How To Lay New Floating Laminate Floor

If you are installing the flooring below grade or in a room like a basement with high humidity or moisture lay down a vapor barrier before you install the flooring.

How to lay new floating laminate floor.

You ll also want to tear up any carpet in the room and remove the leftover tack strips. 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. These hills and valleys will eventually lead to unwanted bouncy spots squeaks and groans in the final laminate floor.

This will allow them to acclimate to the room s temperature and humidity. How to install laminate flooring. Installing laminate flooring is a snap literally. 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. A laminate floor is a floating floor meaning it is not fastened directly to the subfloor. Install the underlayment or vapor barrier. Lay out the unopened boxes of laminate planks in the room.

It can be installed over any other tightly bonded flooring making it ideal for retrofits. Flooring manufacturers always recommend putting down underlayment before laying the laminate. They should acclimate for at least 48 hours. Look at the board where it touches the subfloor and see if there are any dips bumps or otherwise uneven areas.

Directly onto the subfloor lay down a layer of plastic sheeting to create a moisture barrier. Fill any low spots in the underlayment greater than 3 8 inch with floor leveling compound. 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. To test for the flatness for laying laminate flooring on an uneven subfloor lay a 10 foot long 2x4 board.