Installing Laminate Flooring Pattern

Flooring manufacturers always recommend putting down underlayment before laying the laminate.

Installing laminate flooring pattern.

This thin dense foam layer helps to absorb sound provides a thermal barrier makes it easier to walk on the laminate and helps the flooring bridge minor gaps and bumps in the underlying floor. A laminate flooring stagger pattern is ideally random with spacing between end joints between 6 and 10 inches depending on the plank width. Notice how every second row of boards are uniform or regularly placed. They re moisture scratch and dent resistant and they re easy to install.

As with all flooring installing a laminate floor can set the overall tone for a room. A random pattern can be hard to achieve when all the planks are the same length but you can do it using offcuts from previous rows to start new rows. Before choosing a specific pattern consider what overall statement you are trying to create in the room. How to lay laminate flooring in a herringbone pattern.

They re ideal for high traffic areas and households with lots of kids or pets and they can easily be installed over radiant heating systems. Laying a laminate floor in a regular pattern decreases its ability to contract and expand as a whole unit and instead does so as single laminate boards often causing gaps or even lifting like a hinge. Lighter colors create a light and airy feeling in a room. Laminate comes in patterns that include stone tile and wood.

If you place laminate flooring on a weak or uneven sub floor the new floor will be compromised and eventually buckle damage the laminate locking system creak or create micro gaps in the new floor. A good example of an h joint can be seen in this image on the left.