---
title: 'How to Install Laminate Flooring | Step-by-Step for Beginners!'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=TEohEivCYCs'
video_id: 'TEohEivCYCs'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 0
---

# How to Install Laminate Flooring | Step-by-Step for Beginners!

> Source: [How to Install Laminate Flooring | Step-by-Step for Beginners!](https://youtube.com/watch?v=TEohEivCYCs)

## Summary

This video provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide on installing laminate flooring throughout a house, geared towards beginners. The host, Josh, covers everything from selecting materials and prepping the floor to cutting planks, handling transitions, and finishing edges for a professional result.

### Key Points

- **Laminate Flooring Overview** [0:00] — Josh introduces his DIY channel and the Stain Master laminate flooring (12 mm thick, waterproof padding attached, 23.69 sq ft per box) from Lowe's. To calculate material, measure room length × width, add 10%, then buy enough boxes.
- **Acclimate and Prep Floor** [1:09] — Let flooring sit in the room for 48 hours to acclimate. Clean the subfloor, fill depressions with leveling compound, and sand down bumps.
- **Tools and First Row Prep** [1:49] — Pull from multiple packs to blend shades. Required tools: tapping block, pull bar, spacers, rubber mallet, miter saw, circular saw. For the first row, remove the tongue on both the long side and the short side (first piece only) to create a square edge against the wall.
- **Starting the First Row** [4:19] — Use spacers (3/8 inch) against the wall. Start on the left side, working right. To mark floor vents, measure from the wall, verify duct size, add 5/8 inch offset, then cut with a circular saw and oscillating tool.
- **Connecting Planks and Checking Alignment** [9:11] — Lift the new plank's tongue into the groove of the installed piece, push and tap with a tapping block. Check alignment by measuring from a reference line (e.g., subfloor seam or chalk line) every few rows.
- **Second Row and Staggering Joints** [13:41] — Use leftover from the first row as starter if it's at least 12 inches long. Stagger joints at least 12 inches apart. Click the second row into the first, then tap it down.
- **Using the Pull Bar for Tight Spaces** [16:49] — For the last piece of a row, use a pull bar to close the gap because you can't get a tapping block in. Drive it with a regular hammer.
- **Transitioning Between Rooms** [18:32] — To keep flooring aligned between rooms, install a full piece temporarily at both ends of the junction, mark a chalk line, then measure back 12 rows × 7.5 inches (exposure) to set the starting line for the new room.
- **Transition to Different Flooring (Bathroom)** [23:29] — Stop laminate flooring under the door slab to install a transition strip. Adjust for thickness difference (1/4 inch) by notching the door jam. Install a 4-in-1 transition kit (T-mold + reducer) with silicone adhesive.
- **Cutting Around Pipes and Finishing Last Row** [32:11] — Measure pipe positions, drill holes 1/4 to 3/8 inch larger. For the last row, rip the plank to width, leaving 3/8 inch gap, then use a pull bar to seal the joint.
- **Perimeter Sealing with Backer Rod and Silicone** [34:23] — Tuck 3/8 inch backer rod around the edge to allow expansion/contraction, then apply a bead of 100% silicone for a waterproof seal. Baseboard or quarter round will cover the gap.
- **Final Tips and Floating Floor Concept** [35:46] — Laminate is a floating floor (no fasteners), so expansion gaps are critical. Mistakes happen – order 10% extra. Quarter round covers gaps if baseboards are already installed.

### Conclusion

This thorough guide equips beginners with all the steps to install laminate flooring like a pro: from acclimation and subfloor prep to cutting, clicking, and finishing transitions. Key takeaways include allowing expansion gaps, staggering joints, and using pull bars for tight spots.

