Guide to Installing Laminate Flooring. Buying advice and the tools you need. Floor board interlocking system. Snap together floors have specially milled tongues and grooves that lock together tightly when joined when installing laminate flooring. The flooring were using for installing laminate flooring is similar to snap together plastic laminate floors except that it has a surface layer of real wood. The 51. 6 in. thick flooring has specially shaped tongues and grooves that interlock to form a strong tight joint without glue or nails. Once assembled, the entire floor floats in one large sheet. You leave a small expansion space all around the edges so the floor can expand and contract with humidity changes. The cost of wood veneer floors often called engineered wood floors varies, depending on the species and thickness of the top wood layer. Most home centers sell a few types of snap together floors but youll find a better selection and expert advice at your local flooring retailer. You can also buy flooring on line. Before you go shopping, draw a sketch of your room with dimensions. Make note of transitions to other types of flooring and other features like stair landings and exterior doors. Ask your salesperson for help choosing the right transition moldings for these areas. Youll need a few special tools in addition to basic hand tools like a tape measure, square and utility knife. How To Remove Laminate Flooring While tearing out floors would normally seem like a headache, removing laminate flooring isnt as a big of a challenge as you might. Installing ceramic tile directly over old laminate flooring can save time, effort and money for the skilled doityourselfer with the the proper toolkit. Often the. Install laminate flooring in any room with these steps by DIYNetwork. com experts. Buy Hardwood Floors from Flooring. org We offer the webs largest selection of laminate flooring Save today with our Discounted Floor CouponsWe purchased an installation kit from the manufacturer that included plastic shims, a tapping block and a last board puller, but if youre handy you could fabricate these tools. A pull saw works great to undercut doorjambs and casing Photo 3. Its difficult to get close enough to the floor with a standard handsaw. Youll also need a circular saw and a jigsaw to cut the flooring, and a miter box to cut the shoe molding. A table saw and power miter saw would make your job easier but arent necessary. Prep the room for the new flooring. Photo 1 Use plastic to test for moisture in concrete. Test for excess moisture in concrete floors by sealing the edges of a 3 ft. Wait 2. 4 hours before you peel back the plastic to check for moisture. Water droplets on the plastic or darkened concrete indicate a possible problem with excess moisture. Ask your flooring supplier for advice before installing a wood floor. Photo 2 Check for low spots in the floor, then fill them in. Check for low spots in the floor with an 8 ft. Fill depressions less than 14 in. Fill deeper depressions with a hardening type floor filler available from flooring stores. Photo 3 Use a pull saw to cut the doorjambs and casings. Undercut doorjambs and casings door moldings to make space for the flooring to slip underneath. Guide the saw with a scrap of flooring stacked on a piece of underlayment. Photo 4 Finish cutting the jamb and casing. Break and pry out the cutoff chunks of jamb and casing with a screwdriver. Use a sharp chisel or utility knife to complete the cut in areas the saw couldnt reach. Make sure your floor is dry. Dont lay this type of floor over damp concrete or damp crawlspaces. Check all concrete for excess moisture. As a starting point, use the plastic mat test shown in Photo 1. Even though some manufacturers allow it, professional installers we spoke to advised against installing floating floors in kitchens, full or three quarter baths, or entryways, all areas where they might be subjected to standing water. Then prepare your room for the new flooring. You have to make sure the existing floor is smooth and flat before installing a floating floor overtop. Clear the old floor, then smooth it by scraping off lumps and sweeping it. If you have wood floors, nows the time to fix squeaks and tighten loose boards by screwing them to the joists with deck screws. Check the floor with an 8 ft. Sand or grind down ridges and fill low spots Photo 2. Most manufacturers recommend no more than 18 in. Allowing the floor to expand and contract freely is critical. Leave at least a 38 in. You can hide the gap under the baseboards or leave the baseboards in place and cover the gap with base shoe molding or quarter round as we did. Cover the expansion space at openings or transitions to other types of flooring with special transition moldings Photo 1. Buy these from the dealer. Finally, saw off the bottoms of doorjambs and trim to allow for the flooring to slide underneath Photo 3. Leaving an expansion gap at exterior doors presents a unique challenge. In older houses, you could carefully remove the threshold and notch it to allow the flooring to slide