Installing Laminate Basement Floor

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If you are ready to take care of the following five important steps and precautions, you’ll surely get a successful installation of a laminate floor without causing any harm to yourself or the new floor you intend installing.

1. Generally most of the manufacturers of laminates give warranty for its being installed below grade. Now, that is unlike a hardwood floor. Yet, it will be good to check the warranty clause as provided by re manufacturer.

2. Like any other flooring, laminate flooring too takes its time to get acclimatized to the surroundings of a new place. The best way to achieve that would be to store the intended flooring for about a week before you actually start its installation.

3. It is important to leave room for expansion of laminate. You would certainly be required to keep a gap of half an inch all around the perimeter of your room.

4. You have to be absolutely sure that the basement is totally dry. Remember that humidity and water is enemy number one for subfloors. You should save yourself from the uncalled for financial and physical strain of redoing the job by being cautious before hand.

5. Last, but the most important precaution that you should never afford to overlook concerns your personal safety. Put on your safety gear, particularly goggles, while handling any of the power tools for doing any job.

As laminate flooring is not nailed down it is essentially a floating floor. That makes its installation very convenient. An added advantage is that it has the pleasant appearance of a hardwood floor.



It is quite an interesting and easy to execute DIY project. Here’s how it goes.

1. Before you really get down to the task of laying a laminate flooring it will be helpful to read on the topic of preparation of basement flooring. First step is to cove the entire floor with the subfloor, vapor barrier and padding. Generally vapor barrier and padding form a part of the purchase of the laminate flooring.

2. Having done that, you are ready to start the installation. Using the tongue and grove technique connect a number of planks together to form a long row. Take some another piece of wood lying around the house and put the laminate in place by slightly tapping it. You may need to use this piece of wood for attaching each piece into the groove by slight tapping. The more the number of planks you fix, the sturdier the floor gets.

3. As the number of rows increases, you should continue to stagger the seams. This imparts additional strength to floor in the absence of any clear break line.

4. In due course you will be required to cut the planks to fit with the walls. Take measurement of the space between the wall and the installed board and cut accordingly. You can very easily cut these planks by using a table saw, which is sturdy and thus safer to use than a hand-held circular saw for such kinds of jobs. Alternatively, you may even use a pry bar, a shorter version of a crow bar or caw-caw. Don’t you worry about that, it’s very easy and needs no technical talents.

5. For having a snug fitting around irregular areas like corners or immovable round poles, use a jig saw to get the desired perfect shapes.

6. Continue laying the planks, one after the other till the entire basement floor is covered.

7. Having laid the basement flooring, just install some trim/base boards on the top surface and your finished basement floor is ready.