## Transcript

In this video, I'm going to show you how
to install laminate flooring step by
step for beginners throughout a whole
house. And if you're new to this
channel, my name's Josh's all about DIY
to save a ton of money. So, be sure to
subscribe, ring that bell so you get
notification every time we release a new
video and hammer that like button for
me. It's all I ask return for making
this video. So, we got a lot to go over
today. So, let's get started. Here's the
laminate flooring that we'll be
installing in this video. The great
thing about this laminate flooring is it
comes with the padding attached to the
bottom. So you don't have to worry about
placing it on the floor first. And this
is by Stain Master. This can be found at
Lowe's and I'll put a link to it in the
description below if you want to check
it out for yourself. And this stuff is a
12 mm thickness and it's also considered
waterproof according to the packaging
here. And it contains
23.69 square ft per package. So you can
calculate your room's material by doing
the length times width. add 10% and then
that's going to give you how much square
feet you need and then you can buy
however many boxes it takes to get that
square footage. So you already
calculated your floor you're getting it
delivered. Now what's the next step? The
next step is going to be lay your
flooring into the rooms that they're
going to be installed and let them sit
there for at least 48 hours. It allows
the flooring to acclimate to the room's
temperature and moisture content. So
that way when you install it, it's not
going to move as much. Let's say it came
from a 50°ree truck and then it gets
installed immediately. Well, it's going
to expand once it starts warming up. So
always let your flooring acclimate.
Second thing, make sure you prep your
floor. Clean it really well. Fill in any
depressions in the floor with leveling
compound or sand off any humps or bumps
that's on the floor. You're going to be
thankful later down the road for that.
Then the next thing we need to do is
pull from multiple packs of flooring as
we install it. That way it blends the
shades from different colors along with
your basic carpentry tools. You're also
going to need a tapping block, a pull
bar, and spacers. And this came as a
kit, and I'll put a link to it in
description below. But this is
everything you'll need to install
laminate flooring as far as any
specialized tools. And another thing
you're going to want to purchase is a
rubber mallet. This is going to be
helpful whenever you're placing your
laminate flooring together. So, you
definitely need to purchase these things
before installing your laminate
flooring. I'm out here in the garage. I
have my miter saw set up to do the cross
cutting and I also have my circular saw
to do the ripping and my oscillating
tools here as well. So, that way I can
cut out for floor vents and whatnot.
This is where I like to do most of my
cutting when I'm installing floor. That
way, most of the dust is out here in the
atmosphere instead of where I'm working,
and it keeps the work environment
cleaner. I first have to prepare the
first piece of flooring by removing
these sections that are on the back of
the flooring where the padding is not
exposed. This area is also not
supported. So, we must remove this first
before installing it for our first row
only. So, I'm going to use the miter saw
to cut this off and then use a circular
saw to cut this lip off. The overhang on
the short side on the first piece of
flooring is the only piece that needs
the short side removed. Using a circular
saw, I'm going to use it to rip this
edge off of the
flooring. If you have the ability to get
your hands on a table saw in order to
rip down the pieces of flooring for your
starters, you definitely should. It's
really going to save a lot of time and
it's also going to be helpful for the
finishing up process too later on this
video. So, this will definitely speed
things up, but the circular saw is fine,
but this is definitely what I prefer. I
am outside making this cut, but it is
recommended that you wear a dust mask
when cutting the laminate flooring.
Yeah, that's much quicker. You can see
that the first piece is now square on
the edge that's going to butt against
the wall. And that's what we need to do
to begin the flooring. Our first piece
is to start at the left side of the room
and work towards the right. And this is
going to be something much easier to do
if you have knee pads on. So, I highly
recommend purchasing a set of knee pads.
You will be thankful in the long run.
And also, we have a few shims here to
start out with. And I'm going to show
you how to set this first one into place
and how to mark out for this vent
because we need a cutout for that as we
go as well. When starting your first
row, your drywall is either going to be
up high enough to where the flooring can
slide up under it, or it's going to be
down low enough to where you can butt up
against it. It's actually easier to
start off of if the floor is able to
butt up against the drywall because we
can shim our 3/8 right off the drywall
that way. But in this case, as you can
see, because our floor is going to slide
under it, which will give you a better
finish lookwise, but it's going to be
harder to space off of because our shims
won't fit in there, right? So, what I
found best to do here is just place our
shim like so, and then just put it on an
angle and butt up to it like that.
