Laminate Flooring 'How To' - A Clean Installation Means Fewer Problems

No one likes a noisy floor. And no one wants a floor that buckles either. Fortunately a bit of cleaning is a great "ounce of prevention." Here's how maintaining a clean site while installing your laminate floor will help to avoid both of these problems.

1. During room preparation, sweep, sweep and sweep again. Yes, you need to ensure the surface on which you will lay the floor is dry, flat and smooth--but you also need to make sure that all debris is swept up--and screwnail down any squeeky areas. While the underlayment acts as a sound barrier, if you start with a clean surface there will be less noise once the floor is laid.


2. Since you're cutting laminate during the installation process, shavings inevitably get tracked back into the room and onto the underlayment. So maintain a clean workspace and keep sweeping the underlayment--any dirt or shavings lying on top of it won't be muffled by a sound barrier--and it will "crunch" underfoot.


3. Quickly check the tongues and grooves of the laminate planks before you click them together. Shavings can get into the grooves and prevent a proper connection at the joint--this isn't always obvious at the time, but will result in buckling later if it isn't caught.

A good broom and an eagle eye are your best friends during the installation process. Sweep the surface clean before putting down the underlayment, and sweep the underlayment regularly while laying the floor to get rid of any shavings, dirt or debris that could make for a noisy floor once the laminate is installed. And make a habit of checking the planks for dirt in the grooves and on the tongues before clicking the joints together for a proper connection or they may buckle later.

Marion Taylor is an experienced writer who has combined skills and resources with her husband--a flooring retail owner and operator--to create a series of how-to flooring videos. Their latest effort is a laminate flooring how to video.

Copyright of this article: 2008, Marion Taylor. This article may be reprinted if the resource box and hyperlinks are left intact.