How easy to install Laminate flooring?

Stroker

Senior Member
Hardest part is moving the furniture.
 

lbzdually

Banned
I did my sisters house by myself over a few days. Over 1000 sq ft. Would have been much faster if you have some cutting and handing you new boards. Use a creeper for working under cars and you hardly ever have to get up. A miter saw, jigsaw, and circular saw are ideal, but you can do everything with a circular saw.
 

Oldstick

Senior Member
I will add one cautionary statement though. The laminate we picked for our den maybe 20x20 at the most was a 1x1 floor tile pattern. Each laminate board was 1x3 feet. We had a heck of a time getting some of those boards to lock together just right. Maybe 70% went perfect but the other 30 percent would not lock together just right showing a little bit of raw seam as a result. Mostly in the middle of the room so we assume it was a very tiny bit of dip in the middle of the concrete floor that was responsible combined with the larger sized boards that are more difficult to bend into place. Gonna pull it up and replace with something else in the near future.
 

hipster dufus

Senior Member
installed armstrong glue together laminate 19 yrs ago. get some knee pads. i would do it again in a minute. only carpet is in bedrooms now. they didnt have oscillating saws back then, had to use a hand saw made for door jambs. had 6 door openings and a stairway to deal with. they make transitions for all of them. its held up real well.
 

jiminbogart

TCU Go Frawgs !

jiminbogart

TCU Go Frawgs !
Can a dummy like me do it? It appears to be quite easy, watching install videos. Thoughts please. Or should I just double my cost and hire a professional. Have 2 rooms and a stairs and hallway to do.


It's easy to install, depending on the brand.

I have seen some laminate that was near impossible to get right and some goes down nice and easy.

We buy our laminate at Sam's. It is fairly priced, has a foam backer, made in Germany, EASY(fast) to install and looks great. My business partner put it in his house and five years later it still looks the same and he has a large dog.

You don't want to get done and see a spot in the middle of the room and have to pull it up and relay it.

If you go with laminate make sure to get the kind with the foam already on it.

We pay $1 per square foot install on new construction. That includes installing the shoe mould.
 

Buford_Dawg

Senior Member
Well, you guys were right, pretty easy project. We went ahead and did both bathrooms and associated closets and linen space. My wife is thinking we take on other areas once we recover. My hands, fingers, knees took a beating, but otherwise easy enough. And it looks terrific.
 

Twiggbuster

Senior Member
Thinking of doing the vinyl planks.
Problem is a glued down laminate years ago before the floating floors.
Hope I’m not stuck having to pull up the old laminate.
Can you install plank over it??
 

mguthrie

**# 1 Fan**OHIO STATE**
Thinking of doing the vinyl planks.
Problem is a glued down laminate years ago before the floating floors.
Hope I’m not stuck having to pull up the old laminate.
Can you install plank over it??
You probably glued down an engineered wood. It is laminated wood. Different from a laminate flooring. You can go right over top of it though. There will be a height difference when you transition to carpet,tile or vinyl. They make transition strips for this. I have the glued down engineered wood in part of my house. I want to replace with tile and don't want the 1/2" or so difference in height. I'll probably tackle the job of scraping it up
 

treemanjohn

Banned
Thinking of doing the vinyl planks.
Problem is a glued down laminate years ago before the floating floors.
Hope I’m not stuck having to pull up the old laminate.
Can you install plank over it??
You can go over it as long as it's still in good shape and stuck. It will defeat the purpose of the waterproofing though
 
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