When first introduced in the 1990s in the U.S. Market, a few builders and designers considered plastic-laminate flooring a joke. However, it is the type of flooring with the fastest-growing sales in less than two decades due to its durability, affordability, stain resistance, and easy do-it-yourself installation.
The plastic is laminated or glued down with plastic laminate but installed in a floating-floor method. Rather, there is a thin rubber underlayment on which the tongue-and-groove planks are snapped together and floated or laid. It will take a maximum of 4 hours for installation in a 10 x 12-foot room.
While it typically does it yourself, here are a few tips that will help achieve professional-quality installation:
- Pry Up the Shoe Molding
While the baseboard molding is to be left in place, it needs to be removed if the room has a quarter-round shoe molding along the baseboard.
Use a thin pry bar to carefully pry up the shoe molding and ensure it doesn’t get damaged, as you’ll replace it after installing the floor. The shoe molding will cover the 3/8 inch-wide gap between the baseboard and the plastic laminate plants. Also, on replacing the molding, ensure you nail it to the baseboard instead of the plastic laminate flooring.
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Undercut the Casing
You may need to trim or undercut the side jambs and door casings to ensure that the plastic-laminate flooring fits neatly around doorways.
A rubber underlayment lay in front of the casing, and then a scrap of the flooring was on top. This will help you decide how and how much to cut. Then, use a handsaw, saw, or multi-tool to cut flush through the casing and the flooring scrap. Repeat the process with all side jambs and casings remaining and vacuum away the dust and debris.
Prep the Subfloor
Any nail heads protruding from the surface need to be tapped down. The subfloor needs to be prepared for the underlayment. Take slow steps across the room to figure out any squeaks. If you come across a noisy spot in the room, drive a 2-inch drywall screw through the subfloor, preferably into joints.
Roll out the Underlayment
Beneath the plastic-laminate flooring, a thin rubber underlayment will form a cushioning layer and a moisture barrier alongside deadening sound.
While you have various types of underlayment available, go with the one the flooring manufacturer recommends. The underlayment comes in 3 to 5-foot wide rolls in varying lengths.
The underlayment needs to be rolled out from wall to wall and can be trimmed with the help of a utility knife. A 4-foot-long drywall T-square will help ease cutting straight and square. Continue cutting the next length and place them against the first piece of underlayment without overlapping the edges.
While a need to tape or staple the underlayment rarely arises, you may use masking tape across seams to prevent the pieces from shifting.
Rip the First Row
The width of the first and last rows of flooring planks must be calculated in advance to ensure that the rows are the same width to make the room look well-balanced. Moreover, neither of these rows must have less than half the width of the plank.
Use a Tapping Block
When closing the joints, use a tapping block as the tongue-and-groove planks tightly fit together. You may crush the plank if you hammer on it directly, making it impossible to install the next plank.
While you can use a scrap piece of hardwood as the tapping block, you should use one specifically for plastic-laminate flooring.
Chop the Planks
You may use most carpentry tools to chop the planks, including a circular saw, jigsaw, or handsaw. However, as the core of the planks is made with medium-density fiberboard, be warned that sawing through them may create lots of super-fine dust. Hence, renting a manual laminate flooring cutter makes more sense to help slice through the planks without much dust or noise.
Drop in the Last Row
Snap together all planks from end to end to ease down installing the last row of flooring. Then, tilt the rows into place till just before the previous row. Then, align the joint and press down the last row, using a pry bar between the baseboard and the previous row to force the joint closed if needed.
With these tips in mind, chances are your floor will look like you got it installed by professionals, so why not try?