Installing Laminate Wood Flooring

It’s not difficult to understand why laminate flooring is so popular. A remarkable variety of finished surfaces are available. You can select laminate flooring with a top or “wear” layer made from solid wood as many species and stain treatments are available. Or you can go with simulated wood, choosing from a range of designs and colors. Simulated slate and tile are two other options. Laminate flooring is easy to install with basic tools. Because it’s relatively thin, laminate flooring won’t cause a major alteration in floor levels. And since laminate flooring comes prefinished, a new laminate floor is ready to be used as soon as it’s installed; no sanding or finishing is required. The factory-applied finish on most types of laminate flooring are very durable, so it will be many years before it needs replacement. In addition, laminate wood flooring costs about half as much as solid hardwood flooring materials and can stand up to more foot traffic than hardwoods. This section will explain how to select, install, and maintain laminate wood and parquet flooring. It also will tell you how to overcome some of its limitations and have a floor that is not only easy to install and long-lasting, but also defies detection. You’ll learn how the pros do it.
  • Selecting Materials and Tools

    Laminate wood flooring materials are sold under a wide variety of trademarked names including Pergo, Alloc, Durofloor, and Uniclic. What’s the difference? A better question is: What is laminate wood flooring? This section answers this and other questions for you.

  • Installing Laminates

    The primary methods of installing laminate flooring is to fasten them to the floor or to each other. You can fasten them to the floor with an adhesive, called a glued floor. Or you can fasten the boards together either with glue or by interlocking them, called a floating floor. Some laminate flooring boards use both glue and a tongue-and-groove interlock to fasten them. And some floors use both joint and base adhesion to make sure the flooring stays in place. Others use a staple fastener on the tongue to fasten the material to the subfloor. Which is best? It depends on how permanent you want the floor to be and what you’re installing it over.

  • Installing Parquet

    Parquet flooring is made by arranging solid wood strips in a pattern on a square core or base. A parquet square is also called a tile; a group of four tiles is a unit. Parquet flooring is not as popular as laminate flooring, since it can be more difficult to install and less durable than most laminate flooring. However, these flooring squares may be historically appropriate for an older house. Parquet flooring has a “busy” or populated pattern so it is more popular for installation in smaller rooms or in sections of a room such as an entryway. For a larger room, choose a large, basic parquet pattern.

  • Maintaining Laminate Wood Floors

    Laminate wood flooring offers the look of wood with the low maintenance properties of vinyl. That means you can clean the surface with water or a mild soap solution and be relatively sure that stains won’t impregnate it. Your floor’s manufacturer will recommend specific cleaning products or you can buy generic laminate floor cleaning products through larger building material suppliers.
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