Installing Laminate Wood Flooring

By Eric B. Slarkowski

laminate wood floor installation

There is a new and beautiful alternative to natural hardwood floors and that is laminate wood flooring. Laminate wood flooring resembles natural hardwood floor but is available at a much lower cost. Recent improvements in the quality of materials have yielded laminate floors that are extremely durable as well as beautiful. Some laminate floors are virtually impossible to distinguish from hardwood floors. The top manufacturers of flooring are now manufacturing laminate flooring, so you will see fine laminate floors from Mannington, Shaw and Bruce flooring companies.

Laminate floor offer a very wide choice in colors and styles. You can have laminate floor that looks like hardwood, of course, and they are now available in styles that look like ceramic tile. The wood colors are available from very light to darkest dark, and everything in between. Since dark colors make a room look smaller, a large, formal setting would look better with dark flooring; use lighter wood colors to visually expand a small room.

Flooring stores and home improvement centers carry a wide variety of laminate flooring. You can also shop for discount brands of laminate flooring on the Internet. Think about the colors and styles you prefer, than start shopping for price. If the room you are redecorating is small, you may be able to find leftover material at a very reasonable price.

Laminates are installed differently than other floors. Instead of being attached to the sub floor, they are made of slats that interlock and “float” over the under surface, with a special adhesive that holds them in place.

A great advantage of laminate floors is that they can be installed over old flooring, whether it is wood, tile or vinyl. If you currently have carpeting, however, you will have to remove the carpet and the padding before you can install a laminate floor. Whatever surface you install over must be level before installation.

A professional can install this floor for you, but it is fairly easy to do by yourself. For one room, if it is not too large, you can probably tackle the job in one weekend. You may want to wait until you can take some time off if you intend to do a number of rooms. Having it done professionally will cost more, of course, but if you are not handy or don’t have the time to devote to a project like this, it may be worthwhile to hire someone.

Once the floor is in, make sure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning. Lightly dusting or vacuuming will remove surface dirt, and if you have a stain, clean with a damp mop. That’s about all the care laminate floors require, since you do not have to wax laminate floors.

When you do wash the floor, use only a slightly damp mop. Too much water can damage the coating, and letting water sit on it may damage the paper backing, since moisture will become trapped. Trapped moisture may cause mold in addition to damaging the laminate. Since bathrooms typically have a lot of moisture, it is not recommended that laminate floors be installed there, since the constant moisture will damage it.

Installing Laminate Wood Flooring and Learning the Basics of How To

By Daryl Plaza

Laminate wood flooring is some of the most beautiful types of flooring that you can have in your home in comparison to real hardwood flooring. It is durable, elegant and very cost effective. These are just some of the reasons that people choose to use this type of flooring in their homes. There are plenty of other reasons as to why someone would choose to install this type of flooring in their homes.

One reason could be the ease of the actual installation. As a matter of fact, many homeowners prefer to install this laminate wood flooring themselves.

Yes the installation is that easy to do. All you need is the right kind of tools to do the job. These tools are rather basic and inexpensive. The tools that you will need is a hammer, tape measure, striking block and a saw. When it comes to the saw you can use a hand saw, but a power saw will save you time and make it a little easier.

As mentioned above laminate wood flooring can be installed over almost any type of surface. Some surfaces that you want to avoid with this type of flooring are carpet or textile floors. One thing that is very important to do before installing this type of flooring into your home, is to allow the wood flooring to reach the same room temperature. The best way to do this is by allowing the boxes to lie flat in the room for a few days.

This will allow the flooring to reach the right temperature. Once you are ready to install your flooring, you want to begin along the longest wall. When doing this you want to run the wood flooring parallel with the wall. With the use of ½ inch spacers you will have a small gap from the top of the flooring and the bottom of the wall, but don’t let this bother you as base trim will hide this gap. The reason for the gap is to allow the wood to expand or shrink as the weather conditions change.

In following these steps in no way recommends not reading the manufactures instructions for Installing Laminate Wood Flooring. You should always read these instructions. You will find that the longest stretch is always the first run, once you have this set though it will go a lot more quickly. Having this type of wood flooring in your home will add beauty and elegance to your home. You can enjoy all aspects of it including the installation for yourself.

Article you might be interested in reading: Reclaimed Wood Flooring, Wood Floor Cleaner, Bruce Wood Flooring and Wholesale Wood Flooring