You ll also want to tear up any carpet in the room and remove the leftover tack strips.
Laying laminate hardwood flooring.
The planks consist of medium density fiberboard mdf sandwiched between plastic laminate.
Planks can be cut with a hand saw circular saw or flooring cutter and most laminate flooring comes in planks that simply snap together with a tongue.
In this video i am showing how to install laminate flooring for the first time.
A random pattern can be hard to achieve when all the planks are the same length but you can do it using offcuts from previous rows to start new rows.
Let s start with the moisture problem.
Like traditional wood laminate flooring is available in a variety of colors to complement virtually all design styles.
A laminate floor is a floating floor meaning it is not fastened directly to the subfloor.
For long term performance your laminate wood floor needs to be dry level and clean.
These are the challenges.
Protecting laminate flooring from moisture.
Consider laminate wood flooring instead.
The boards usually 3 4 inch thick are generally milled with a smooth top surface and tongue and groove edges that interlock to hold the boards together.
Prefinished plank flooring is easier to install than hardwood flooring and offers the same appearance.
Solid hardwood flooring as the name suggests is comprised of flooring boards that are solid hardwood material through and through.
Installing laminate flooring is a snap literally.
Most diyers can complete laminate floor installation in one day.
Next cut strips of underlayment to size and lay the strips down across the exposed floor.
It can be installed over any other tightly bonded flooring making it ideal for retrofits.
Laminate flooring is a great choice for homeowners who want the look of real hardwood at more affordable costs.
A laminate flooring stagger pattern is ideally random with spacing between end joints between 6 and 10 inches depending on the plank width.
The top laminate looks like random grain wood but its plastic composition makes it scratch and stain.
To save the edges of the flooring boards use a tapping block or rubber mallet to tap adjoining rows together image 1.
To lay laminate flooring first clear out any furniture in the room you ll be laying the floor in.
Concrete is extremely hard so homeowners might mistakenly believe it is impenetrable.
The challenges of laying laminate on concrete.