How to Lay Laminate Flooring

Laying laminate in 6 steps

1. 1

   Measure the room and buy the right amount

   Measure the floor, or draw it in the free planner, and let it convert the area into full planks, packs and a waste percentage for your laying direction. Order the packs it gives you plus one spare, and let the boxes acclimatise flat in the room for 48 hours before you start.

2. 2

   Check and prepare the subfloor

   The subfloor must be clean, dry and flat – no more than about 3 mm of deviation under a 2 m straightedge. Vacuum it, fill low spots with levelling compound and let them cure; a floor that isn't flat makes the joints flex and click apart later.

3. 3

   Lay the vapour barrier and underlay

   On a mineral subfloor (screed, concrete) put down a vapour barrier first, taped at the overlaps, then the impact-sound underlay. On timber use underlay only. This layer damps footstep noise and evens out tiny irregularities.

4. 4

   Set out the first row and the expansion gap

   Plan the direction – usually along the longest wall or towards the main window so the joints catch less light. Leave a 10–15 mm expansion gap to every wall with spacers; a floating floor has to be free to move, or it lifts.

5. 5

   Work across the floor with staggered joints

   Click each new plank into the last and stagger the end joints by at least 30–40 cm from row to row, so no two seams line up. Start each new row with the offcut from the previous one where its length allows – that is what keeps the waste down.

6. 6

   Scribe the last row and finish the edges

   The final row almost always needs ripping to width – scribe it to the wall, keeping the gap, and pull it in with a pull bar. Remove the spacers, then cover the gap with skirting boards or transition profiles (never screwed through the laminate).