Laminate Flooring Installation

Laminate flooring installation is a fairly easy process that can be accomplished by almost anyone. Measuring twice and cutting once is a good mantra for anyone planning to install flooring, and that holds true with laminate flooring.

As with vinyl flooring, laminate flooring comes in a variety of types and styles. The great selection available combined with the ease of installation makes laminate flooring very popular. With many different styles such as stone or hardwood, you can find the right laminate flooring for your particular needs.

Preparing For Your Laminate Flooring Installation

Just as with tile flooring, installing a moisture barrier is a good first step in preparing for the installation of your laminate floor. It is especially important on a slab or floor that lies over an unheated and unfinished space. The flooring is then laid on top of this barrier.

The course your laminate flooring installation takes will depend upon the laminate flooring you choose. If you are going for ease of installation, look no further than the “click and lock” type of laminate flooring. This makes great laminate kitchen flooring because it can be installed on top of your existing hard surface flooring such as hardwood, or directly on your subfloor, as long as it is level and solid.

Other Types of Laminate Flooring

Thicker laminate flooring materials come in a plank style and are nailed or stapled down. In this installation approach you nail or staple through the tongue portion of the tongue-and-groove plank. The nail needs to be long enough to get through the tongue and into the subfloor (or whatever you are installing your laminate floor to) without going all the way through the subfloor.

Laminate flooring also comes in a glue down, or adhesive retained style. This type of laminate flooring installation can be messier than other methods, but is sometimes easier, especially when the flooring comes in sheets with adhesive backing, similar to marmoleum.

Some things to keep in mind during laminate flooring installation are:

• Allow the flooring that you choose to acclimate to the room for at least two to three days and gather the necessary flooring tools.
• Level the floor. Make sure that there are no dips in your subfloor or existing floor that are going to affect how the laminate flooring goes down.
• Read the instructions that come with your flooring carefully and follow them.
• Leave a 1/4″ gap around the perimeter of the room to allow for expansion and contraction when you use the floating floor installation style.

Laminate flooring installation can be done by almost any do-it-yourselfer if you are willing to put in the time and effort to follow directions that are given by the manufacturer of the flooring you choose. In just a few hours, you can have floors that will last for a long time and that will make a huge impact upon your room and home.

Visit our Los Angeles Flooring showrooms for more information about Flooring.