How to lay laminate flooring

Laying laminate flooring yourself is a great way to save money on your Reno. Paying someone to lay your floorboards can cost upwards of $2000. We bought these floorboards from Masters at a reasonable price and had a builder friend show us how to lay them properly. A tip when buying your flooring, look for thicker and wider boards, they are easier to work with and it means you don't need to lay as many! The thicker the boards (ours of 12mm, standard is 8mm thick) the better the acoustics, especially in open plan living areas. You also save money on underlay as you won't need premium underlay if using thicker boards.

Tools required:

• Jigsaw
• Circular Saw
• Pencil
• Tape Measure
• Floorboard DIY Kit (spacers, hammering block, wall flush pull hammer)
• Coloured silicon

Steps:

1. Plan out the room size and layout, you will need to lay the flooring separately in each room, do not lay the flooring from one room to the next.
2. Lay your foam underlay along the length of the room, cut around island benches, walls etc with a stanley knife. Make sure it doesn't overlap.
3.  Lay your first board in a left hand corner, along the longest stretch of wall with the finished side up and the ridge side facing the wall.
4. Place the plastic wedges/spacer blocks 300mm apart to maintain a 5mm expansion gap in between the edge of the board and the wall.
5. Repeat for the second board. If you have a piece left over from the first row, use this board to begin the second row. The boards should be layed in a staggered pattern, so that the joins do not line up in each row.
6. The tongue of the next piece should be pushed into the groove of the first row until the two planks are firm against one another. Use a wooden block and tap with a hammer to join the two boards together. The gap between the first and second board should be closing. You will need to keep hammering with the wood block until the gap disappears.
Note: Some laminate planks will need gluing, refer to specific product instructions.
7. The same process of hammering together with a woodblock is used to join the rows together
8. Continue laying each row ensuring a random pattern is generated.
9. You will need to use the circular saw to trim boards that do not fit in the required spaces. You will need to measure the board against the remaining area and then cut to size using the circular saw.
10. The jigsaw is used to cut grooves into boards to fit around awkward spots, for example doorframes or island benches.
11. Remove all of the plastic wedges.
12. Use silicone to cover any gaps or uneven joins -  be sure to find a silicone close to the same colour as your boards.
13. Finish your floor by placing skirting boards around the room, this will give it a finished clean look and cover any mistakes close to the edge of the wall!

Some important notes:

• When laying the boards make sure the gap between the end of the board and the wall is 2mm less than the width of your selected skirting boards.
• While you need 5mm against all the walls, you want a flush/tight finish in doorways.
• Do your window/door trims at the same time as you lay the boards - don't lay all the boards then try to come back to the trims, it is a lot more difficult!
• Be mindful of where carpet meets floorboards - you want them to meet where you can't see them under the doors (one of our rookie mistakes!)