That's going to give us our 3/8 inch
gap. So, I'm going to do that at both
sides here.
I'm then going to take one and place
that at the very end. Here we can shim
off the drywall because our drywall is
cleared down to the subfloor. To mark
this floor vent that needs cut out, I
need to mark the edges. I'm going to
begin by marking this very edge here.
And I know this is a 10x4 vent. I'm
going to come over 10 in just to make
sure we are cutting it at the right
width.
And take note that sometimes this duck
work is not perfectly square or the
perfect size. So always double check the
actual measurement that you need here.
And I know that this duct is for a 4x10
vent. So because of that, I know I need
to allow this much here whenever we cut
this out is another 5/8. So whenever we
mark our distance back here, we need to
remember that 5/8 is still coming up out
of here. I'm now going to take this out
to the garage to cut it. This is one
edge of the vent. Here is the other. I'm
going to use a speed square and just
make a square mark off that mark that we
made while it was on the floor at both
areas. I'm now going to allow the 5/8
that we measured that's going to be left
onto this side to be cut out. I'm going
to mark right at 4
in. Do the same over here.
I'm going to use that to scribe a line.
I'm now going to cut that out for the
floor vent. I'm just going to use the
circular saw to cut down each line and
then oscillating tool to finish out the
corners. To cut this out, a plunge cut.
Or you could run your oscillating tool
down the whole line, but it's going to
be quicker to plunge cut.
To finish out these corners, I'm just
going to use the oscillating
tool. And that's all there is to cutting
out for the vent. I'm going to place
this back where it was sitting. And
again, we want 3/8 off the wall around
all edges of the
flooring. As you can see, the floor vent
is cut out really nice. We're now going
to continue running to the right side of
the room. Notice the seam where the two
subfloor rows come together. I can use
that as a reference from this wall to
make sure we are running square with the
wall as we run our rows. I got 36 1/2 in
off the tongue. And I checked this
before we started. If I didn't have this
seam to go off of, I could also just
measure up 4 foot off each side of the
room and chalk a line on the floor and
use that as a reference line to go off
of. So, as we're running our rows, we
can make sure that they're running
square with the wall. It's a good little
tip. While pulling from a few open
boxes, I'm going to take pieces and butt
them tight to each other to get our
total length. So, we can actually precut
all of our starters. And that includes
ripping off this back section. So, that
way we don't have to run back and forth
so many times. So, I'm just going to
take this and butt it tight to this one.
and then continue the run until we get
to the wall so we can cut it. You could
also take a measurement of the rest of
the length of the row that you need.
Then divide it by the length of the
laminate flooring, which is a little
over 50 in, to let you know how many
full pieces you need to rip down to
start your first row. Just so I'm very
clear here, you only rip the long side
off, not the short side for all the rest
of them for your first row. The very
first one, we had to rip this off as
well because it was up against the wall.
Just want to make sure that was very
clear. In order to connect these
together, it's very simple. I'm going to
lift up the side that needs clipped into
the one that's already existing on the
floor. And then we're going to place
pressure towards the one that's already
on the floor. Then we're just going to
lay it down. And it's going to hook
together like so. And you can see here
that it is not lined up together, which
we want to make sure they are. We're
going to use the tapping tool. And then
we're going to lay it right against this
edge. And then we're just going to tap
it until it's
flush. Okay. And that feels really good.
And now again, if this seems like it's
separated a little bit, we can take our
tapping tool from the other side of the
flooring to tap that a little tighter.
If you do have to make the joint a
little tighter, you could come from this
end, tap it a couple times, and that'll
tighten that joint right up. That looks
really good there for our joint. Using
more spacers, we're going to make sure
that we are spaced appropriately from
the
wall. And it doesn't hurt to check with
your tape measure to make sure you're
running about the same off the wall if
your wall is straight.
