How to Lay Laminate Flooring
Do you want to re-decorate your floors on a budget? Solid hardwood flooring can cost a pretty penny, and sometimes you fancy the look and feel of real without footing the cost. Well, that’s where laminate flooring comes in!
Laminate flooring is an inexpensive alternative to other floor styles. Natural stone, wood panels and marble flooring can cost anywhere from £80 per metre. However, prices for laminate flooring at Mersey Flooring start at just £17.95.
So, what’s stopping you? Once you choose your perfect laminate floor design and colour, you’re ready to begin the installation process. If you’re thinking, ‘wait for a second, I’m no good at DIY!’ we understand.
But with Mersey Flooring’s step-by-step guide, you’ll feel primed and ready to tackle your home-flooring job. Stay with us as we show you what tools and materials you need and how to begin the process.
Before you Begin
Before bidding your old flooring farewell, there are a few preparatory steps you must take. First, ensure your floor is clean. This way, you guarantee all panels you lay down will sit flat. Err on the side of caution and check your boards for imperfections and defects.
If you start the installation process and find a panel unfit to lay down, you will be stuck with a half-finished room. The machines that manufacture laminate flooring boards can often cause slight, superficial damage to the planks that will not affect their quality.
But if you find large broken areas, you must contact your laminate flooring supplier to plan your next steps.
Essential Tools / Materials
To lay laminate flooring in your home, it is vitally important you have access to the following tools:
- Laminate Flooring
- Hand Saw/Electric Saw
- Pencil
- Underlay
- Measuring Tape
- Knee Pads (or something similar to provide padding)
- Utility Knife
- Spacers
- Rubber Mallet
1. Acclimate your boards
Forty-eight hours before you start the installation process, place your opened or unopened packages in the room you are planning to install them.
Inefficient site conditions are the main reason laminate floor installations fail, so it’s important to let your boards acclimate. All this means is that your panels will adjust to the temperature and humidity of the room.
If you install them before they have acclimated, there is the possibility of shrinkage or expansion. It is likely that, during this process, your boards may shrink or expand on their own, and this is perfectly normal.
2. Install the underlayment
When installing laminate flooring, underlay is an essential part of the process. Skipping this step could render your whole project fruitless. Without an underlay, your planks will suffer the effects of mildew, mould and moisture, causing their shape to warp.
To avoid this, purchase a cheap underlay suitable for laminate flooring. Roll out one row of your underlayment, starting from the top left-hand corner of your room.
Secure the rows by taping them together (or, to avoid this process, purchase an underlay with a self-adhesive bottom).
Try not to overlap your pieces together. Ideally, you want the rows of your underlay to be flat.
3. Place your first row of boards!
Now, it’s time for the fun to get started! As you did with the underlay, lay your first laminate board at the top left-hand corner of your room. Of course, you must ensure that the finished side of the board faces up.
4. Continue Until Finished
Continue to lay your boards in rows, one behind the other down the room's length. Even if you have allowed your laminate flooring to acclimate before installation, you must use spacers to account for its eventual expansion.
During the summer and winter months, your floor will grow and shrink according to fluctuations in humidity and temperature. Wedge your spacer between the edge of your panels and the wall or skirting board.
Spacers will need to be placed around the whole perimeter of your room to accommodate every row you install.
5. Trim panels that are too long
Once you reach the end of each row, you will realise that some planks will be too long to fill the remaining space. Using your hand or electric saw, grab your measuring tape and trim your panels accordingly.
Cutting the boards upside down with a sharp saw will make these adjustments a hassle-free process.
Choose Mersey Flooring for your Laminate Boards!
We hope that our step-by-step instructions have helped inspire you to install the perfect laminate flooring. Transform your room on a budget and feel satisfied that you have done the job yourself.
For more information about our products, email sales@merseyfloooring.co.uk or call us at 0151 525 4271. We look forward to hearing from you.