s too warm and humid.

A few things that you will need are saw, t-bar, pencil, carpet-knife, tapping block, hand-saw, spacers, jig-saw, end pry bar, skill saw, measuring tape, a workbench and broom to keep the work going.

Laminate floor

Decide what direction you are going to lay the laminate and also choose the wall you are going to start with. Make sure your starting wall is straight- if not the you’ll need to scribe the laminate for the preceding row. Your last row should have a minimum width of 2”- if it’s not then you need to cut down the width of the row to allow it to fit.

Make sure the surface on which you want to lay the laminate is dry, flat and smooth. Doors and baseboards must be removed and the floors swept clean. Doorways should be undercut for the smooth sliding of the laminate under the door frame and underlayment must be put down. It is advisable to complete this process thoroughly, in order to avoid having to make claims on your home insurance in order to cover additional costs at a later date. If properly installed, laminate floors can last a good length of time

Fitting the First Few Rows

The first row must be dry-fit with the tongue side of the plank length facing the wall and curtains. To make sure you have adequate room for expansion gap spacers must be used between the wall and the planks on the wall.  Expansion gaps can vary from 1/4″ to 1/2″ allowing natural expansion and contraction of the floating floor with the temperature and humidity conditions changing. Failing to leave a gap might result in the planks buckling at the joints.

Measure the planks and check if there are any floor vents and mark the last plank for the row. Also make sure to account for the expansion gap while cutting the last plank of the row to it. To start the next row, decide to use the leftover plank from the end-piece. (Ensure that the joints from one row to the next are approximately 8” apart and to allow this trim the starting piece of the next row.

After cutting the planks for any floor vents and for the end-piece, snap the first row into the desired place with the use of spacers to sustain the expansion gap. Check to see if the floor-vent you have cut fits into the hole. Now start fitting the second row, beginning with leftover plank from the end-piece of the preceding row. After that measure and cut the plank so that it fits.

Most laminates need angle-fitting end-to-end and row-to-row nowadays. It’s an easy part to fit the row together end-to-end, and with the help of another person angle-fit the entire row into the previous one. The setup must proceed smoothly once you are done with the first three rows.