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.
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
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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).
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Materials
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