I then rinsed and repeat that process
until I get to the next one that needs
cut. Something I like to do is put
spacers close to the butt joint. That
way, it helps keep that butt joint flush
with each other at the front. So,
whenever you do your next row, you're
going to have less issues that way. With
the first few pieces down, I'm going to
double check to make sure I'm running
parallel with the wall. Going to take a
measurement here. And I got 36 1/2 in
just like my starter. So, I know I'm
running parallel, which is very
important. And then our distance off the
wall is still about 7 in. So, that's
looking really good. And if you're
wondering about how much coverage we get
with each plank, each plank has a length
of 50 and 5/8 inch. And the width is 7
and 1/2. So, the exposure of 7 and 1/2
will give you a lot of coverage per run.
That's something I really like about
this stain master flooring. This next
piece has a vent in it. We need to cut
that out. I'm just going to butt this
right up to this piece. And now we have
a place to go right off of to mark for
our vent. Again, I'm going to mark right
on the edge and then measure off 10 in
to make sure we are going to be placed
correctly. And that looks good. And now
we can use our same measurement that we
used on our first one because this wall
has the same measurements for the vent
like the first vent. So, that's going to
be helpful. I can use my speed square
and mark that exactly what the last one
was with the distance off and then make
a square line. Then do it here as well.
I can then just scrub my
line. And we also have this door jam we
need to cut around. I'm going to measure
off the pre-existing piece on the floor
and then take off 3/8. That puts me at
38 and
a4er. We're going to place that mark on
the
board. I'm going to measure the
thickness here. And that's what we're
going to have to take off so that we
don't have this part hitting the door.
That's 6 and
5/8. I'm now going to scribe that
line. This needs cut out. And this needs
cut
out. All right, we're going to snap this
into place and see what we
got. So far, it's looking good. Now, I'm
going to tap it
back. And something you're going to
notice, it's going to be a fight to keep
this where it needs to be as you're
tapping it. You just got to readjust the
road that's already there. Just the
nature of the
beast. Everything looks good here. Here
we got to place our spacers and continue
the
run. For the last piece of the run, I
just got to get a total length and
subtract 38 of an inch. And then we just
got to cut it. Then cut around this
door. And it's as simple as
that. And this is the final piece in
this row.
Now that we are finished the first row,
this is a scrap that was cut off in
order to finish up this row. And this is
going to be our starter for the second
row. And a very important note here, if
this scrap is shorter than 12 in, it
cannot be used. It has to be at least 12
in. If I take a measurement, we got 12
and 3/4 in. So, this is perfect for a
starter. And we want to make sure that
it isn't too long to where we are within
12 inches from the joint. So let's say
this piece was 45 inches. We'd only be
about five inches away from the joint.
That's too close. We'd have to cut it
down. So that' be shorter. So we are
going to use this as our starter for the
second row. To install the first piece
of the second row, it's just like we did
with the first piece of the first row.
We just got to space 38 inch off the
wall using a spacer. and then just click
it right into place. After snapping the
second row into the first row, I take
the tapping block and rubber mallet and
tap it into the first row to seal up the
joint. And we definitely have to cut
around our vents to finish up this edge.
To mark for the rest of this vent, I'm
just going to lightly lay it into place
and not click it down all the way. And
then I'm going to mark the vents
edge. And then we're going to pull that
right back up. And I'm just going to get
my total distance here. If we measure, I
got about three and a half. So, we need
to just take a half inch out of this in
order to complete for our cut. And most
floor vents, you can get away with a
little bit bigger. Let's say 4 and 1
eigh by 10 and 1 eigh because there's a
flange that goes around the vent cover.
And I'll show you that here in a
minute. I'm going to cut this out. We
now have the tongue here and the tongue
here. we got to clip into. I find it
best to clip it into the long side
first. So, we're just going to place
this together like we typically
would. I'm going to tap in towards the
first
row. Now that we're snapped into this
row, we need to tap it into this piece.
