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Flooring - Laying laminate flooring
Required Tools: Claw Hammer, Laminate Flooring, Underlay
- Make sure your floor is level before beginning. On wooden floors, nail down any loose boards and fill any gaps between boards with wooden pieces cut to size.
- Remove skirting boards. Clean the floor thoroughly so there is no grit or small pieces of debris before laying the laminate flooring. Also make sure it is dry.
- Roll out the first two strips of polystyrene underlay along the room’s longest straight wall. Removing inward opening doors may make this process easier. Cut the underlay to fit.
- Before laying your laminate, insert plastic spacers of no more than 9mm between the walls and the laminate. This will allow for any expansion of the laminate as the room temperature changes. With no room to expand, the floor may buckle.
- Place your first strip down next to the spacers groove side closest to the wall. This space will also leave room at the end to lay the last row of laminate. Piece the laminate together down the length of the wall. At the end of the row you may need to cut your last piece to size. Use either a jigsaw or hand saw (cutting from the upper face of the board down) to cut the laminate to size.
- Use the off cut to begin the second row. This will make the boards staggered and create a more securely fitted floor. To lay the second row, fit the tongue and groove connections between the laminate. Use an angle block or piece of wood and hammer to knock the flooring together firmly.
- When the first two rows are down, glue or nail them into place (depending on the type). Leave to settle for 20 minutes if glue was used, before completing the rest of the room in the same way.
- The final row may need to be cut to size before fitting. Measure the width required by deducting the width of the spacers from the size of gap that needs to be filled.
- After the room is complete replace the skirting boards and nail a strip of quadrant moulding to them to hide the gap around the edge of the floor if necessary. Alternatively just fit a timber moulding over the gap around the room.
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