Laying your own laminate / wood flooring

[Onceuponamidnight]

Has anyone done this? How difficult was it? And in the absence of flooring showrooms, can you recommend any brands/varieties please? It's something I would have been having done if we were allowed tradespeople in, and I'm wondering if I can just get it done myself!

We laid the laminate flooring in our spare room for the first time a few months ago, it was easy tbh with the right tools, without them it would be quite tricky as you have to cut around doors and pipes etc and that was the only hard part.

Thanks Elsie, can I ask which tools you needed? I've looked at the Homebase advice and there's a long list! I'll post a picture and perhaps you could tell me which the essentials are?

We definitely needed a jigsaw to cut holes out for pipes, and a mitre saw for the beading. Other tools we used are all listed in that pic :)

We've got solid oak flooring and there's no way we'd have done it ourselves. It needs a lot of professional kit and knowledge not to mention the sanding and sealing afterwards. We had 55sq ft laid and whilst it was very expensive (the actual wood as well as labour) I'm so glad we've had it done properly.

Costco Golden Select. 35 year warranty in domestic setting.

If possible take the skirting boards off to lay it and out new ones on. Much better job

Done this several times including the home I live in now.
Regarding the list you posted, it’s a good one with a few exceptions:

1. The hammer is for removing the skirting and then nailing it back after you lay the floor. You won’t be using it on the laminate. Only use the rubber mallet to tap stubborn planks into place!
2. You can buy cheaply a laminate floor cutter that can cut at adjustable angles. It looks like a giant paper cutter. It’s faster, neater and more accurate than using a hacksaw or jigsaw. Save the hacksaw/jigsaw for cutting curves or corners.
3. you don’t really need a spirit level
4. you will need underlay tape to hold the underlay in place.
5. you only need to buy scotia if you are not removing the skirting to lay the floor and then putting the skirting back on over the floor.
6. you will need a broom and dustpan and brush to keep the floor clean of debris as you go.

Few bits of advice. Make sure you jog the pattern similar to how brick walls are done. So if row 1 starts with a full plank of laminate, you must start row 2 with a shorter plank. Try to not start or end a row with a plank shorter than 1/3rd of a full plank.

Don’t put all the underlay down first. Just put down one row of the tiles, then tape the seams. Lay laminate on top, then when you are 1 row away from covering all the underlay, put down another row of underlay. This is to prevent you from damaging or slipping on the underlay while laying the laminate.

Laminate often comes with identical planks. Annoyingly a package will often have 3 or 4 in a row all identical. So keep an eye on the grain and try not to put down a series of identical ones. Dig around in the pack for variety. This will make the floor look better.

In a room that is not square, say a rectangle, run the laminate across the shorter end of the room. More rows of shorter length is stronger than fewer rows of longer length.

Make sure you leave a 0.5cm gap or whatever the package recommends for the brand you buy around the whole floor. If you don’t, as the weather changes the floor will expand and buckle. The gap gets hidden under your skirting. If your skirting won’t work for that, then you need scotia. If you need scotia, it’s easier to paint/finish it before you install it.

Do not glue the laminate or underlay to the floor or each other! No glue!

Adding on.
To start with a gap, you put spacers in so you can firmly push the laminate together without it ending up pressed against the starting wall. Spacers are just blocks of wood placed one per plank. You remove them last when the floor is done.

What also helps is you put all your furniture in half the room, lay the floor on the empty half. You can then move your furniture to sit on the finished half. The weight will help keep the floor steady and firm as you lay the second half of the room.

The last row in a room is always the hardest. Often you’ll have to literally cut a plank longwise because the gap left is smaller than a full plank will fit into. If you have an old home, the wall may not even be straight so you’ll be cutting a diagonal. This is where the tape measure and square are essential. If you think this might happen, try and end the floor on a wall with no door way so it is less noticeable that the row is not a full width.

Look on you tube and then have a good look at your room, plan it
First room I bought the cheapest I could find and its been down 10 years, its an ideal way too see if you can do it with out too much expense.
Tools
Jigsaw
Hammer ( Use a block of wood to avoid damage)
Tape measure
combination square like this
www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-combination-square-300mm-12/1219v
I feel you could get the tools used for about £20, but no car boot sales etc.
A good set of branded fine blades for the jig saw is about £10
New about £40-60, but keep or sell them on after

www.quick-step.co.uk/en-gb/frequently-asked-questions/laminate/preparation-and-installation/which-tools-do-i-need-to-install-laminate-flooring

You might need one of these
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SLIDING-8-CARPENTERS-BEVEL-ADJUSTABLE-GAUGE-ANGLE-FINDER-WOOD-MARKING-TOOL/263551114616?hash=item3d5cdedd78:g:2KEAAOSwzaJX-gb-

Oh my goodness, I'm sorry life took me away from the thread so I didn't see what wonderful advice I'd been given! Thank you all, so much. PlanDeRaccordement, it sounds like you are a pro at this. I'd much rather hire you as I'm more than a little apprehensive! Thank you again- I will keep coming back to re-read your advice as I go

We considered doing it ourselves but as we were having laminate in pretty much the whole house we had it done professionally and I am so glad we did. The floor looks so good but it also only took them 2 days to do where I think it would have taken us a whole lot longer. Our floor wasn't even downstairs either so they levelled it for us. Which wa something we would not have even thought needed doing.
If you go ahead doing it yourself there are tons of good videos on youtube. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Thank you Solina. I've started lots of other DIY jobs but I'm not certain I'm going to be up to this one... It's just me and two children at home so it's not going to be an easy task. Desperate to get it done but don't want to get caught in the middle finding it impossible and then have no flooring! Will update when I've done it one way or the other