by Frances Stanford

Created on: June 07, 2010   Last Updated: August 30, 2010

Laminate flooring has become the popular choice of flooring in homes due to the fact that it looks like real wood flooring and that it requires little maintenance. It does not require any major carpentry skills to install, which means that most homeowners do the installation of laminate flooring on their own. However, it is a job for which you need to take your time and not rush.

Installation techniques for laminate flooring start before you even begin to lay the flooring. The packages of boards need to become acclimatized to the home. A few days before you intend to start installing the new floor, lay out the boards so that they can become accustomed to the temperature. This will prevent expansion and contraction of the boards once you have them installed and prevent problems from developing.

When you remove the old flooring, whether it is carpeting or some other type of flooring, sweep the subfloor clean and then run over it with the vacuum. This will remove any pieces of dust or dirt that have the potential of working their way up through the laminate and causing breaks or bumps.

Start the installation on one side of the room – preferably along the longest wall. First you have to cover the floor with the foam insulation. The sales staff at the store where you purchase the flooring will inform you of the insulation that suits the type of flooring you buy, but you will have to purchase this separately. Lay the sheets of foam in place on the floor to cover the whole room. Tape the edges of each row of insulation together to keep them in place.

Decide where you want to have the joins in the flooring. Since the boards in each package are in random lengths, you can form your own pattern if you wish. It is best to stagger the joins so that they are not in a straight line across the floor. You should also try to keep the joins away from the joins in the boards of the main floor.

You do need to have a space from the edge of the wall and the first row of laminate flooring. This is generally about 3/8 inches. You can mark this distance from the wall and draw a line the length of the room. Now you can start laying your first board along this line. Each board has a tongue and groove so that you can just click each one in place end to end. When you reach the end of the row, you may have to saw the board to fit the space remaining, making sure that you do not fit it tight to the wall.

Start the next row by clicking the board along the side of the board in the first row. Continue in this way until you have the entire floor finished. When you come to the doorway, the laminate flooring must fit under the door stop. You will have to cut away part of the door stop to accommodate the flooring. Without doing this the flooring will look great in the middle of the room and rough around the edge of the door.

Laminate flooring is not attached to the wall. It is only attached to the other boards and for this reason it is called a floating floor. You can, however, attach baseboards to the flooring to enhance the look of the room.

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