How to Install Laminate Floors in an Open Loft
- 1). Take off the floor trim around the perimeter of the existing floor with a hammer and pry bar. Keep the trim intact and set it aside.
- 2). Roll out foam underlayment over the whole floor, starting next to one wall and laying it in courses next to each other. Tape the courses together along their seams with underlayment tape.
- 3). Snap two laminate boards together end to end. Lay them next to the wall where you want to start the flooring courses, with the grooved side of the boards facing the wall. Put shims between the boards and the wall to create a thin space. This will allow the floor to expand with environmental changes.
- 4). Link additional boards to the ends of the first ones, building the whole first course alongside the wall, with shims holding it slightly out. Cut the pieces at the ends with a miter saw to fit.
- 5). Lay the next course by linking the boards by their long sides against the first course. Continue across the whole floor, course by course, staggering the ends of the boards between courses.
- 6). Use a table saw to cut the last course of boards length-wise, so there is a quarter-inch gap between the boards and the wall.
- 7). Re-install the floor trim using a trim nail gun so it covers the gaps.
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