{"id":821,"date":"2025-10-28T11:31:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T03:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php\/2025\/11\/22\/how-to-install-laminate-flooring\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T14:42:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T06:42:15","slug":"how-to-install-laminate-flooring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/?p=821","title":{"rendered":"How To Install Laminate Flooring"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Learn how to install laminate flooring with this simple tutorial. \u00a0It\u2019s not hard to do and oftentimes an entire room can be done in a day. \u00a0With the proper tools, it makes the process even faster! \u00a0<\/i><\/b>\"laminate<\/p>\n

When we bought our house nearly nine years ago, we replaced all of the flooring in the house. \u00a0In the bedrooms, we installed carpeting, which was great at first, but over the years it was put through a lot. \u00a0Two growing boys, dogs, etc. \u00a0Slowly but surely we\u2019ve been swapping out the carpet in the bedrooms with laminate flooring. \u00a0With each room, we learn more and more on how to best install it and what tools make the process easier. \u00a0I\u2019m partnering with Dremel today to show you how their Saw-Max handheld<\/b> saw made the process of installing the laminate in my oldest son\u2019s bedroom so much faster and easier.<\/p>\n

The flooring I chose is Pergo Outlast+ in Vintage Tobacco. \u00a0It\u2019s the same flooring I installed in my younger son\u2019s bedroom and I love the look of it. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"affiliate<\/p>\n

The \u201cBefore\u201d<\/h2>\n

\"Teen<\/p>\n

My oldest just turned 13 and I\u2019ve been wanting to change up his room for a while. \u00a0Something similar to what I had done in my youngest son\u2019s bedroom<\/b>. \u00a0He hates change, and resisted for a long time, but finally agreed to let me work on his room. \u00a0The first step was tear out the carpet. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bedroom<\/p>\n

The first step was to move all of the furniture out of the room. \u00a0Once the furniture was out, the carpeting was next. \u00a0We pulled up all of the carpet, padding and tack strips, then carefully removed the baseboards. \u00a0I\u2019ve shared a tutorial on that before. \u00a0My goal was to reuse the baseboards, rather than buy new ones and go through the whole process of painting, measuring and cutting. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Best Tools For Laminate Flooring<\/h2>\n

With this now being the fourth room I\u2019ve installed laminate flooring in, I\u2019ve learned what tools are the best and most efficient at getting the job done. \u00a0I\u2019ve included that list here with affiliate links. \u00a0Should you purchase a tool from one of these links, I\u2019ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Mallet<\/li>\n
  • Pull Bar<\/li>\n
  • Tapping Block<\/li>\n
  • Bullet Tools EZ Shear Sharpshooter Laminate Flooring Cutter<\/li>\n
  • Dremel Saw-Max<\/b><\/li>\n
  • Tape Measure<\/li>\n
  • Pencil<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    How To Install Laminate Flooring<\/h2>\n

    \"Installing<\/p>\n

    When installing laminate flooring, you want to make sure to have a plan on where to start. \u00a0Typically, you want the flooring to run the length of the longest wall. \u00a0This allows it to feel more balanced and also helps the room to feel bigger. \u00a0<\/p>\n

    The first few rows set the stage for the rest of the room, so make sure that when you install them that they are square against the wall. \u00a0No wall is perfectly straight, but do the best that you can. \u00a0You\u2019ll be able to slide the flooring around a bit in order to line it back up and make sure that you haven\u2019t shoved it too far one way or another under the drywall.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Try to install the flooring in a stair step pattern leaving about 12\u201d or so between the end seams. \u00a0Once you get to the end of the wall, trim your flooring and take the cutoff piece to start the next row. \u00a0This allows you to keep the same pattern going throughout the rest of the room. \u00a0If at some point you end up with a piece that is 6-8\u201d or less, discard that cutoff and start with a new, full piece, or trim the new piece to the necessary size to start a new row with the stair step pattern.<\/p>\n

    How To Make Cuts Around Doorways<\/h2>\n

    \"Dremel<\/p>\n

    My new favorite tool for making cuts in flooring to either rip it down or cut around doorways is the Dremel Saw-Max<\/b>. \u00a0It\u2019s fast and efficient, allowing me to make clean, straight cuts. \u00a0I\u2019ve used it to make flush cuts in wood, and it also works amazingly well on tile cuts. \u00a0The blades are so simple to switch out in just seconds, so you can keep the progress going.<\/p>\n

