How to Install Laminate Flooring for Beginners
- 1). Remove the floor trim around the edges of the room, using a prybar and hammer. Don't break the trim. Set it aside.
- 2). Roll out moisture-barrier underlayment alongside the edge of the floor where you want to start. Cut off the underlayment at the end with a razor knife.
- 3). Set the first laminated floorboard next to the wall at one end, with 3/8 inch spacers between the floorboard and the walls. This will create an ``expansion gap'' to allow for floor movement.
- 4). Lay another floorboard off the end of the first one, attaching them by their fittings. Continue connecting boards together end to end along the whole wall.
- 5). Cut the last board in the course on a miter saw to fit at the end. Cut it so there's a 3/8 inch gap there.
- 6). Lay the second course by snapping the boards in along the sides next to the first course. Arrange the boards so the ends don't line up.
- 7). Repeat and continue, working your way across the floor course by course. Cut the end boards as necessary. Cover the entire floor. Use a table saw to length-cut the final course of floorboards so they fit against the far wall with 3/8 inch of space left there.
- 8). Re-install the floor trim around the edges of the room, using a trim nailer. The trim will cover the expansion gaps.
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