Register Login

Massachusetts Real Estate- Merrimack ValleyMassachusetts Real Estate- Merrimack Valley

Real Estate in Essex and Northern Middlesex Counties, Massachusetts

Exit Real Estate
978-360-0422
kevin@kevinvitali.com
  • Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
  • MA Real Estate and Homes for Sale
    • Advanced Home Search
    • Search Massachusetts Homes and Real Estate for Sale- Map Based Search
    • Featured Listings
    • Essex County Condominiums for Sale
    • Search MA Foreclosure and Short Sales
    • Middlesex County Real Estate for Sale- New to Market
    • Essex County Massachusetts Real Estate and Homes for Sale
  • Upcoming Open Houses
  • Short Sales
    • Options to Foreclosure
  • For Buyers
    • Buyers Agent- What Can I do for You?
    • Buy A Condo | A Guide to Buying A Condo In Massachusetts
    • Real Estate and Community Guides
  • For Sellers
    • What is My House Worth? Massachusetts Home Values
  • Contact
  • Blog

11 Common Mistakes When Installing Laminate Floors

Tweet
Buffer18
Flip
Share
Share
Pin3K
Share38
Share
Reddit
3K Shares

11 Common Mistakes When Installing laminate floorsLaminate flooring has grown in popularity over the past decade or so.  Simulation of exotic woods and patterns combined with its cost effectiveness make an options for some homeowners over hardwoods.

Because of the ease of installation, laminate floors can be the DIY’ers flooring of choice.   It also makes it a great choice to do a quick flooring makeover when it comes time to prepare your home for sale.  A new laminate floor can capture a buyers attention.

As a real estate agent I see a lot of DIY laminate floor installations.  Unfortunately, if you don’t learn how laminate flooring properly problems arise pretty quickly, if not immediately. We are going to cover common laminate flooring installation mistakes that can turn you new flooring installation into an unsightly mess.

There is nothing worse than a home seller boasting newer laminate floors, only to arrive  to find soft spots, buckling, large gaps, bubbling or poor or unfinished transitions. 

What is Laminate Flooring?

Laminate flooring is a synthetic image laminated to a wood substrate with a laminate protective coating over the top.  Its essentially a photograph on a synthetic material.  It can simulate wood, stone, ceramic, painted tiles and more…..

The laminate flooring planks just sit on the subfloor and interlock.  In most cases they are meant to float on the subfloor and are not attached.

Common Laminate Flooring Installation Mistakes

Installing laminate floors are certainly with in most DIY’ers skill set.  But, take the time to learn the common laminate flooring mistakes for a great long lasting installation of your new floor.

#1 Choosing to Use Laminate Floors in the Wrong Areas

The one thing to remember is laminate flooring is not great when it comes to moisture. To avoid some common laminate floor installation mistakes is to choose your location wisely.  Kitchens, baths, entry ways can all be problematic with bucking and bubbling when the underlying wood substrate has absorbed water.

While there are some products coming out saying they are water resistant or you can seal laminate floor edges with a sealant you may find better flooring choices for high moisture areas.  While laminate floors may seem a less expensive option upfront, it will cost you more in the long run as it will need to be replaced more often.

#2 Not Sealing The Laminate Against Moisture

People use laminate in kitchens and baths all the time.  There are many people torn on whether laminate is a good choice for bathrooms and kitchens.  Primarlily the substrate for laminate floors is highly susceptible to water penetration.

If you do choose to use laminate in high moisture areas take the time to learn how to seal the joints.

There are several options to prevent water penetration, though I don’t think most manufactures would recommend it.  Sealing as mention above.  Gluing with waterproof glue is another, though the floor is meant to expand and contract.  Or, using a silicon caulk between each seem as your are installing the floor is another option

Remember the substrate is usually a compressed board product and once there has been water penetration it could lead to trouble. Even the littlest spill from over watering a plant, a fish tank, water bowls for you pets etc… can be problematic if left unattended to.

#3 Not Letting Your Laminate Floor Planks Acclimate

This is important with any product susceptible to humidity as well as expansion and contraction.  Get your materials into the area your installing so it can acclimate to the temperature and humidity of the work area.  Follow your manufacturers recommendations but a good rule of thumb should be 48-72 hours.

Not doing so may cause bucking or unsightly gaps in your laminate flooring if it is not acclimated properly.

#4 Not Making Sure Your Floor Is Level

A huge pet peeve of mine is walking across a laminate floor that looks like stone and wood and having soft spots. Your sub floor needs to be perfectly level to prevent the soft spots.  Soft spots can also lead to the edges receiving more wear an tear than they should.