So, we're going to go to this very end
here. Going to take my tapping tool,
place it right against this, and drive
it towards that
joint. And it has closed this joint up
all the way. That's how you install the
rest of the pieces in this row. So, you
can see what the floor vent's going to
look like when it's finished. If you set
that into place, that gives us a nice
finished look. And now we can control
the airflow up out of the vent. to
finish the rest of the second row and
the remaining of the rows in this room.
We literally rinse and repeat those same
principles until we get up to the area
where we intersect another room. And I'm
going to show you what to do once we get
to that point. Because I installed this
over a subfloor that is dry, I did not
need a vapor barrier. Now, if I was
installing this over concrete, I would
install a six mill vapor barrier first
before installing this flooring. For
this last piece, we'll have to use the
pull bar to close up this joint. So, I'm
going to show you how to do that. So,
we're going to go ahead and snap it into
place here. And now, we're going to use
the pull bar. And this is going to lace
back into this gap. We're going to take
our regular hammer cuz it will tap
better with a regular hammer versus the
rubber mallet. I'm going to hold this
end down. We're going to tap it to close
up that
gap. And you can see that closed up the
gap really nice. And that last piece
looks good. We need to make sure we put
our spacers in here. If you have ever
installed tile or hardwood floor, you
will be amazed on how much quicker
laminate flooring is compared to those
products. Here's a word of advice.
Whenever you get your first three rows
done, check your reference line and make
sure that you're running the same and
that you're still parallel with your
wall. And readjust your shims if you
have to to make sure you're running
correctly. because these first three
rows move a lot while you're installing
the flooring. And also, we're going to
keep running this room. And if you have
a helper, it's really good to have him
hand you the pieces and cut them as you
install them or vice versa. Two men will
make this job go three times faster or
two women. Just a good little tip. If
you are enjoying this type of content,
you may enjoy my free PDF. I'll put a
link to it in description below. A quick
way to mark the end to cut. Flip the
tongue around to where tongue is facing
the tongue of the previous row. Then
mark for your 3/8 spacing and that's
going to be where we cut
[Music]
it. We're up as far as we can go before
we have to start this room. In order to
start this room to line up with this
room really well, it's a very simple
process. I'm just going to take a full
piece and I'm going to clip it in. And
I'm not going to keep this as a final
install, but we're just going to tap
this into place for now and then do one
at the other end of the
run. I'm here at the very end of the
run. We're just going to snap this
in. I'm then going to mark the very edge
here and then pull that back up. And
this stuff unsnaps really easy if you
have to, by the way. And then I'm going
to take a nail and nail it right onto
that mark. I'm now going to use my chalk
line, hook to that nail, and I'm going
to run it by that first piece that we
installed at the other end of the run
and continue it into the following room.
I'm going to continue running the chalk
line into this room. And we need to make
sure that we go right by the tongue of
the first piece we put
down. And we're going to strike our
line.
As you can see, that gives us a great
reference line to go off of to start our
first row. I can now take up the first
piece we put down. I now need to
calculate how far to measure off this
red line to start our first row. If we
count the number of rows here, we got 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. So, if we have
12 rows, we need to measure back 12
times the exposure. So, it would be 7.5
* 12, which gives us 90 off this red
line to our first row. Here is the red
line coming into the room. I'm going to
hold on that red line and measure back
90 in. I'm going to make a mark right at
90 in on the floor. Okay, we do the same
on this side of the room. Mark
90. I now need a chalk line from mark to
mark. And that's going to be the chalk
line we go off of to start our first
row.
Here is the chalk line to start with.
