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How to Install Laminate Flooring To help you on your quest to find out how to install laminate flooring, this easy-to-clean flooring material can be installed by following these step-by-step directions: 1. Acclimatize your Flooring Flooring, including laminate flooring, expands and contracts, so give your flooring materials 48 hours to adjust to your home’s humidity and temperature. Open the packages 48 hours before laying to give them time to acclimatize and ‘breathe’. 2. Prep the Area Clear all existing flooring, its glue and underlayment. Next, remove all the low-laying door mouldings and casings that could interfere with your laminate-flooring installation. If you plan on laying an underlayment beneath your floor you will want to roll it out and fit it now. If you can find any uneven spots in your floor you will need to lay underlayment to avoid future floor squeaking and settling. 3. Plan your Puzzle Laying laminate flooring can feel a bit like putting together a puzzle. Before you start snapping them into place, or gluing them, you will want to lay the pieces out to ensure that where you initially place them is their ideal final resting place. You will also need to cut pieces as you approach the floor’s edge and anything jutting out from the floor (like a supporting beam or vent). 4. Dry-Fit the Planks Begin dry-fitting your planks by installing the initial three rows. Begin at the centre and work outward for an uninterrupted pattern (although having a pattern in mind before you begin is ideal—and laying them out before snapping/gluing them down should help a lot), with the ‘groove’ facing towards your wall. Use your spacers to create the necessary 1/4” gap needed for expansion between planks and walls/edges. Once you reach the edges you’ll need to cut the plank to fit the remaining space—and you’ll want to turn the plank 180 degrees before cutting, then place it tongue-against-tongue to finish off the floor. 5. Add the Baseboards Once your floor is completed you’ll need to replace or install baseboards to hide the small gap that you may have between the wall and the floor. Should the above advice on how to install laminate flooring sound too daunting to tackle on your own—or you’ve tried and not been successful (this happens more than you’d think) and would rather leave your laminate-flooring installation to the pros—then call Tony’s Flooring for a flooring estimate.]]>