Laminate Flooring

Member since 2008 · 251 posts · 7 votes

I'm thinking of putting in laminate flooring throughout a house I just bought. Currently it has carpet. I have roughly 900 sq ft to do.

My main question is: How hard is this to put in yourself? It's advertised as easy to do yourself, while places that sell it have installation fees that are roughly 3X that of installing carpet. Is that just because it's more time-consuming, or is it more difficult?

My other questions are: Is it more difficult to install if there is already carpet down? I've read about the "floating floor" concept, so it sounds like I'll have to pull up the carpet tacks after I remove the carpet. Is there more to it than that to get a typical floor ready for this stuff, or will I just be able to go?

Is this stuff really a lot better (durability-wise) than carpet? I've heard mixed things about it.

Thanks for any info!

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Tom Sylvester

Real Estate Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2008 · 193 posts · 46 votes

16y

We use laminate flooring in all of our rental properties. It is the cheapest solution we found, easy to install and looks great. Another benefit compared to capret is that it does not hold the smells. So many houses that we renovate smell horrible because of the carpets.

Here is an example.

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Member since 2008 · 37 posts · 0 votes
20y
there are several types of wood flooring, ie real flooring, laminate, engineered, etc. Some is nailed down, glued down or "floating".

Which ever you pick, they all need a good, clean, flat, surface to be installed. The nailed down is usually real wood, engineered and laminate can be glued or floating. The floating can be difficult or easy, depending on how much you spend. I've found the more you spend, the better the product, the easier it is to put down. Glued is not difficult, except for the glueing part. Which ever you choose, have a least 3 people total to complete the job.

Good luck!
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Member since 2008 · 28 posts · 2 votes
20y
It is not to hard to install the floating type floor. If you can run a saw and read a tape measure you can do it. It is alot of work, mainly just getting up and down alot (hard on a fat boy) but not very difficult as far a skills go. I bought the cheapest stuff aval from lumber liquidators and it seems to be ok. Next time I put it in I will go for a little beter quality than the cheapest they have. They sell a little install kit that has a plastic block used to snap them together and a metal bar that you use for the pieces next to the wall. I say go for it.
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OP
Member since 2008 · 251 posts · 7 votes
20y
Thank you both for the info. I may be getting cold feet on this one. I've got the carpet guy giving me an estimate today. I feel confident I could get the job done now, but at this point I'm mostly worried about how long it will take me (working alone) to get it in. I only have weekends to work on this stuff, and I've got a couple other things there to do myself. I haven't decided which way to go, yet.
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Member since 2008 · 37 posts · 0 votes
20y
Depending on how much squarefootage you have, I did about 1800sqft by myself in 2 days. You have to have the flooring in the house for at least a few days to aclimate to the indoor temperature and humidity.

Good luck!

Oh, I too put in the "cheap stuff" from Lumber Liquidators, .99 a square foot, I think and wish I would have gone a few steps higher. The cheap stuff is that, cheap and if you mess up a bit on the installation, it shows. However mine did come with a 20 year warranty.
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Michael Kenny
Tampa, FL · Member since 2008 · 45 posts · 4 votes
19y
Hello everyone I am actually a flooring salesman so I will give my opinion. Most of the time Laminate Flooring is actually just about as expensive as an engineered floor. My opinion to my customers in terms of resale value is always put down real engineered wood! Also, Never buy flooring from Home Depot or Lowe's they over charge you alot. I would also look into store specials..for instance I have a product I sell for 5.95/sf installed or 2.99/sf wood only(home depot sells it for 4.97sf wood only). The time it takes you to install the floor and figure out how to make those hard cuts around the doors or curved walls you might as well use your time which I am sure is more valuable doing something else and hire the store to put it in. Most stores also offer 6mts or 12mts no interest, no payments so you wont pay a dime until you sell your house if you are doing flips.

Michael
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Member since 2008 · 37 posts · 0 votes
19y
Your right Michael. The only part I didn't do to my satisfaction on my own home was around the fire place, after seeing a pro do it, I just had to smack my forhead saying, "AH HA!, that's how to do that ... DUH!"

Thanks again! Great advise.
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Member since 2008 · 1 post · 0 votes
19y
How important is it to let the engineered hardwood acclimate to the house's environment?

We are on a time crunch, and were wondering if a day is too soon.

TIA!
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Member since 2008 · 37 posts · 0 votes
19y
Very important. If you don't let it sit for a day or two it might shrink a bit and you'll have larger gaps around the room than you wanted, or it might expand and it will be tight up against the wall insted of the small area to allow for expansion. I'd wait at least 2 days.
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Michael Kenny
Tampa, FL · Member since 2008 · 45 posts · 4 votes
19y
it all actually depends on the time of year and the degree of climate change. Here is my rule of thumb. 0-24 hrs is fine if the climate change is 15 degrees or less atleast 24-48hrs on engineered wood that will experience a greater change. Also make sure that you have the correct expension gap and always use quarter round not shoe molding. As a novice it is worth the extra $.15/lf to give you that extra cover up area.

Michael

*BTW if anyone on the East needs wood deals PM me and I will try to get you a good deal
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Member since 2008 · 18 posts · 0 votes
19y
5-0 realestate is right, i bought the real cheap stuff and had a real hard time installing it, i bought the mid grade laminate and had no problems at all. i also installed it about an hour after i bought it two summers ago and havn't had any problems with it yet, but i can see where it might be a problem in some climates not letting it set before you instal it.
graff
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Member since 2008 · 37 posts · 0 votes
19y
Great resonse. Never buy the cheap stuff, even if it's a flip and you really don't care about how long it will last. Take some pride in what you do, and if you buy a bit more expensive, installation and look will far outweigh the initial cost.
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Member since 2008 · 18 posts · 0 votes
19y
go ahead and buy the cheap stuff if your going to have someone else install it, but if you don't know much about it and your doing it yourself, buy the mid level stuff and get a decent intallation kit.
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Member since 2008 · 3 posts · 0 votes
19y
laminate flooring is easy to lay with good installation instruction. I can offer you that.
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Joshua D.Pro Member
BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
19y
Originally posted by "John712":
laminate flooring is easy to lay with good installation instruction. I can offer you that.

