In searching for the perfect flooring material for your home, you have most likely considered laminate wood flooring If you’re anything like me, when you first heard the term “laminate” in reference to wood floors, there was a certain ‘yuck’ factor associated with memories of really bad furniture with “plastic wood” peeling from the fiberboard base. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s look at some of the main advantages of this choice in flooring materials.

Laminate Floors are Economical

Naturally the statement that laminate flooring is always less expensive than solid wood flooring is not true. As with all products, there are ranges of prices across any single type of manufactured goods. The very top of the line laminate floor will usually still be pricier than the bottom priced solid hardwood floor. But, if you compare the highest price of one floor to the highest price of the other floor, a laminate wood floor will usually be the better value.

Laminated Flooring is Versatile

It used to be that laminate wood flooring didn’t offer as great a choice of styles, colors and finishes as could be obtained with solid wood floors but that is certainly no longer the case. Laminate floors can be found in all colors and all styles matching nearly every available style of hardwood floor on the market. These floors are also available in stone patterns, brick, bamboo and more. In terms of versatility, laminate floors are hard to beat.

A Laminate Wood Floor is Durable

Because these floors are coated with a substance called melamine, they present a very tough finish. This synthetic material is used in many applications including the institutional dishes you’d find in hospitals and cafeterias. Melamine is tough, and scratch, heat and moisture resistant. Routine wear and tear is much less than you would find with solid wood flooring (whatever type of wood) and quite dent resistant as well. Because of the tough coating, laminate flooring is also highly moisture resistant as well making it a great choice for kitchens and bathrooms. In fact, any room that gets a lot of traffic is a good choice for laminate floors.

Laminate Wood Flooring is Easy to Clean

Because it is so water resistant, this flooring is not as ‘fussy’ as solid hardwood flooring when it comes to cleaning. Most ordinary floor cleaning products will work just fine on these floors. Soap and water will not dull them. Moisture will not warp or stain them. They don’t need regular waxing, staining or oiling like solid wood floors do.

Laminate floors can’t be ‘refinished’ in the same manner as traditional hardwood floors. However, as with any floor, you can expect that over time your laminate flooring may become dulled or occasionally have some damage done to it by way of scratches or stains. In most cases, it is a very simple matter to give your laminate floor a new lease on life. Home improvement centers will all carry products designed for just this purpose and you’ll easily be able to bring your laminate wood flooring back to ‘new’.

We’re going to talk about installing a laminate wood floor because installing this kind of floor is the easiest one for beginners to tackle as the panels in laminate flooring snap together and are tapped into place using a mallet and wood block. Laminate wood floors also require no glue and that can be a difficult aspect of solid hardwood flooring installation.

Laminate Wood Floor Installation — Prepare the room

Think of this as wood floor installation 101. Preparation is always key. Make sure that your sub-floor is level and even. Even the most beautiful and carefully installed wood floor can’t compensate for a bumpy sub-floor underneath. You’ll need to remove old carpeting, if any. A light sanding to take off any residual glue will leave you with a ready sub-floor for your laminate floor installation. Whatever sub-floor you have, make sure you have swept up any debris or dirt before you begin your installation. You don’t need to remove other types of flooring like vinyl tiles or old wood flooring.

Remove all the baseboards, moldings and doors in preparation for the installation.

Prepare the wood floor for installation by acclimatizing it to where it will be installed for at least two days. This will give the flooring a chance to adjust to the particular levels of temperature and humidity in your home. Obviously, you will want to have the laminate floor materials inside the house for those two days. Take a few moments to inspect all the boards and make sure none are damaged. Once you install your laminate floor, you won’t be able to get a refund.

Here is a tool check list:
Carpenter’s square
Circular saw
Measuring tape
Utility knife
Hammer
Rubber mallet
Pry bar
Vacuum
Wood block
Protection for your eyes and ears
Pencil

Remove all the furniture from the room.

Laminate Wood Floor Installation — The underlayment

Lay the moisture barrier (sometimes called underlayment). This thin foam pad serves several purposes. It prevents moisture from the sub-floor from seeping into your new floor, it creates a sound barrier so that you have quiet floors and it also evens out little imperfections in the sub-floor. Your flooring manufacturer will be able to recommend the best type for your particular situation.

Make sure that you don’t overlap the underlayment as this will cause bumps that will make your floor uneven. Tape the edges of the foam together to keep them in place. Use spacers to make an expansion gap between the underlayment and the walls. For large rooms, use half-inch spacers. For small areas, a quarter inch will do.

Laminate Wood Floor Installation — Laying the boards

Aesthetically speaking, flooring planks are best installed so that the sunlight coming into the room is parallel to the way the boards are placed. Begin your installation in the corner of the room that is going to be most visible. For boards that will be up against the walls, you will need to cut off the ‘tongue’ part of the boards and use the same spacers as you used when you put in the underlayment.

