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. It can be installed over any other tightly bonded flooring making it ideal for retrofits. 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. How to install laminate flooring.

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. Installing laminate flooring is a snap literally. Directly onto the subfloor lay down a layer of plastic sheeting to create a moisture barrier. Look at the board where it touches the subfloor and see if there are any dips bumps or otherwise uneven areas.

Install the underlayment or vapor barrier. When installing a floating laminate floor you don t need to use any adhesive nails or staples. Flooring manufacturers always recommend putting down underlayment before laying the laminate. They should acclimate for at least 48 hours.

Lay a loose plank of your new flooring upside down against the door casing over a piece of the underlayment and saw off the bottom of the casing. This will allow them to acclimate to the room s temperature and humidity. These hills and valleys will eventually lead to unwanted bouncy spots squeaks and groans in the final laminate floor. To test for the flatness for laying laminate flooring on an uneven subfloor lay a 10 foot long 2x4 board.

Fill any low spots in the underlayment greater than 3 8 inch with floor leveling compound. Doing so enables you to slide the new planks underneath the casing. To lay laminate flooring first clear out any furniture in the room you ll be laying the floor in. Next cut strips of underlayment to size and lay the strips down across the exposed floor.