Lay click laminate flooring on a timber floor — HomeGraft

Lay click laminate over a timber subfloor, from clearing the room to fitting skirting or beading and tidying up.

FL-01Clear the room and check the subfloorMove out all furniture and lift any old carpet, underlay or vinyl right down to the bare timber boards. Walk the room and press on every board, listening for movement or squeak, and check for damp, rot or dips. Sweep and vacuum thoroughly so no grit or old tack strip is left under the new floor.

1 each · Heavy-duty dust sheet

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1 each · Pry bar for lifting old flooring

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FL-02Fix loose boards before you go any furtherScrew down any board that moved or squeaked, driving the screw into a joist where you can feel one, not just into the board face. Before you drill, remember cables and pipes can run under floorboards in places you would not expect. Use a cable and pipe detector along the run first, but still treat every position as if something is there - detectors miss deep or shielded cables. Find your stopcock (usually under the kitchen sink) and check it turns, so you can shut the water off fast if you hit a pipe; if in doubt, isolate the circuit at the consumer unit before drilling.

1 box · 40mm countersunk wood screws (box of 100)

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1 each · Cable and pipe detector

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FL-03Fit the underlayRoll out laminate underlay in strips across the room, butting the edges tightly with no overlap. Tape the joins so they can't shift or gap while you work. On a timber subfloor you don't normally need a separate damp-proof membrane, but check the pack - some underlays are combined foam-and-DPM in one.

1 roll · Laminate underlay roll (15m²)

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1 roll · Underlay joining tape

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FL-04Plan your layout before you lift a single boardMeasure the room width and decide which way the boards will run - usually the length of the longest wall or in the direction of light from the main window. Work out the width of your last row now; if it will be under 50mm, trim the first row narrower so both end rows look balanced. Mark a 10mm gap all round the edges for expansion - the floor must never touch the walls.

1 pack · 10mm expansion spacers (pack of 20)

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1 each · Tape measure and pencil

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FL-05Lay the first rowStart in the corner, tongue side facing the wall, with 10mm spacers between the boards and the skirting. Click the short ends of the first row together, working along the longest wall. Cut the last board in the row to length with a fine-tooth saw or jigsaw, keeping the offcut if it's over 300mm - you can often start the next row with it.

1 pack · Click laminate flooring (pack, ~2.2m² coverage)

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1 each · Fine-tooth handsaw or jigsaw

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FL-06Lay the remaining rowsStagger the end joints between rows by at least 300mm so the floor doesn't look like a brick pattern of repeating lines. Angle each new board into the row before it, click it down, then use a tapping block and pull bar to close any gaps tight - never hammer directly on the board edge, it will crack the click profile.

1 pack · Click laminate flooring (additional packs as needed)

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1 each · Tapping block and pull bar set

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FL-07Cut boards to fit around door frames and pipesUse a profile gauge or offcut of card to copy the shape of door architraves and mark it onto the board before cutting. For pipes, drill a hole roughly 10mm larger than the pipe diameter, then cut a slot from the hole to the board edge so it slots round the pipe, and cover the cut with a pipe collar afterwards. Keep the same 10mm expansion gap everywhere, including round pipes and frames.

1 each · Jigsaw fine-tooth wood blade

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1 pack · Pipe collars (pack of 4)

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FL-08Remove the skirting boards for a neater finish (optional)For the tidiest result, lever the skirting away from the wall with a bolster chisel and pry bar before you finish laying, protecting the wall face with a scrap of wood as you lever. Number each length on the back so you can refit it in the same place. If you'd rather not disturb the skirting, skip this step and use quadrant beading instead in step 10.

1 each · Bolster chisel

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1 each · Pry bar

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FL-09Fit door bars at thresholdsWhere laminate meets another room, a door bar covers the expansion gap and holds both floor edges down. Before drilling into the floor to fix it, check with a cable and pipe detector - thresholds often sit near central heating pipe runs - and still treat the spot as live until proved otherwise. Find your stopcock and check it turns before you drill; screw the bar down through the pre-drilled holes into the timber subfloor.

1 each · Laminate door bar / threshold strip

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1 pack · 25mm wood screws (pack of 20)

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FL-10Refit the skirting boards, or fit quadrant beadingIf you removed the skirting in step 8, fix it back now over the expansion gap. Before drilling into the wall, use a cable and pipe detector along the run, then still treat it as live until proved otherwise - detectors miss deep or shielded cables and get confused by metal-backed board or lath and plaster. Find your stopcock and check it turns, and if there's any doubt at all, isolate the circuit at the consumer unit first. Work out what's behind the plaster: a stud detector or magnet tracking a line of old screw heads, a hollow sound between fixings, or drill a small 3mm pilot hole - timber dust means a timber stud, fine grey swarf means a metal stud. Solid brick or block: drill 6mm, fit a wall plug, use a 40mm woodscrew. Timber stud: drive a 40mm woodscrew straight into the centre of the stud, no plug needed. Metal stud: use a self-drilling metal-stud screw or a snap-toggle fixing - never a plain wall plug or ordinary woodscrew, both strip straight through 0.5mm steel. Dot-and-dab plasterboard: use a fixing long enough to pass through the board and dab into the masonry behind, typically 50-60mm. Lath and plaster: fixings can pull through brittle old laths - aim for a stud where you can, or use a plasterboard-rated toggle spread over the laths. If you didn't remove the skirting, pin quadrant beading along the top edge of the skirting instead, into the skirting timber only - never into the wall behind it.

1 box · 40mm woodscrews (box of 100)

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1 box · Red wall plugs (box of 100)

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1 pack · Self-drilling metal-stud screws (pack of 50)

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1 pack · Snap-toggle hollow-wall fixings (pack of 4)

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1 length · Quadrant beading (2.4m length)

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1 box · 25mm panel pins (box)

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FL-11Final check and tidy upPull out all the spacers around the edges and check you have a clear 10mm gap everywhere. In kitchens or bathrooms, run a thin bead of flexible sealant where the floor meets wet areas. Move furniture back in on protective pads, and bag up offcuts and packaging for disposal.

1 tube · Flexible sealant (for wet areas)

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1 pack · Felt furniture pads

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