# Laminate Floor Installation Guide

Lay a floating click\-lock laminate floor in a small room, step by step

By Petros Boldly

Topic: Home & DIY

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/g408NkofNG9D)

## Transcript

### 1. Laminate Floor Installation

A laminate plank is a photo of wood under a tough clear layer, on a board of pressed wood fibre\. Its edges click together, so the floor "floats": nothing glues or nails it down\. Here are the planks, foam underlay, spacers, a pull bar and a rubber mallet\. Tap any part to see its name\.

Let the unopened boxes rest flat in the room for 48 hours first, so the planks get used to its air\.

### 2. 1 · Lay the Underlay

Sweep the subfloor clean, dry and flat\. Then lay the thin foam underlay over it, stopping about 2\.5 cm \(1 in\) short of the walls\. It cushions the floor and quietens footsteps\.

On concrete, put a plastic moisture sheet down first\.

### 3. 2 · Set Spacers at the Walls

Stand small spacers against the walls\. They keep a gap of about 10 mm \(3/8 in\) round the room, because the floor grows and shrinks a little with the weather\.

### 4. 3 · Lay the First Row

Saw the tongue \(the thin lip on one long edge\) off the planks for the first row\. Lay them with that cut edge against the spacers, ends clicked together\.

Wear goggles and a dust mask when you saw\.

### 5. 4 · Click In the Second Row

Start the second row with a shorter piece\. Hold the plank at about 20 to 30 degrees, slide its tongue into the groove of the first row, then press it down flat\. Click\!

### 6. 5 · Pull the End Joint Tight

Click in the next plank beside it\. Near the wall there is no room to tap, so hook the pull bar over the plank's end and tap the bar with the mallet\. The small gap at the joint closes\.

Never hit a plank's edge directly: the click edges break\.

### 7. 6 · Lay the Third Row

Click in the third row the same way\. Keep the end joints at least 15 cm \(6 in\) away from those in the row before, so the floor looks natural and stays strong\.

### 8. 7 · Fit the Last Row

Measure the space left at a few points, because walls are rarely straight\. Saw the last planks to width, keeping the 10 mm gap, and click them in\.

### 9. 8 · Take Out the Spacers

Lift the spacers out of the gap\. The floor now lies free, ready to move a little as the seasons change\.

### 10. 9 · Fit the Skirting

Fix a skirting board along each wall to hide the gap\. Nail or glue it to the wall only, never to the floor, so the floor can still float\.

### 11. Finished Floor

The new floor is ready to walk on straight away\. Sweep it and wipe it with a damp, not wet, cloth\.