DIY Laminate Floors - RockyMtnHandyman

DIY Laminate Flooring

When your picking out a new floor for your home, there are a lot of options. Between the different materials and the all the styles of each type, it can be quite overwhelming. So, I'm going to try to make it easier for you. There are flour different styles of hard floors and then, of course, carpet. While carpets are great for heat retention and sound dampening, they aren't necessarily the best looking or most sanitary. These days, with floor pad technology increasing every year, you can expect almost the same sound dampening as carpet. Laminate, Hard Wood, and Vinyl are the three styles we'll be talking about here. The final hard flooring type is [tile], which is in it's own tutorial.

Now, I'd like to talk about Hard Wood Flooring first. Hard Wood is the most expensive flooring type. On top of that it's not very water proof. But it can be refinished time and time again. My advice is, if you're looking to get Hard Wood Floors, get a professional to install it. You want Hard Wood to be seamless and as close to perfect as possible. You'll be getting this floor sanded down and refinished, not just replacing it like the other types.

Vinyl is 100% plastic making it extremely water resistance, even in areas that flood! Old Vinyl wasn't very elegant looking, but that's not the case anymore. We recommend Vinyl Floors in your bathroom for a warmer feel than tile, that's just as waterproof. Vinyl is pretty easy to install, so you can definitely do it yourself. You have the option to glue Vinyl with Liquid Nails or just let it float. Just make sure all of your joints are tight. You'll want a Rubber Mallet to get your joints nice and snug.

The tutorial below is specifically for Laminate Flooring. This is what I recommend for the majority of your home. Laminate is specifically made to be easy to install into your home. This type of floor is water resistant. It's mainly made of wood, but it has added plastic to help make it water resistant. The problem is the bottom is usually not very water resistant. So just make sure your joints are nice and tight.

Laminate Floor Installation

Required Tools

Miter Saw
Speed Square
Rubber Mallet
Tapping Block
Pull Bar
Vibratory Saw
Table Saw
Jig Saw
Utility Knife

Before you start just laying your laminate floor, you have to do some necessary demo. Head over to our [Carpet Demo] and [Baseboard/Trim] pages for demolition (to start) and Trim (to finish).

Demolition - You don't have to go all the way to the subfloor. If you have an old wood or vinyl floor, you have the option of just laying laminate right on top. However, you might have to [cut your doors] shorter or they will be down to your new floor. Baseboard has to be removed.
Cut any door jamb that hangs to low - The flooring needs to be slid under door frames.
1. Grab a small scrap piece of your flooring.
2. Place it on the ground next to each door frame that needs to be cut - You should also make sure the door will pass over this piece, if not, you'll have to cut your door.
3. Take out your Vibratory Saw - Place the flat of a blade on the top of your floor material and cut the bottom of the door frames. This should be just enough to slide your floor under the jamb.
  1. Take your time with this cut and let the saw do the work.
  2. First score the entire cut to give you a guiding "track."
  3. Then, plunge the saw in each area with a little force - Move around your track evenly while doing this. It'll make the cut much straighter. The entire time you should still have the scrap floor under your blade keeping you straight.
  4. Finally if you can't get the cut piece out for any reason either:
    1. Use a small drill bit - Drilling into the piece should crack it
    2. Cut the small piece again with the same saw
    3. Use a Chisel and a hammer to break it up
Now it's time to clean the subfloor (or whatever you are laying your new flooring on) - First sweep all debris, and vacuum all your corners. Next, make sure no nails are protruding that might affect your floor.
1. If you have any "squeaks" now is the time to fix them. Add screws to any loose areas. Make sure these go into [joists].
2. If you notice any water damage or damaged subfloor, you will have to replace those boards or sections at this time too. Covering up these types of issues will create a problem at some point.
Decide which direction to lay the floor - Maybe you choose to lay it the same (or opposite) as other adjacent floors. If this isn't the case I recommend looking at a couple key factors:
1. Mainly, what direction will make for the least amount of cuts? You'll want to place as many full boards as possible, so laying floors the longer direction is usually better.
2. If there are any high points in your floor that you can't fix, it easier to pass over them long ways. This gives each board a gradual bend that'll be less noticeable.
3. Remember you have to start at a wall, not in the center of the room.
Time for pad - I put down one section of pad at a time, and always sweep each area one last time. Roll out whole lengths, in the direction you are laying your floor. For the second section, and every one after that, butt the new section up to the first one, with no overlap. Then, tape the two together.
Laying floor - When laying flooring you want have your joints at random points. Meaning, don't start with the same two or three lengths or you'll create a pattern. This pattern catches the eye, and any mistakes are very obvious. With a random pattern you wont notice the joints as much.
1. Start by cutting three different lengths - Take a second to read your particular directions. Make sure you understand the FOUR UNIQUE SIDES. You can not attach two like sides. For this tutorial we will refer to our four sides as follows:
  1. Long open - Long side of board, when placed it will have a open flange attached to the bottom.
  2. Long closed - Long side of board, when placed it'll have a closed flange only attached to the top.
  3. Open end - Short side of board, when placed it'll have an open flange only attached to the bottom.
  4. Closed end - Short side of board, when placed it'll have a closed flange only attached to the top.
2. Take the three pieces that have a open end - These should be completely different lengths and will be your starting pieces. Place the longest one against your wall with the long closed side against the wall.
3. Take the shortest of the three and attach the long closed side, of this piece to the long open on the first piece.
4. Run the first two rows as far as you can. Once you get to the full length, move your new floor until it's parallel with the wall (as best as you can. If it slides under the wall in places, or leaves a small gap (make sure this is thinner than your baseboard) in some places, it's fine. Baseboard will hide imperfections and, well, walls are hardly ever straight.
5. Now just keep going a few rows at a time. This will keep you from walking the entire length of your room 100 times.
6. To attach boards together - First read the manual, it'll usually give great advice. But the key is lifting the new piece to 45 degrees, laying it's closed track (long or short) into the corresponding track of the previous placed board. Then, lay the new piece flat. If you have a gap, use a rubber mallet and a tapping block. Your joints have to be perfectly snug.
Every time you lay a new section of pad, check your work - Make sure there are no soft spots or gaps.
1. You can fix gaps by putting weight on one side of the gap (a person usually works) and using your tapping block and rubber mallet at the end your row or columns. You can close gaps surprisingly easily this way, even from multiple boards away.
2. If there are soft spots, you will have to tear up the floor to the soft area. If there is a "dip" I recommend using a self leveling compound and a long straight edge to even out your subfloor. If the subfloor is soft, this has to be addressed before you go any further.
Throughout your flooring you'll have to cut pieces. Remember you have baseboard, [thresholds] and quarter round to hide any cut mistakes. No cut should need to be perfect. Quarter round is perfect to put on areas you don't want baseboard. It's smaller and looks very nice when painted of stained.
For the final row you will most likely have to rip every board. Take your measurements every length of a board (usually 4'). If the difference from start to end of a piece is less than the width of your baseboard, just rip the whole piece to the shorter length. If not you, have to remove your fence and do your best to follow a line attaching the two different measurements.
To attach the final pieces you'll probably need a pull bar. Just hook it on the edge against the wall and, with a rubber mallet, hit the part that sticks up pulling the floor together. Just do this until the gap is gone.
Replace your baseboard and trim and you should have a beautiful new floor for your home!

Materials

Laminate Flooring
Floor Pad
Packing Tape

Tutorials

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