How To Lay New Floating Laminate Floor

Lay a loose plank of your new flooring upside down against the door casing over a piece of the underlayment and saw off the bottom of the casing.

How to lay new floating laminate floor.

Lay out the unopened boxes of laminate planks in the room. Fill any low spots in the underlayment greater than 3 8 inch with floor leveling compound. How to install laminate flooring. Slide the first two rows into their final position and repeat steps 5 and 6 above using the same alternating plank technique to complete the process.

To lay laminate flooring first clear out any furniture in the room you ll be laying the floor in. You ll also want to tear up any carpet in the room and remove the leftover tack strips. Install the underlayment or vapor barrier. This thin dense foam layer helps to absorb sound provides a thermal barrier makes it easier to walk on the laminate and helps the flooring bridge minor gaps and bumps in the underlying floor.

Lay moisture barrier thoroughly clean the subfloor so that there is no debris on the floor and that it is flat and smooth. To test for the flatness for laying laminate flooring on an uneven subfloor lay a 10 foot long 2x4 board. When installing a floating laminate floor you don t need to use any adhesive nails or staples. Doing so enables you to slide the new planks underneath the casing.

Next cut strips of underlayment to size and lay the strips down across the exposed floor. Look at the board where it touches the subfloor and see if there are any dips bumps or otherwise uneven areas. These hills and valleys will eventually lead to unwanted bouncy spots squeaks and groans in the final laminate floor. They should acclimate for at least 48 hours.

Flooring manufacturers always recommend putting down underlayment before laying the laminate. A laminate floor is a floating floor meaning it is not fastened directly to the subfloor. Directly onto the subfloor lay down a layer of plastic sheeting to create a moisture barrier. Installing laminate flooring is a snap literally.