John - do you export to the USA from China? How do you instruct people on laminate installation from the other side of the world?
Podcast Guest on Show #100
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Member since 2008 · 3 posts · 0 votes
19y
Yeah,we export to USA. We offer detailed installation instuction. Also we offer special installation DIY installation kit.
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Adrian Bauer
Member since 2008 · 14 posts · 1 vote
18y
I've installed some cheaper stuff without an install kit. We simply used scrape ends and a hammer to help fit them together. Lock in a scrape piece of flooring into the groove of the good piece, then tap on the scrape piece to create the required pressure to make the two good piece snap together. It was sometimes annoying, but I'm very anal and in the end all the seams looked very good.

My question is, how well does it hold up and what if a repair is needed? Are the cheaper floors known to soak up water and get damaged (ie dont install in a kitchen), how much wear and tear do they take? Or do more exepnsive one hold up and resisit water better? Is there a way to repair a section? DO you have to dismantle the floor in order to repair the damaged section?

Thanks for any tips. I want to go laminate , just not sure about the long term effects (I plan to rent).

Adrian
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Eric Wang
Real Estate Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2008 · 228 posts · 13 votes
18y
Originally posted by "5-0 real estate":
Very important. If you don't let it sit for a day or two it might shrink a bit and you'll have larger gaps around the room than you wanted, or it might expand and it will be tight up against the wall insted of the small area to allow for expansion. I'd wait at least 2 days.

I bought some laminate flooring last year on sale at Costco, it's been sitting in my kitchen ever since. I'm waiting for my tenant to move out so I can installed it. Any affect on the laminating flooring thats just sitting around for long period of time?
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Account Closed
Interior Decorator · Member since 2008 · 24 posts · 0 votes
18y
You need to get ride of carpet before installation, otherwise the flooring planks will buckle at the joints.
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Eric Wang
Real Estate Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2008 · 228 posts · 13 votes
17y
Update:

I finally installed the laminate flooring over the Holiday and it turned out great. I used a jig-saw with laminate cutting blade to cut pieces which worked out fine. Once you get a few boards going, it gets easier as you move along. The only hard part was the hallway where it meets 3 doors, cutting the pieces just right took a while. I recommend making a template with a cardboard. Also recommend getting knee pads.
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Account Closed
Interior Decorator · Member since 2008 · 24 posts · 0 votes
16y
The carpet must be dry and flat. And the carpet thickness must be less than 3mm, otherwise the laminate flooring is easy towarp when people walk on it as the flooring will sink and change too much when people step on it and the carpet is too thick.
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Bob Hines
Real Estate Investor · StL, MO · Member since 2008 · 296 posts · 152 votes
16y
I put in a vinyl plank flooring in my rental property and it looks amazing! It ended up being just shy of $3/sqft installed and that was with extra cost for leveling the floors some and only 650 sqft. It's not the roll of vinyl, it's in planks 36" long and 6" wide so it is laid like a wood or laminate floor. I've gotten many compliments on it and many people asking if it's real wood or not-including some construction workers doing work on the property. The big thing that sold me on the vinyl planks is that it is installed with pressure sensitive adhesive which means that if a tenant drops something heavy on a spot or drags a dresser across the floor and scrapes it up, I can pull up those indicidual pieces and replace them with new ones without refinishing wood or replacing laminate. Same can be done with water damage-pull up the tiles, dry things out and lay them again. Comes with a 10 year commercial warranty too. And with this house the floors weren't the most level so it was able to conform variances in the floor.
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Jason Ballesteros
Flooring Contractor · Bethalto, IL · Member since 2009 · 26 posts · 2 votes
16y
Yeah Bob the Vinyl planks are very durable. I have a room in my basement with the 36" x 6" planks. They look like an old wooden saloon floor. Pretty neat stuff.
Laminate installation is fairly simple and not nearly as labor intensive as glue down or nail down hardwood. I prefer the laminate that snaps together as versus the glued seam versions. From many faulty laminate installations, the most issues I see are with glue together laminate. Installer gets the glue strip too wet and the seams show badly in the floor.
ALLOC brand laminate is sweet stuff. Expensive though, but locks together like butter. There are still midgrade laminates that install easy as well.
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Tom Sylvester
Real Estate Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2008 · 193 posts · 46 votes
16y
We use laminate flooring in all of our rental properties. It is the cheapest solution we found, easy to install and looks great. Another benefit compared to capret is that it does not hold the smells. So many houses that we renovate smell horrible because of the carpets.

Here is an example.
1 Reply
Steve Karlik
Real Estate Investor · anytown, NJ · Member since 2010 · 2 posts · 0 votes
16y
you will need a miter saw table saw jig saw with at least a 60 OR 72 BLADE,, also use rosin paper as a moisture barrier not the stuff lumber liquidator trys to sell you
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Sally Strumbo
Real Estate Consultant · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2010 · 25 posts · 2 votes
16y
Just pull the carpet and tack strips and install the underlayment if your flooring does not already have it attached and you are ready to get started. It's not that hard really, once you get going you will be amazed.
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