No-glue laminate floors---or floating floors---are among the easiest floors for a homeowner to install because there's no glue, nails or other fasteners involved. The laminate boards just snap together like puzzle pieces, going over any flooring surface, held down at the edges by the floor trim. Most kits require a lining to be rolled out first, but some lines, including Traffic Master, don't even require that. All you need is a clean, solid floor free of carpeting.
Instructions
1. Carefully remove the exising floor trim with your hammer and flatbar, keeping the trim intact as you take it out. Set it aside.
2. Take out any carpet. Clean and dry the floor surface.
3. Set the starting course of Traffic Master flooring planks along the side of the room where you want to start. Lay them directly on the existing floor, with the grooved sides of the boards facing the wall. Set wood shims between the planks and the wall to make a small space there. This expansion gap will provide room for the flooring to move slightly with temperature changes. Cut the final piece of the course on your miter saw so it fits against the sidewall with a small gap.
4. Lay subsequent courses one by one, snapping each one alongside the previous course. Stagger the ends of the boards so they don't line up from course to course. Cut the pieces at the ends as necessary to fit. Do the whole floor.
5. Remove the shims. Nail your floor trim back in, using your hammer and trim nails, so it covers the spaces at the edge of the floor and holds down the edges. Don't nail through the floorboards, but through the wall.
Tips Warnings
Wear goggles when cutting your Traffic Master boards.
Tags: install, traffic, master, laminate, flooring, Traffic Master, floor trim, down edges, your hammer