underneath. For most newer exterior doors, you can butt a square nosed transition piece against the threshold. Follow these simple installation techniques. Photo 5 Install the underlayment and the first row of flooring. Unroll the underlayment and lap it up the baseboards or walls 2 in. Temporarily secure the edges with masking tape. Butt the sheets together and seal the seams with the tape recommended by the manufacturer. Cut the first row of boards narrower if necessary to ensure that the last row of flooring will be at least 2 in. Then start the installation by locking the ends of the first row of flooring together. Measure and cut the last piece to fit, allowing the 38 in. Photo 6 Use a leftover piece to start the second row. Start the second row with the leftover cutoff piece from the first row, making sure the end joints are offset at least 1. With the board held at about a 4. Push in while you rotate the starter piece down toward the floor. The click indicates the pieces have locked together. The joint between boards should draw tight. Photo 7 Tap the flooring pieces tightly together. Leave a 14 in. space between the next full piece of flooring and the previous piece. Snap this piece into the first row. Snap a scrap of flooring across the ends being joined to hold them in alignment while you tap them together. Place the tapping block against the end of the floor piece and tap it with a hammer to close the gap. Tapping block detail. A tapping block is one of the special tools in the installation kit. Photo 8 Pull the last piece in a row tight. Close a gap at the end of the row by hooking the last board puller tool over the end of the plank and tapping it with a hammer to pull the end joints together. Floating floors must be installed over a thin cushioning pad called underlayment Photo 5. Underlayment is usually sold in rolls. Ask your flooring dealer to suggest the best one for your situation. Some types combine a vapor barrier and padding. Install this type over concrete or other floors where moisture might be a problem. Others reduce sound transmission. Take extra care when installing underlayment that includes a vapor barrier. Lap the edges up the wall and carefully seal all the seams as recommended by the manufacturer. Keep a roll of tape handy to patch accidental rips and tears as you install the floor. You may have to cut your first row of flooring narrower to make sure the last row is at least 2 in. To figure this, measure across the room and divide by the width of the exposed face on the flooring. The number remaining is the width of the last row. If the remainder is less than 2, cut the first row narrower to make this last row wider. After the first few rows, installation is a snap. Simply follow the guidelines in Photos 6 8. Special techniques for corners and transitions. Photo 9 Prep flooring to fit around doorjambs. Plan ahead when you get near a doorjamb. Usually you have to slide the next piece of flooring under the jamb rather than tilt and snap it into place. To accomplish this, you must slice off the locking section of the tongue from the preceding row with a sharp utility knife before installing it. Photo 1. 0 Mark a plank to fit a doorjamb. Cut the plank to be notched to length, allowing a 1 in. Align the end with the end of the last plank laid and mark 38 in. Photo 1. 1 Finish marking the plank for cutting. Align the flooring lengthwise and mark for the notches in the other direction, allowing for the floor to slide under the doorjamb about 38 in. Connect the marks with a square and cut out the notch with a jigsaw. Notched plank detail. The notch in the flooring board has been cut to fit the doorjamb. Photo 1. 2 Glue and install the notched piece. Apply a thin bead of the manufacturers recommended glue along the edge where the portion of the tongue was removed. Slide the notched piece of flooring into place and tighten the glued edge by pounding on the special tapping block. How to Install Laminate Flooring My. Sears Community. Step 1. Plan like a pro. Measure the space you intend to re floor to determine square feet of material needed before heading to the flooring store. Dont worry, this is simple math. Measure the rooms length and width, multiply those numbers and thats the square footage. Add on about 1. 0 percent to cover damaged pieces or odd cuts. Work with the flooring supplier to determine the type of transition needed between the laminate flooring and flooring in other rooms. Different flooring levels may require step down thresholds, and end to end thresholds provide smooth transition when adjoining surfaces are similar. Consider trim necessary around built ins like fireplace hearths. Armed with this information, you can establish accurate costs for flooring, trim and other materials. Step 2. Choose your flooring. Laminate flooring technology has come a long way since its initial development. Today, snap together tongue and groove planks with pre attached underlayment make installing a new floor a relatively simple do it yourself project. Underlayment creates a moisture barrier and helps