Lay an entire row along the wall. It will be easy to put the planks in place as you simply insert one end of the board into the other at a slight angle and then push the board into place. For the most ‘genuine’ look, it is best to mix your planking from several boxes in each row. That way, you get the most natural look overall when you have finished your laminate installation.

When you reach the end of this first row, you will need to cut the last plank so that it fits up to the spacer. Remember, measure twice, cut once!

Beginning at the starting point of your first row, use a piece of board that is a different length than the one you laid first. Put the second row of planking into position and use your rubber mallet to tap the pieces together. Continue with this process until the entire room is done.

The final step in your flooring installation project is to put your baseboards back into place and trim your doors to accommodate the height of the new floor. Clean up and put your furniture back in the room. Sit back and congratulate yourself on your new laminate wood floor installation.

Few home improvement projects can improve the appearance and value of your home as much as installing wood flooring.  Solid wood floors make any home look better, and their durability and longevity make them an investment you’ll enjoy for a lifetime.

Solid wood flooring isn’t hard to install.  It’s a project most homeowners can tackle with good results.   But since sanding is tricky, and produces a huge amount of dust, it’s probably best to use pre-finished flooring.

Check your sub floor before you install solid wood flooring.

Before you decide which kind of wood floors to install, you’ll need to evaluate your sub flooring.  If you have a concrete slab, solid hardwood floors are not an option.  You’ll need to go with an engineered floor.

Solid wood flooring should only be installed over a clean, smooth, level base.  A plywood sub floor will provide insulation and sound proofing for your wood floors.  And give your floors added stability.

Because wood expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity, it’s a good idea to store the boards in the room where they’re going for a few days so they can adjust to the new environment.

You should buy about 30% more wood than your measurements indicate because there will likely be some boards that you don’t like and would prefer not to use.

Ready the Room for Solid Wood Flooring Installation.

If you haven’t already, remove the doors and baseboard molding from the room where you’re installing wood floors.  Numbering the baseboards and corresponding place on the wall will make reinstalling them much easier.

Figure out where the floor joists are and mark their location on the wall with a pencil.  You’ll be installing the wood flooring perpendicular to the joists.

To ensure a smooth surface, go over the sub floor and sink any nails or screws that protrude.  Then use a moisture tester to make sure the room is within the acceptable range.

To minimize creaks and squeaks and add some moisture protection, use a staple gun to tack down a layer of 15-pound asphalt felt.  Overlap the seams by 2 or 3 inches.

Once the felt is installed, measure the width of the room in several places, then snap a chalk line down the center, parallel to the wall where you‘ll start installing the wood strips.  Usually exterior walls are the straightest.

Snap additional chalk lines to show the location of the joists.  Finally, snap a chalk line parallel to your centerline 1/2″ from the starting wall.  Because this gap lets the wood expand, it’s essential.  And after the wood flooring is installed, it will be covered with the baseboards.

Begin to Install the Solid Wood Flooring

Check the boards and discard any that are crooked or warped.  If they aren’t already cut to random lengths, cut them yourself in varying sizes.

Select one of the longest boards and drill pilot holes that match up with the location of the joists.  Using 1-1/2″ finishing nails, nail the board to the plywood sub floor with the tongue side away from the wall.  Place the nails about six inches apart.  Use spacers against the wall to maintain the expansion gap, and to avoid denting the wood, use a nail set to drive the nail slightly below the surface.

If you don’t have a pneumatic blind nailer, you should rent one. It will make the job a lot easier.  Because it takes up some space, you probably won’t be able to start using it until the third or fourth row.

Putting a piece of tape on the head of the nailer will reduce the chance of it damaging the wood flooring.

Once the first board is nailed down, lay out a group of boards, staggering the ends by at least four to six inches.  Cut the end pieces to fit.  This process, called racking, speeds up the job by letting you install large sections of the solid wood floor at once.

Place a small piece of scrap next to the second-row board and hit it with a mallet to make sure the tongue and groove fit together tightly.  Then use the blind nailer to drive a nail at an angle from the top of the tongue into the sub flooring.   Driving the nails at an angle keeps them from becoming loose over time.

You should nail the board every ten inches or so, starting about three inches from the end joints.

When you get down to the last two or three rows, you won’t be able to use the blind nailer anymore, and you’ll need to face nail them.  As you did with the first board, drill pilot hotels and attach them with 1-1/2″ finishing nails.  You may need a pry bar to pull the boards together for a tight fit.

Sink the nails with the nail set and then use a matching putty to fill the holes.

Once the solid wood floor is installed, install the transitions, and reinstall the baseboards.