    \"Cutting<\/p>\n

    Making cuts around doorways can be a little tricky at times. \u00a0You want to make sure your cuts are spot on and that you aren\u2019t left with a huge gap anywhere that won\u2019t be covered up by trim or baseboards. \u00a0Line up your board next to the area you\u2019ll need to notch out, making sure the end of the board is aligned with where it will eventually be attached to the previous piece. \u00a0Mark where your notch cuts will be and then measure how deep the notch will be and mark that on the board. \u00a0Cut each edge of the notch, then plunge cut across the board. \u00a0Break off the notch and clean up the inside corners, if necessary, with a razor knife.<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    Ripping Down Laminate<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    When finishing off the inside of the closet, the very last piece needed to be ripped down to size in order to fit. \u00a0For this, I used a tape measure to determine the width I\u2019d need for the board and then used a straight line to mark the cut. \u00a0The Saw-Max makes it so easy to make straight cuts, without even needing a guide! \u00a0The notch on the front of the saw allows you to easily follow your cut line as you run the saw the length of the wood.<\/p>\n

    \"Straight<\/p>\n

    I used to try to make cuts like this on my table saw, but I hated walking ALL THE WAY to the shop in order to use the table saw. \u00a0I could NEVER get straight cuts with my jigsaw. \u00a0It\u2019s just not a talent I possess. \u00a0The Saw-Max blew me away the first time I made a cut with it. \u00a0I honestly thought I\u2019d need to have some sort of guide, but it made perfectly straight cuts every time for me.<\/p>\n

    How To Finish The Last Row Of Laminate<\/h2>\n

    \"Finishing<\/p>\n

    \"Ripping<\/p>\n

    Finishing off the last row of laminate almost always will require you to have to rip down the last boards. \u00a0Rarely (if at all) will the stars align and allow for a full board to be installed on the last remaining row. \u00a0To determine the proper width to rip your board down, follow these steps.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Place the board you wish to rip down on top of the board in the row before it, completely flush with that board.<\/li>\n
    2. Place a second board on top, flush against the wall. \u00a0<\/li>\n
    3. Trace a line with a pencil the entire length of the board.<\/li>\n
    4. Rip the board down, following the line you traced.<\/li>\n
    5. Install the board and follow the above steps for the remaining boards, trimming around doorways as needed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Be sure to follow the above steps for each individual board. \u00a0You cannot expect that the gap will be the same along the entire length of the wall, or that the flooring was installed perfectly straight. \u00a0You don\u2019t want to end up with too much or too little left on your final boards when finishing up the room.<\/p>\n

      The final step is to install the threshold at the doorway(s). \u00a0Regrettably, I did not photograph this step, but you will need to purchase or order a coordinating threshold piece that is installed either directly into the concrete foundation or subfloor to finish off the room. \u00a0<\/p>\n

      \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

      The finished room already looked so much better with the flooring. \u00a0Once it was finished, I removed the chair rail, painted the walls, and reinstalled the baseboards. \u00a0<\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s amazing how much bigger the room feels with the new flooring and I\u2019m so happy with how easy it was to install. \u00a0I\u2019ve got a few more projects to finish up in this room, and then it will be done! \u00a0Definitely be sure to check out my list above for my recommended tools to install laminate flooring, including the Saw-Max from Dremel<\/b>. \u00a0It was such a huge time saver!<\/p>\n

      \"laminate<\/p>\n

      If you\u2019ve had a flooring project on your list, be sure to pin this and save it for later. \u00a0Also be sure to sign up for my email newsletter to be informed of my latest projects so you can keep up to date with the remaining progress on this room as well as other projects and furniture builds!<\/p>\n

      DISCLOSURE: \u00a0I was provided product and compensation for this post. \u00a0All opinions and ideas of the products used are 100% my own. \u00a0<\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Learn how to install laminate flooring with this simple tutorial. \u00a0It\u2019s not hard to do and oftentimes an<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1089,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions\/1089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}