deaden sound. Consult the specifications of your flooring to determine if additional underlayment is required for installations directly on concrete, like a basement floor. Laminate flooring surfaces can be thin, printed layers or a layer of real wood. Consider traffic and your lifestyle when making a choice. Surfaces can be water resistant and very resilient a perfect choice for pet owners or rooms with heavy traffic. Floors come in a variety of colors and simulate virtually every wood grain, from oak and cherry to bamboo and rustic, weathered looking patterns. Your new floor can tie together the dcor of a room to complete its feel. Step 3. Bring the materials home and unwrap the packages of flooring. Lay bundles flat on the floor with air space around each bundle and allow the flooring to sit in your home for 4. Step 4. Assemble your tool kit. Few tools are needed to install laminate flooring. A hammer and a waste block of wood are handy for tapping together planks for a tight fit. You will need a circular saw equipped with at least a 6. For odd shaped cuts, a jigsaw is perfect. All of these cuts can be made with a fine toothed handsaw, which is slower and more physically demanding. Keep a chisel handy to work around jambs and a utility knife to trim delicate cuts. Make your own spacers or buy them spacers go between laminate flooring and walls to allow expansion. For your own comfort, consider inexpensive knee pads. Prepare an area outside or in the garage to make cuts to the flooring it makes a lot of dust. A laminate flooring installation kit includes many of these tools and spacers. Step 5. Prepare the room. Lets get the dirty work out of the way. For a clean, professional appearance, undercutting door jambs is a must. Use a scrap piece of plank to mark the height of the cut on the jamb. Use the same scrap as a blade guide for a handsaw or oscillating saw to cut the jamb. Plan ahead, only cut the jamb where you will need to place flooring or thresholds. You may need to remove quarter round or base molding with a small pry bar. This trim can be replaced when the new flooring has been installed. Laminate flooring can be installed over virtually any hard surface. Remove carpets or linoleum to get down to a level, hard surface. Now, thoroughly clean up sawdust and the balance of the room. Move out as much furniture as possible work goes faster in an empty space. Step 6. Install the floor. It is best to install the floor beginning along the longest wall in the room. Face the wall. With most flooring, you will begin in the left corner of the room. Install the entire first row with the groove side of the plank against the long wall and using spacer blocks between the planks and the wall. At the end of the row, cut the final board to length before installation. Often, the remaining board makes a perfect starter board for the next row in order to stagger end joints as the floor comes together. At this point, install two or three rows at a time, making sure end joints are staggered as you move along the length of the room. As you join boards, use the sacrifice block and hammer to tap together joints. Boards can be lifted and slid apart if you make a mistake, but be cautious The tongue and groove can be fragile. You may ruin some boards. Dont worry, thats what your overage allows. As you choose planks, alternate between packages to accommodate for minuscule color or pattern shifts. Step 7. Installing the last board. You are almost ready to admire your new floor The last board can be a challenge. It may need to slide underneath a door jamb or you may discover that your room is not exactly square. Determine how the board needs to be trimmed. And, if it slides under a jamb, you will not be able to snap together the tongue and groove. Using the utility knife, carefully trim away the bottom lip of the groove. Carefully run a bead of carpenters glue along the tongue and now lower the last board into place. Use spacer blocks to hold it securely against its neighboring board until the glue dries. Wipe away any excess glue immediately. Step 8. Add the finishing touches. Now is the perfect time to admire your handiwork. Rest, then finish the look by installing thresholds and trim according to manufacturers directions. Some flooring has matching thresholds and trim with special installation tracks. You may choose to use all wood molding. These can be bought pre finished or you can stain these pieces yourself. If quarter round is being reinstalled, nail through the molding into the base molding not into the laminate flooring. Remember, the planks will expand and contract as humidity changes. Step 9. Take good care. Your new floor will provide many years of durable service when properly maintained. Avoid over wetting or allowing the floor to get saturated. Heavy furniture that must be moved should be placed on fabric backed slides that make moving easy and prevent scuffs to the new floor. Follow each manufacturers directions for care and the types of cleaning materials that can be applied.
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