What I recommend you do is measure off
the wall here and we got about 7 in. And
then we need to measure off down here as
well. Just make sure we're still running
fairly square with this room. And we
are. So that's going to be great. You
can manipulate this some if it's way off
for your starter row. I'm now going to
start this room just like I did the
first room, except I'm going to line up
the tongue against that red line so that
we know we're going to run true to the
other room so we can intersect
[Music]
properly. I'm now at the point where I
need to transition from this room into
this room with one seamless row joining
the two. Make sure the piece that you
start off of on this row that joins
these two rooms together that the brakes
do not break to where you're too close
to a joint out here. So, if you're
running this room to where the joint
looks good, you may jump over into this
room and realize, oops, I'm too close to
the joint once I enter into this room
because these do not come in various
sizes. They're all 50 and 5/8 inch long
roughly. So, because of that, you
definitely need to make sure when you
start out at the back here. It's a
measurement that works for this room and
this room to make sure this all comes
out right. I got a full piece here that
I'm going to just touch right where it's
going to be installed. And I know this
piece I cut down 23 in. And reason why
that is once it is installed into place,
it's going to break out evenly for the
next row. So, that's an important
concept to note whenever you're
transitioning from room to room. So, I'm
going to install these couple pieces,
then bring this row with
it. Something I've learned from
experience, you don't want this too big
around this corner, just because your
door trim will not cover this up if it's
too big. Just keep note of that. Yes,
it's a little bit tight right here, but
to me, I have to do that. If not, after
the doors installed, you're going to see
a gap here. Just so you know, that's
what I've learned through experience
after I go to hanging doors. You can see
we transition from that room to this
room seamlessly. Looks really good. Now,
we're going to continue running the rest
of this room we started in. Using the
chalk line method, we tied in the
bedroom that's after the first bedroom
we just installed in. And I also tied in
the master bedroom behind the camera as
well. So, everything is coming together
really nice. I now need to show you a
transition from this laminate flooring
to a different type of flooring. So that
way you know how to use a transition
strip and when to use it. I'm here in
the master bathroom and I need to
transition from the master bedroom to
the master bathroom from the laminate
flooring to the luxury vinyl cuz the
luxury vinyl flooring is going to be
more appropriate for a wet area like a
bathroom because it's not near as
susceptible to water damage like
laminate flooring is. Even though this
is ready to be waterproof, I'm going to
feel better about having some type of
vinyl in this bathroom. I now need to
stop this flooring somewhere in an area
to where the transition strip will be
underneath of the door slab. So, this is
going to be a end swing door here. The
slab is going to be right in this area.
So, after we install the rail for our
transition strip, we need the
appropriate expansion gap here. So, I'm
going to show you where to calculate
that. In this door opening, the door
slab comes flush with this drywall on
the bathroom side since it's in swing
and it's an inch and a/4 thick.
Technically, the slab's going to be
right here, but we don't want our
transition strip to go past this
drywall. So, we want to stop our
flooring just enough to be halfway the
thickness of the rail for the transition
strip. And then we need an expansion gap
here, 38, just like we've been doing. So
if we stop our floor roughly right in
the middle here, the opening that's
going to give us the appropriate
distance. And when we cut our luxury
vinyl, we're going to come in about this
far once it's to be installed. So we
need to stop this flooring right here.
Measuring off the exposed side of the
last row, I'm going to measure up to
that mark. That gives me just about five
inches, four and seven8s. And I'm going
to take the piece that I cut down to go
around the opening and place that mark
on here coming off the finish
side. I'm now going to rip this off to
make the piece to go under the door.
Some installers would simply install the
transition strip right in the middle of
the door opening for simplicity sake.
Just so you know, we can now install the
luxury vinyl in the bathroom. Even
though I'm installing luxury vinyl here,
I wanted to show you how I cut around
this toilet flange because you can use
the same method with laminate flooring
as well. I first found the center and
marked it onto the luxury vinyl. I then
tacked a nail on that section of the
flooring. I then measured the diameter
of the toilet flange and then add 3/8 to
1/2 of the measurement and then marked
that on the flooring. Use my chalk line
to hold on that mark. and then went in a
circle around that nail and that's what
marked it onto the flooring. I then
scrubbed around with my utility knife
because this is luxury vinyl with
laminate I would not have to do that. I
took a coping saw to cut around and
snapped it out and you can see it gave
me a nice finished cut around the toilet
flange. I made a detailed video
installing luxury vinyl. If you'd like
to check that out, I'll put a link to it
in description below. The transition
between the laminate flooring to the
luxury vinyl is just about a/4 in.
