How to Install Laminate Flooring: Step-by-Step Guide

Laminate is a floating floor with a high-density fiberboard (HDF) core and a printed, wear-resistant top. It goes in a lot like click-lock LVP, with three real differences: it needs acclimation, it needs a saw for most cuts, and its core does not like water. Get those right and laminate is one of the most DIY-friendly floors there is. Always follow the installation instructions in your box, since they control your warranty.

What you'll need

Tools

• Tape measure, square, pencil, chalk line
• Miter saw or circular saw for cross cuts, table saw for rips
• Jigsaw for notches, hole saw for pipes
• Tapping block, pull bar and rubber mallet (or a laminate installation kit)
• Spacers, 1/4 to 3/8 inch
• Jamb saw or oscillating multi-tool for undercutting door casings
• 6 to 10 foot straightedge
• Pry bar for baseboard
• Moisture meter for wood subfloors, moisture test kit for concrete
• Knee pads, safety glasses, hearing protection, dust mask (cutting HDF makes fine dust)

Materials

• Laminate planks: square footage plus 5 to 10 percent waste
• Underlayment, unless the planks have it attached
• 6-mil polyethylene vapor barrier for concrete, unless the underlayment has one built in
• Seam tape for the vapor barrier
• Transition strips, quarter round or baseboard, finish nails
• Floor patch for low spots

How long does laminate need to acclimate?

Many laminate manufacturers call for about 48 hours. Stack the unopened boxes flat in the room where they will be installed, away from outside walls and heat vents, with the house at normal living temperature and humidity. Do not stand them on end in a cold garage. HDF swells and shrinks with humidity, so a floor installed before it adjusts can gap in winter or peak in summer. Your instructions may list a specific temperature and humidity range. More detail in flooring acclimation explained.

Step 1: Prepare the subfloor

1. Remove old carpet and pad. Laminate cannot go over carpet. Hard floors like vinyl or tile can sometimes stay if they are flat and solid. In pre-1978 homes, old resilient flooring and adhesive can contain asbestos, and painted trim can contain lead. Test first or have a certified pro handle removal.
2. Pull baseboard and undercut door casings. Use a scrap plank on top of a piece of underlayment as your height guide.
3. Check flatness. Most laminate wants the floor flat within about 3/16 inch over 10 feet, and some products ask for 1/8 inch over 6 feet. Sand high seams, screw down loose panels and squeaks, and fill dips. See how to level a subfloor for LVP or laminate.
4. Check moisture. On wood subfloors, a pin meter reading in the range your instructions allow (many ask for about 12 percent or lower) is what you want. On concrete, use a calcium chloride test or in-situ RH probes (ASTM F2170) and compare to the product's limit. New slabs need time to dry before laminate goes over them.
5. Vacuum thoroughly.

Step 2: Lay underlayment and vapor barrier

1. Over concrete: roll out 6-mil poly first, overlap the seams about 8 inches, tape them, and run it a couple of inches up the wall. Trim it after the baseboard goes on. Skip this step only if your underlayment has a built-in vapor barrier that the manufacturer approves for concrete.
2. Over wood: do not put plastic down unless the instructions call for it. Lay the foam or combination underlayment.
3. Lay underlayment one row at a time as you go, so you are not kneeling on it all day. Butt seams, do not overlap them, and tape per the instructions.
4. If the planks have attached pad, do not add another foam layer. Double padding makes the floor bounce and wears out the joints. Read underlayment for LVP and laminate for which type fits your floor.

Step 3: Plan the layout

1. Choose a direction. Long way of the room or toward the main window is usually best. Keep one direction through connected rooms. See which direction to lay flooring.
2. Do the row math. Room width minus both expansion gaps, divided by the plank's face width. If the last row would be narrower than about a third to half a plank, rip the first row so both ends match.
3. Mix boxes so color and pattern repeat evenly.
4. Plan the stagger. Offset end joints in neighboring rows at least 8 inches, or more if your product says so. Laminate printed patterns repeat, so watch that identical planks do not land side by side.

Step 4: Install the planks

1. Trim the tongue off the first row on the wall side, unless your product starts differently.
2. Set spacers along the starting wall and end wall to hold the 1/4 to 3/8 inch expansion gap.
3. Lay the first row, clicking the short ends together. Cut the last plank to length with a saw. On a miter or table saw cut face up. On a circular saw or jigsaw cut face down, so the chipping happens on the back.
4. Start the next row with the offcut if it meets the minimum length.
5. Lock the long joint by angling the plank into the previous row, pressing in, and lowering it flat. Close the short end by tapping with the tapping block. Light taps. Laminate edges chip and swell if they are damaged.
6. Check the first few rows for straight before going further. A crooked start compounds across the room.
7. Cut around obstacles. Use a jigsaw for vents and notches. For pipes, drill a hole about 1/2 inch bigger than the pipe, cut the plank through the hole, and glue the small piece back in behind it.
8. Fit under casings and tight spots by sliding the plank flat and using the pull bar to close the joint, if your lock profile allows it.

Step 5: Last row, gaps and trim

1. Mark the last row by setting a full plank on top of the previous row and tracing the wall with a scrap spacer piece. Measure at both ends.
2. Rip and install it, using the pull bar to close the long joint.
3. Pull the spacers. Leave the gap open. Do not fill it with caulk or nails.
4. Install transitions. T-molding between laminate and a floor of similar height, reducer down to vinyl or a thinner floor, end cap at sliders and hearths. Laminate usually needs a T-molding break at doorways between rooms and in long runs past the maximum length your instructions list. See flooring transitions between rooms.
5. Reinstall baseboard or quarter round, nailed into the wall, not the floor.

Where should you not install laminate flooring?

Standard laminate has a wood-fiber core. Standing water at the seams makes it swell, and swollen laminate does not shrink back. Avoid it in:

• Full bathrooms with a tub or shower, where water sits on the floor
• Laundry rooms, where a washer leak can sit for hours
• Wet basements or slabs with high moisture readings
• Mudrooms and entries where snow and wet boots sit every winter

Some newer products are sold as waterproof or water-resistant with sealed edges and coatings. Water-resistant usually means it resists surface spills for a stated number of hours. That is not the same as waterproof. If you want laminate in one of these rooms, buy a product rated for it and follow its wet-area instructions exactly. Otherwise, rigid-core LVP is the safer choice. See is laminate waterproof and LVP vs. laminate.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Skipping acclimation. The most common cause of gaps and peaking in laminate.
• No vapor barrier over concrete. Slab moisture swells the HDF from below.
• Hitting the plank edge with a mallet. Always go through a tapping block. Crushed edges never lock right.
• Tight perimeter. No gap at walls, pipes or cabinets leads to buckling in humid months.
• Wet mopping. Clean laminate with a damp, well-wrung mop or a cleaner made for it. See how to clean LVP and laminate.
• Installing over a floor that is not flat. Joints flex, squeak and eventually break.

When to hire a pro

• The subfloor needs real leveling, or the floor bounces or sags
• Concrete moisture readings are close to the product limit
• Stairs, which need careful cutting and solid nosing
• Rooms with lots of doorways, angles and transitions where layout is tricky
• Old flooring or adhesive that may contain asbestos

Need it done for you?

We install laminate across northeastern CT, central MA and western RI. A free in-home estimate gets you a written fixed-price quote within 48 hours. See laminate installation or book an estimate.