Available in a variety of styles, laminate floor often looks like wood flooring.
If you're thinking about installing laminate flooring somewhere in your home, learn the floor's leveling requirements before you begin tearing your old flooring out. Typically made to look like wood or other flooring materials, laminate flooring is often easier to install and more inexpensive than other flooring options.
Get Rid of the Carpet
Although laminate floors are laid on top of a variety of other hard flooring choices, such as hardwood, you cannot install laminate flooring over carpet. Carpet isn't flat enough or level enough for laminate, and if installed over carpet, the seams where sections of laminate meet can split. So before you lay your laminate, pull up your carpet and remove any carpet staples from the subfloor.
Measure Your Floor
Due to the chance of splitting seams and a completed uneven floor, laminate flooring manufacturers require that your floor is level before installing laminate. Manufacturers like Armstrong typically recommend that subfloor flatness vary no more than 3/16 inch in a 10-foot area or 1/8 inch in a 6-foot area. To determine if your floor is level enough, hold a level or straight board at the floor's highest point, keeping it straight. Measure any difference between the floor's lowest point and the board or level.
Fill the Gaps
If your floor is level except for a few gaps, fill the gaps in with caulk or a wood or concrete filler, depending on the construction of your subfloor. Once the gaps or holes are filled in, sand the area smooth using a piece of sandpaper or a hand sander until the floor is even.
Smooth the Highs
If your floor has only a few high spots, sand the high spots down using an industrial strength sandpaper and a hand sander or floor sander, depending on the size of the spot. You can purchase a hand sander or rent a floor sander from your local home improvement store.
Install an Underlayment
For added flatness, install a fabric or gypsum underlayment before you lay your laminate, which allows your laminate floors to expand and contract without disrupting the flooring's place. It also serves as both a moisture and sound barrier.
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