Here's the thickness of the luxury
vinyl. And here is the laminate. And if
we take a look, it's about a/4 in
difference. This is an eighth. This is
3/8. And here's our door here. It's a
split jam door. So, it pulls apart. So,
what we need to do is notch just about
a/4 in off this side of the door so that
it steps down onto this luxury vinyl.
And what you could do here is is put a
quarter inch plywood underneath of this
luxury vinyl and it could have been
flush that way. But this homeowner did
not want that. So, we're just going to
step it down. So, I'm just going to
notch that out of the door before
installing it. This was a very simple
process. We first took the split jam
door apart and then placed it in the
opening. And I marked where the laminate
flooring met the jam. And I did that on
each side of the door because we're
going to have to notch around that to
settle down on top of the luxury vinyl.
We then placed the door on saw horses. I
placed a quarter inch mark in order to
go down below the laminate floor, then
notch it out with my oscillating tool. I
could have used a circular saw as well.
I then placed the door into the opening
and installed it. You can see it looks
really nice where we have it installed.
I then removed the panel off the door
jam so that way it wasn't in the way as
we installed the transition strip. And
you can see after notching it, it
settled down where we needed it. To
transition from the laminate flooring to
the luxury vinyl, we're going to have to
install this transition strip. This is a
4 in one. So, it comes with the T- mold.
It comes with the hard surface reducer.
It also comes with the transition down
to carpet. So, all that is all in this
kit. So, whatever transition you have is
going to be in here. And this came from
Lowe's, and I'll put a link to it in the
description below as well if you'd like
to pick it up. Here is the metal piece
that's going to be screwed down to the
floor. And this also came with the
screws. And it also came with anchors
for concrete. So, we're only going to
need these screws for our install. This
is the T- mold. This is the hard surface
reducer. And this is the transition to
like a carpet. And we are going to be
using this in conjunction with the T-
mold. Now, if we were only going to
install the T- mold, if it was a level
surface, it would snap right in the
center here for it to secure properly.
But because we are going to be
installing it with this strip, we're
going to actually install it here like
so. And then this will install on the
other side. So, it' be something like
this. That would be the transition we
would be going with for this install.
We're going to install the metal piece
first. I'm first going to get the length
in which I need to cut the metal strip
to be installed. We have
23 and 1/2 in. I'm just going to mark
that and then cut it using my tin snips.
I'm going to place this strip down here
just to make this flush after it's
installed with this strip because it's
going to be flat with this floor once
it's clipped in. So, I do have to space
this. You may or may not have to put the
spacer to match the floor like I am
here. I'm going to make sure I have my
3/8 gap for my laminate flooring. And
this is going to be gap for this luxury
vinyl appropriately as well. So, we're
going to place a screw right
here. I'm going to pre-drill through
that spacer that I put down because it
does want to split it. Just to be clear,
the spacer is just a strip of luxury
vinyl to space it evenly with the luxury
vinyl. You want to get the measurement
between the jam here. And this is going
to be 24 and 1/4 in. That's going to be
for the hard surface reducer. First, I'm
going to lay this in here like so. And
I'm just going to mark here to where it
has to go right around this section of
the
door because that's going to snap in in
this area. Because of that, we need to
take out this
notch. Just go around this part of the
jam. Okay. And I just notched that with
the oscillating tool. This is laminate,
so it cuts pretty easy. We're going to
snap that down on this side first. So
now we are flush with the laminate
flooring. We're going to cut the T- mold
to cut right around this part of the
door. And it's going to snap into that
part of the track to finish the
transition. Okay, this is cut to length
to fit in between just like we did here.
But we got to place it where it's going
to be installed to mark where to notch
around. This really needs a little notch
right here around that. And over here,
same idea. Just little notch
here. Before applying silicone, I'm
going to dry fit this into place to make
sure it's going to
fit. And before I snap that in, it feels
like it's going to go fine. So, we're
going to place silicone in here to hold
everything into place.