Whether your applying over concrete, plywood or composite, make sure your floor is level.  There should be no more than 1/8 of an inch tolerance (see #4).  A combination of grinding, sanding, and using a self leveling material will get your floor level for proper installation.

#5 Not Using Underlayment

Because laminate flooring is so thin it offer no structural integrity and bends and flexes easily. Underlayment is a thin layer of foam that absorbs any small deviations in the subfloor below.  It will take care of any dips or high spots in the 1/8 of an inch tolerance we talked about in problem #4.

It is critical to choose the right underlayment  for your laminate floor installation, taking into consideration the location and the subfloor.

#6 Not Using A Vapor Barrier When Necessary

When there is any chance of moisture coming from underneath a moisture barrier is a must.  So it should go with out saying that concrete floors in your basement family room will need a vapor barrier.  Consider vapor barriers that also act as underlayment as well.

If you laying your laminate floor over wood subfloor on a first or second floor, skip the vapor barrier as wood is a natural product that is meant to breathe.

#7 Not Leaving Room for Edge Expansion

As I mentioned earlier a laminate floor is meant to float, it interlocks and moves together.  Do not cut your laminate floors tight to baseboards or a wall.  You must provide a gap for most installations of laminate floors of 3/8’s of an inch.  This is the most common reason for buckling! 

Also a separate problem but falls in this category is nailing your quarter round into the floor through the laminate rather than into the baseboard.  It doesn’t give your floor a chance to expand and contract.

#8 Not Allowing for Appropriate Expansion Joints

This problem occurs in extremely large rooms or where you are doing one entire level of a house. Any run with anything over an appox. 24 foot width or 36 foot length will require an expansion joint or a transition that allow for expansion between each room.

Your floating floor is going to expand and contract.  To prevent buckling you need to give your laminate floor room to expand.

#9 Read the Instructions For Your Laminate Floor Installation

Your manufacturers instructions will cover the proper installation of your floors.  Proper installation of your new floor is no secret.

Read the instructions first!

#10 Finish the Job

A  lot of DIY’ers just don’t finish the job.  Transitions are left undone, laminate flooring fit under an undercut door jamb,

mouldings not properly put back into place, quarter round not installed to cover the gap, etc…  Take the time to finish your laminate floor installation correctly.

#11 Taking Care of Your Laminate Floor Properly

Cleaning your laminate floor properly is critical to many year of enjoyment.  Avoid wet mopping your floor or even using a steam cleaner.  Using a laminate floor cleaner you spray on to a cloth or pad is best.

Lastly clean up an spills immediately!!

Final Thoughts on Properly Installing a Laminate Floor

Installing a laminate floor as an upgrade in your home is certainly easy enough for a beginner to intermediate DIY’er.  But, take the time to read the instructions there is a little more to it than just laying laminate floors down.

Also don’t think laminate floors will replace or have the value of real hardwood floors.  For most areas of the home, hardwoods reign supreme. 

With any improvement project around the home, think carefully about your investment and how it plays into the resale of your home.  While a laminate floor can certainly spruce up an area with outdated floor an improperly installed laminate floor will cost you in the end.  No home buyer wants to pay for poorly completed renovation projects that need to be finished or worse yet…. completely redone.

Other Real Estate Resources:
  • Debbie Gartner  6 Reasons Laminate Floor Popularity is on the Rise
  • Bill Gassett  Improvements That Will Increase Your Homes Value
  • Paul Sian  How Stage Your Home for a Quick Sale
  • Kyle Hiscock  Home Improvements to Avoid For Resale
  • Property Workshop  Improvements That Enhance Your Homes Value

11 Common Mistakes When Installing Laminate Floors is provided by Kevin Vitali a Massachusetts REALTOR located in Tewksbury MA. If you would like to sell your home or buy a new home give me a call at 978-360-0422 and let’s get the process started.

Real Estate Services in the following areas: Northeast Massachusetts, Merrimack Valley, North Shore and Metrowest. Including the following communities and the surrounding area- Amesbury, Andover, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, Dracut, Groveland, Haverhill, Lowell, Melrose, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Stoneham, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Wilmington, Westford

Tweet
Buffer18
Flip
Share
Share
Pin3K
Share38
Share
Reddit
3K Shares

Posted in: Home Improvement, Home Maintenance Tagged: do it yourself, laminate floors, renovations

Comments

  1. Brett Maloney says

    February 26, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    Great Advice Kevin! When installed correctly, these floors floors can add real value to the home! I often see incorrectly installed laminate floor in the homes I inspect.

    Reply
    • Massachusetts Realtor says

      February 27, 2018 at 9:36 am

      It certainly is frustrating to see laminate floors improperly installed. It seemingly so easy for home owners to install themselves but take the time and read the directions!

