- 1). Open all your packages of floor boards and arrange them in piles by their differing lengths. In most cases, there will be two or three standard lengths.
- 2). Pull off the trim from the edges of the floor using your hammer and pry bar. Don’t break it as you remove it. Set it aside. Lay out plastic underlayment over the floor, using a utility knife to cut each strip to fit. Let the strips overlap each other by an inch or two.
- 3). Set a laminate floorboard at one end of the floor, on the side the room where you want to start. Set spacers between the board and the wall as you lay it.
- 4). Connect a second board off the end of the first one, pressing it down at an angle until it clicks into place. Repeat, setting additional boards end to end all along the wall. Intersperse long and short boards throughout the course. Put spacers between each board and the wall as you go. Use a miter saw to cut the last board to fit.
- 5). Choose the first board of the second course from the piles of different lengths, picking one that won’t come within 6 inches of the end of the first board of the first course. It doesn’t matter whether the end of the first board of the second course lands before or after end of the first board of the first course, as long as it’s offset. Snap it in place by pressing the long edge of the second board alongside the long edge of the first course.
- 6). Repeat, choosing each new board of the second course so the ends of the boards are offset from the ends of the boards of the first course. Cut the last board of the course as needed to fit.
- 7). Continue, laying each new course in the same staggered fashion, choosing the boards so they are at least 6 inches offset from the previous course. Assess the piles of boards as you go, and try to alternate using the differing lengths evenly, so you don’t run out of one length before the others. Cut the end board of each course on the miter saw as needed.
- 8). Work your way across the whole floor, staggering the ends the whole way. Use a table saw to cut the boards of the last course along their lengths so they fit along the last wall, with a ½ inch space there.
- 9). Nail the trim back in place, using your trim nails and hammer. The trim will hide the gaps along the wall.
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