I'm now going to place a bead here to
secure the T- mold to the strip. We're
going to snap this into
place. All right, I'm going to take the
rubber mallet just to tap it down all
the
way. All right, the transition is
complete. And that looks really good.
After installing the transition strip,
we could continue installing the rest of
the flooring. We're now entering into
the kitchen and we have pipes to cut
around. Whenever we got up to these
pipes, we simply just measured back how
far we got to drill the hole for them.
And then we marked the flooring to where
the pipes are going to hit. And then we
used a speed square to mark that onto
the laminate floor. And that's going to
give us our exact position to drill the
hole out. We took a paddle bit and made
sure we have at least a/4 to 38 inch
around the pipe. And you can see the
holes are cut out really nice. We then
placed the flooring right over the pipe.
After we placed flooring over the pipe,
we installed it. And you can see that
gives us a nice cut around for the
pipes. I'm now at the point to where I
got to finish up along the wall where
the flooring is ending. And this is
where we're going to have to use the
pull bar to finish up. And we need to
get a measurement in order to rip down
the last row that goes up along the
wall. To rip down this last row, I'm
going to get my measurement from off the
drywall right up to the previous row,
which is right at 6 in. And then we need
to subtract the 3/8 off of that. So that
would put us at five and 5/8 we need to
rip this down to. The reason why we
don't want to tuck this under the
drywall is we need to have enough room
to get our pull bar behind it to seal up
against the previous row so we close the
gap. And that is something we're want to
do using the pull
bar. We'll begin installing this just
like we would any other piece in a
row. We're now going to snap it
in. We're then going to use the pull bar
and then we're going to drive it into
the previous row. We want to place a
spacer here just to make sure we are
spaced correctly. And then we're going
to drive this
tight. All right. And that's really the
key is just make sure you use the pull
bar on this last row to get it to seal.
Then to finish up this last row, just
continue that process until we get to
the end of the wall. That was the last
row of the floor install in this house.
Now that all the flooring's installed,
we need to address the perimeter of the
flooring using what's called backer rod.
We're going to take the backer rod and
tuck it in around the edge of the floor.
So that way it keeps the flooring
contained and it gives us a place for
expansion and contraction. And after we
tuck this in the corner, we're just
going to use a 100% silicone. Just place
a light bead over this so that way we
have a waterproof floor install. That's
really important, especially in a
bathroom and kitchen. So, I'm going to
show you how to address this area around
the perimeter. I'm going to begin by
taking a shim to help me tuck the backer
rod in behind the flooring and up
against the wall. There are different
widths of backer rod you can get. This
is 3/8 backer rod. After the backer rod
is tucked in, we're going to take 100%
silicone and just caulk right over that.
Then make sure you smooth out that
silicone. And that's really the best way
to have a waterproof seal yet allow for
expansion and contraction around the
perimeter. This is why it's essential to
order 10% extra. I made a mistake
cutting this floor vin out. Now, this
piece is scrap, but that's okay. You're
going to make mistakes, especially if
this is your first time doing flooring.
So, it's okay. It's part of the process.
Just keep moving forward and you'll get
the floor done. Okay. Couple things I
wanted to mention. This flooring is
considered a floating floor, meaning
there's no fasteners holding it into
place. So, you must allow for the
expansion contraction around the edges.
And if you're wondering how this is
going to look once the base is on, you
can see that's going to cover that up
and give you a nice finish. But
something else I wanted to mention, if
you're doing a remodel or something of
that nature where the base is already
installed on the wall after you remove
carpet or something, when you install
your flooring, you would do essentially
the same thing, just gap it
appropriately. And you can keep the base
on and not remove it. And then you would
install what's called quarter round to
cover up that gap. And that's going to
give you a nice finished look. So if
you're curious about that, that's how
you would address that. If you'd like to
see a detailed video on how to install
luxury vinyl, check out this video.
It'll help you out.