      Reply
      • Kimberley Gattoni says

        April 13, 2020 at 10:54 am

        Good Morning,
        Our home that was built in 1908 and the addition that was added in 1986.
        The walls are off and lean in and out.
        There’s a small walkway from the front of the house around an old fireplace that goes into the kitchen. I think perhaps that’s were a seamless transition piece should go as you read on this will give you more of an explanation .
        The kitchen is a long narrow Galley kitchen and it measures 96 inches wide at the entry of the kitchen and then Narrows down 92 it leads into
        The dining room. From wall to wall it measures 111 inches wide as you move into the dining room to the back it measures 115 in wide
        How do we messure so the floor does not start shifting at an angle with the walls measuring wide and narrow. We ran into this problem so we pulled the floor up. The contractor play the floors against the wall and not leaving any gaps for the floor to expand and said that’s how the floors will be because the walls uneven throughout.
        We are doing the main floor from the front of the house to the kitchen dining room and living room.
        Should we do a seamless transition from the hallway into the kitchen and then the stairway Landing walkway to the family room.
        As of now the contractor wants to put the seamless transition in the kitchen before the dining room but because the floor is uneven because of the walls it will be free inches at one end of the kitchen narrowing down to one inch it will be very noticeable in the sightline of the kitchen.
        This does not sound correct to me.
        I have photos if needed..
        By the way we paid the contractor what we owed them.. either we’ll do it ourselves to hire someone else.

        Reply
        • Massachusetts Realtor says

          April 13, 2020 at 11:40 am

          I am not quite sure if I follow what you are saying but I will try to address a few things.

        • You do need to leave a gap for expansion at the walls as recommended by the manufacturer. Otherwise the floors will buckle if it should expand.
        • Transitions should be utilized to help with expansion and contraction.
        • A level floor is critical so you don’t have soft spots or raised spots, which will lead to premature failure.
        • Understandably your rooms are quite out of square. You will want to make sure your most visible area is square to the wall. Unfortunately there will be areas that are not square. It is just the nature of working on old homes and even newer ones. A good contractor will know how to best visually handle the out of square room.
        • I would recommend having several contractors in to discuss the project and see how they will address your concerns.

          Reply
  2. Alan Hochderffer says

    February 17, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    How can u get a soft spot out if u get one

    Reply
    • Massachusetts Realtor says

      February 18, 2020 at 10:27 am

      Short of undoing what you did back to the soft spot and leveling the floor, the only solution is to drill a small hole and inject foam into the void and filling the hole. Probably the one biggest mistake of most installs is not properly leveling the floor.

      Reply
  3. James says

    May 18, 2020 at 7:45 am

    I’m a laminate installer, and I agree with all your shares. laminate flooring installation looks fairly easy, but a simple mistake like the floor is not levelled can cause bouncing, and requires redo.

    Reply
    • Massachusetts Realtor says

      May 18, 2020 at 8:29 am

      Hey James, thanks for stopping by and commenting. The two biggest problems i see as a real estate agent is… one not leveling the floor and two not letting the floor float causing buckling.

      Reply
      • David says

        June 11, 2020 at 9:21 am

        When installing laminate, if we see it bouncing then we can use liquid nail to glue down the floorboards, such a quick fix and easy. Leveling the floor requires extra cost, if the house owner just want to have a new floor with a budget then that’s why flooring contractors often ignore doing leveling.

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post navigation

« Professional Home Staging Tips to Get Top Dollar for Your Home
What Every Home Inspector Wished Their Home Buyers Knew »

Search My Site for Content

Search for:

Find a New Home

Loading...

Ask Me A Question

Article Categories

Contact Me

Kevin Vitali

KEVIN VITALI


978-360-0422
kevin@kevinvitali.com
Kevin Vitali- Massachusetts REALTOR EXIT Realty Beatrice Associates
191 S. Main Street
Middleton, MA 01949 cell phone: (978) 360-0422 office phone: (781) 929-1010

My Office

Massachusetts Real Estate

 

Real Estate Services in the following areas: Northeast Massachusetts, Merrimack Valley, North Shore and Metrowest including the following communities and the surrounding area including Amesbury, Andover, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, Dracut. Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Littleton, Lowell, Melrose, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Salisbury, Stoneham, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, West Newbury, Westford
© 2021 · Kevin Vitali · Tewksbury Real Estate

Agent Websites

Images Courtesy of: Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism, Bob_24798, michael kooiman, Diane (Beckwith) Zink, Jasperdo, C Hanchey, Doug Kerr, Paul L Dineen

Log in