Laminate flooring usually comes in long planks

Tag : Granite Flooring

Here are the steps for installing a laminate floor with hardwoodboards in your house:

Select your laminate and underlay. Installers should buy somewhatmore flooring than the area of your room to take into account cutpieces that might not be reusable. You need to purchase an underlay— what type depends on the surface over which you install theflooring—which protects the laminate from moisture.

Calculate how many boards wide your room is. Laminate flooring usually comes in long planks. Determine before laying out the widthof any partial boards you’ll need on either end of the room— the width of the last row should be no less than twoinches. Additionally, experts say the floor should be laid in thesame direction as the room’s main light source.

Prepare your room. After purchasing the laminate flooring from ahardware store, the surface must be cleaned and swept of debris.Remove any old flooring, tack strips or padding. If installing overconcrete, make sure the surface is flat to prevent creaking; ifinstalling over wood, check for protruding nails, squeaking orflexing in the wood.

Remove floor boards. If necessary, you should also shave thebottoms of doors and door frames so that the flooring will fit.

Install the underlay. Lay the underlay out in strips along thefloor; you may connect the pieces together with tape.

Lay out your first row of boards. Begin in the corner of the room,leaving a quarter-inch space between the board and the wall. Thatspace is important to allow for expansion in the boards due toseasonal weather and humidity changes. Most laminate boards lockwith a snap mechanism; on the first row, lock the ends of eachboard together on the short end as you lay them.

Lay out your second row of boards. Install the new row of boards,locking in the boards lengthwise with the first row of boards. Takeinto account any floor vents and prepare boards for them beforelaying out the floor.

Continue to lay out the boards. The board should be laid in astaggered pattern, to keep from the seams.

You may use a tool to lay out the last piece on each row, andspacers can be used on the ends to keep the quarter-inch distancefrom the wall. Install floor boards. When you finish, install afloor trim to cover the small space between the boards and thewall.

And just like that, your floor is complete.