The Basement: Installing The Laminate Floor
Given that HandyMan and I have installed laminate flooring before (in his
old condo), you'd think installing the laminate in our basement would have been easy
peasy. Uhm, not so much. Let me share with you what we learned about how to
install laminate flooring and save you some frustration.
How to Install Laminate Flooring
We picked Kamina Oak for the basement. It had that whitewashed, beachy look I was going for
and the planks were nice and wide. It also had a locking technology which
meant the floor could be installed without the use of nails or glue.
Most installation guides (including the one that came with our laminate)
describe the process as fairly easy:
- butt the long side of the plank against the previous row
- put it in the short groove
- tilt up the board, and push down to "lock it".
So on the slim chance you're installing two-groove laminate and have no clue
how to do it, maybe this will help.
What You Should Know Before You Install Laminate
Before you jump right into the installation, here's a few tips to keep in
mind:
- Allow your flooring to acclimatize in your home for at least 48 hours
- Have at least 10% extra square footage to account for cuts and damaged boards
- Laminate flooring will have four of five different repeating patterns in a box. Be sure to mix up your boards so that repeats are not placed beside each other.
- Use your off cuts at the end of one row to start the next row. This minimizes wastage
- An installation kit with tapping block, pull bar and mallet is helpful to have.
UPDATE: For installing a subfloor and laminate floor,
see this post
for additional tips.
DIY Laminate Flooring Installation
You might want to put a weight (we used unopened boxes of laminate) on the
boards to the left of Board A, to prevent
your whole floor from popping out. Argh.
You can use a tapping bar (placed along the long side) and mallet to help get
the board snug against the previous row. As with most renovation projects,
once we got the hang of it, things went pretty smoothly and quickly - but that
first hour of bumbling... its a miracle HandyMan are still married and
speaking to each other ;) I couldn't be happier with the floor though so it
was all worth it.
Tell me, has any renovation project ever tested your patience?
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