How to Laminate Flooring | A Straightforward Install Guide

Laminate flooring installs as a floating floor: prep the subfloor, acclimate planks, click rows together, and leave an expansion gap.

Installing laminate flooring is one of the more forgiving DIY projects, mostly because the planks lock together like puzzle pieces over a floating underlayment — no glue, no nails. The job comes down to a clean subfloor, patience, and a handful of tools you likely own. Before you buy, consider what you’ll use to keep those floors sharp. A best broom for laminate floors roundup can help you pick a tool that won’t scratch the surface. Here’s the process from start to finish.

Prep the Room and Subfloor

Remove the existing flooring, baseboards, and trim so the walls are bare down to the subfloor, allowing your new floor to expand and contract freely. Vacuum and clean the subfloor completely — dirt makes planks sit unevenly. Your subfloor must be flat, clean, firm, and dry. Pergo’s guidance says to check flatness with a 10-foot straight edge; gaps larger than 3/16 inch need correcting before moving forward. Also trim door jambs so planks slide underneath cleanly.

Acclimate Planks and Plan the Layout

Laminate needs time to adjust to your room’s temperature and humidity. Pergo recommends leaving boxes in the room unopened for at least 48 hours, with conditions between 60 to 80°F and 35 to 65% relative humidity. Skipping this raises the risk of fit issues later. While waiting, measure the room and plan your layout. Home Depot’s guide says to start the first row parallel to the longest wall, and Lowe’s recommends determining your starting-row width so the first and last rows match when done. Mix panels from several boxes so you don’t cluster identical light or dark planks.

Install Underlayment and First Rows

If your laminate lacks attached padding, roll out underlayment across the entire floor, running it up the walls slightly. Butt seams together and tape them flat; this layer provides cushioning and a moisture barrier. Start your first row with the tongue side facing the wall, per Home Depot, leaving a 1/4-inch expansion gap from all vertical surfaces — walls, cabinets, pipes — using spacers. Lowe’s says to lay the floor left to right with the long side groove facing you.

To lock planks, hold the new one at an angle, insert the tongue into the installed piece’s groove, and lower it flat until it snaps. For short-side joints, use a tapping block and hammer. If a tongue is only partially inserted, don’t force it — Lowe’s warns this can damage the profile. Use a pull bar to tighten row ends.

Continue Rows and Finish Edges

Stagger end joints by at least 6 inches between rows. Reuse the leftover cut piece from the previous row to start the next, but only if it’s longer than 1 foot per Home Depot, creating a natural, random seam pattern. For the final row, measure the remaining space and rip planks to width with a circular saw, table saw, or jigsaw, preserving the expansion gap. Once all rows are locked, remove spacers and reinstall baseboards, quarter-round, or shoe molding to cover edge gaps. Install transition strips where laminate meets other flooring. For bathrooms, Lowe’s says to fill and seal that 1/4-inch gap with siliconized caulk.

The biggest mistake is rushing prep. A dusty or uneven subfloor compromises the locking system and can cause flex and failure over time. The second most common failure is skipping the expansion gap — without it, planks buckle when material expands with humidity. Pergo’s installation guide and the how-to pages from Home Depot and Lowe’s all stress these fundamentals. Take your time on the first three rows, since everything after follows the pattern you set.