Many home owners are turning to laminate floors as an affordable and easy home renovation project. Laminate floors come in dozens of wood grains, as well as stone and tile designs that are simple to install, even for beginners and teens. Instead of paying thousands of dollars for professionally installed hardwood, stone, or tile flooring, home owners can install their own laminate floors by following these simple directions. . Home owners can find high quality laminate flooring for sale online, from reputable dealers that offer everything needed to transform a room, an office, or an entire building in a surprisingly short period of time. Whichever looks suits your style and tastes, the installation process is simple and straightforward.

Buy The Proper Amount Of Laminate Flooring

To measure for the correct square footage of planks needed, you will want to remove the existing wall trim. If it will be reused, it should be stored carefully. Your new foundation will look far more professional if the old trim and molding are replaced with materials that match the new floor and they can be bought wherever you find laminate flooring for sale. Due to the constraints and quirks of reality, it is always a good idea to purchase 2-5% more flooring than you think you will need, due to cutting errors, space omissions, and as a bit of insurance.

What Tools Will You Need?

While installing these planks is simple, the job goes much more smoothly with the proper tools. Most can be found around the house and those that are more specific to the task can be found anywhere you find laminate flooring for sale, often in the form of an installation kit. Here is a list of the tools needed:

1. glue

2. finish nails

3. transition thresholds

4. wood putty

5. hammer

6. plastic sheeting

7. duct tape

8. blue painters’ tape

9. tapping block

10. utility knife

11. spacers

12. chop saw

13. tape measure

14. gloves

Once the tools are gathered and the planks have arrived, it is time to empty the room and prepare the subfloor.

Setting The Stage

If the old floor is covered with carpet, the carpeting must be removed. Carpets are one of a home's worst sources of allergens; getting rid of it is one of the fastest ways to eliminate allergies in the home, but be sure to wear a painters' mask while you remove carpet since many of the particles will have moved below the surface and into its padding layer. If the old floor is any other material, it can be left exactly where it is to provide an extra layer of padding and insulation, so long as they are clean and flat. Dips and bumps must be eliminated before laying the planks.

Plastic Protection

Plastic sheeting should be used to create a moisture barrier between the subfloor and your laminate floors. The sheeting should overlap 6-8" and be duct taped together. The sheeting should also extend up the wall 2-4", depending upon the height of your trim and molding. Blue painters' tape works well to hold the sheeting on the wall without causing damage to paint or wallpaper. For laminate floors in bathrooms and kitchens, extra moisture fighting protection can be obtained by ordering laminate flooring for sale with waxed edges.

Laying The Planks

Spacers or a plank tipped on its side should be used to create a 1/4" gap between the planks and the wall. Each plank is laid end to end along one wall. The final plank will have to be cut to fit the remaining space. This cut plank is then sued to begin the next row. This staggers the seams between each row of planks. As each plank is laid in place and lock snapped to its neighbor, it should be gently tapped into place with a hammer and a tapping block. This process is continued until the opposite wall is reached. Very often, the final row of planks will have to be ripped, or cut lengthwise, to fit the remaining space, while still leaving the 1/4" space between the flooring and the wall.

The final steps to a successful installation are simply to attach a transition strip between any old flooring and the new planks and nailing the molding that covers the space between the planks and the wall. If the heads of the finishing nails are tapped below the wood surface, the holes can be filled with wood putty and painted over to match, creating professional looking laminate floors at a fraction of the cost of hardwood, stone, or tile.

Your laminate floors will be a source of pride, beauty, and easy to clean good health for many years to come.