Another tip for DIY laminate installation

From time to time I have people come to me with a common problem: "why is my laminate starting to have peaks or high places?" This question pops up every once in a while, and most of the time it can be traced back to a unnoticed mistake when the flooring is being installed.

Laminate flooring requires a gap of around a quarter of an inch (depending on the brand of laminate and the size of the area it is installed in) to be left between the wall and the flooring itself. Herein lies the rub--laminates will expand and contract according to changes in the room temperature and climate. If there is no expansion gap allowed, then the floor will begin to buckle because there is no room for it to grow. "but I left a gap" you may say. Usually when this happens it is because of one tiny point that goes unnoticed. After the laminate is installed, normally trim is put down to cover the gap. Usually quarter-round or base molding. Sometimes the when the trim is nailed in place, one of the nails can angle downward to the floor, hitting the edge of the laminate. That one nail can effectively eliminate the gap on that side of the room because it will stop the laminate from expanding into the gap.

Sometimes the problem can be in other areas that "bind up" the edge of the laminate flooring, such as when you don't undercut far enough under a doorway and the laminate is hitting part of the wall structure, or perhaps not leaving any expansion gap under a transition trim that is installed in the middle of a doorway or up against a fireplace.

So one of the keys to a reliable installation is to make sure there is a 100% continuous gap all the way around the perimeter of the laminate floor. It's a small simple thing, but it can make a huge difference in a smooth trouble-free installation.