Input the area dimensions 3. There are visual rules for selecting direction for laminate layout, Try setting it in different directions to visualize, Wood patterns normally require extra square feet and labor to install Since I had already laid laminate twice :), the task was quite clear, and the calculator was created. Some manufacturers suggest tapping the planks with a rubber mallet to help close the end joints. After choosing the room, select from the available images or upload your own. (Its very possible you could start with a full piece if the rest of the math worked out alright. To learn more from our Contractor co-author, like how to let your boards acclimate in your home, keep reading the article! Moving from right to left, the last piece in each row will always be cut off, with the cut-off piece from the left shifting down to begin the next row of flooring on the right. Step 1: Acclimate Your Planks and Prep the Subfloor Before you can install your new floor, your laminate planks will need to acclimate to the room first. To start, I would first remove the furniture, toilets, rugs, and anything else sitting on top of the current flooring. To learn more from our Contractor co-author, like how to let your boards acclimate in your home, keep reading the article! It's about five times thicker than vinyl sheets, and - as you'd expect from the name - it comes in planks. Measure the width of the room and divide that number by the width of the planks you are using. We prefer to do most of the redecoration and maintenance work by ourselves in these days of growing self-sufficiency. Calculate floor area. Therefore, light plays a smaller role when it comes to aligning. Learn how PLANETCALC and our partners collect and use data. Found a handful and set them out below. Be careful not to lock the planks together. Level Of DifficultyTime To CompleteMedium1 day for a small room (6 ft x 6 ft) up to several days for a large room/whole houseMaterial ListTool ListUnderlaymentLaminate flooring installation kitUnderlayment tapeHammerLaminate flooringJigsawTransition strips (dependent upon your room needs T-Moulding, Reducer, Stair Nose, Endcap)Circular sawMiter sawTable sawSpade drill bit for plumbingOscillating Multi-Tool for door jambs. It may be easier and provide better results if you cut the boards upside down. This causes the sunlight to shine with the grains in the individual panels and have a better and brighter appearance. This article has been viewed 470,955 times. Contact your local Flooring America store. Most of the light from the room will come from the largest window, so you want the seams to be hidden a little better based on that window. Chad, I would absolutely do it that way. However, it does matter if you want to make your life easier by being able to swing the hammer with your dominant hand. Laminate flooring offers homeowners an affordable way to achieve their dream wood look. `Number of packages - as the laminate flooring is selling in packages - the necessary amount of packages Yes, its that simple! Im going to be laying laminate in my entire house, upstairs and downstairs, except for the bathrooms. Measure stair width, tread and riser length, and number of stairs to get square footage for laminate materials. After selecting the room type, the next step is to choose the style, which can be anything from eclectic to country to contemporary. Rustic Laminate Flooring. He has been a construction professional since 1987. 1 Select Type of Tile Project: One Tile Two Tile MultiTile 2 Select Floor Pattern: Diamond Traditional Brickwork Herringbone Diagonal Brick Crosshatch Brickwork Square Combinatorial Standard Plank Chevron Corridor Horizontal Basketweave Border 3 Right? Once you have the direction chosen, its time to calculate the starting row dimensions. The end joints should be tight with no gaps. For examples, the corners in old buildings may not necessarily be at a right angle and therefore can lead to timber being protruded. Place a plank flat on the floor next to the trim, and trace a line on the trim thats higher than the top of the plank. (feet+inches) Note: flooring runs perpendicular to the length A of the room. It's lightning fast, powerful, light-weight and affordable. Step 1 - Remove the Baseboard. All rights reserved. See how much new carpet, hardwood or laminate you'll need before you buy. % of people told us that this article helped them. That won't look good and is tough to install. Use a long straightedge, a T-square, or a chalk line to mark the long cutting lines for rip cuts running the length of flooring planks. There are many advantages to an open-concept floor plan. To remove the old laminate, first, you need to uninstall the baseboard that sits over the flooring. You can also upload your own photo without creating a profile. Among the most popular options are: Hardwood Laminate Luxury Vinyl Engineered Hardwood Bamboo Deciding the Best Direction to Lay Plank Flooring Plank flooring features a rectangular shape that lends itself toward many different patterns and directions. There needs to be a gap of 1 1/8 inches between the two halves of the transition to accommodate this strip. You can use 2 pieces of laminate flooring panels and lay one lengthways and the other widthways to find the best orientation to your floor. Add 10% for waste and overage. DIY With Christine is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. If you do this you will never have a problem! Find a floor that is enabled for the Room Visualiser Tool and click the "View this in my room" button. Most people will bother to think about the orientation of the laminate flooring only after they have bought it inside the room. Measure the line at different points along the wall the planks will start on. Compare - Add another floor to compare. For instance, in the kitchen, you can pick the carpet, laminate, hardwood, tile, cabinets, and countertop. People do not fully understand the importance of laying the laminate flooring in the required and perfect direction. With over 30 years of construction experience, Mark specializes in constructing interiors, project management, and project estimation. Divide that by the case or pallet coverage. 4. Arrange planks side by side across the room. Sales/licensing The styles you picked will be automatically loaded. You will need an underlay of foam sheeting for laminate flooring. This will ensure that the cut plank on the left is an acceptable length. Laminate flooring. To make certain you utilize the vast selection of ceramic tile floor covering suggestions, you have to understand about the numerous sort of tiles that you can deal with to set up on your flooring. Wondering the best way to plan your laminate flooring layout? Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Product Disclosures | FA Management Enterprises, Inc. We're sorry, but we can't find a Flooring America location in the zip code you entered. The next question you might be wondering is, What side of laminate flooring goes against the wall?. The easy-to-use online tool allows you to select from over 30 room settings and 150+ floor products. On the other hand, if theres no tub or cabinets, then you can run the boards in any direction you please. enter the length B of the room. *Actual flooring may vary from on-screen representation. We have the answer. The styles you picked will be automatically loaded. You can divide the room and have two types of floors virtually installed. New flooring can make a huge difference in any room. Check the sub-floor moisture content; it should be no higher than 12% on a Protimeter prong test scale. Copyright text 2016 by The Handy Nest. Place spacers of scrap woodbetween the flooring and the wall to maintain this gap. Choose the color for the floor and walls with this online app. But with a stable, flat subfloor, the cut lengths can go as short as 1 foot. The planks are very thin, with a core of fiberboard that cuts easily. Installing Laminate Wood Flooring It's tempting to find the longest, straightest wall and start slapping down planks. How laminate flooring works is that it floats across your room. Step 1- Layout the first few rows of laminate or vinyl plank flooring. By using our site, you agree to our. Now that weve got the basics out of the way, lets break it down a little further so you can install your laminate flooring with ease! Next, arrange a length of planks end to end. A laminate flooring with patterns can be the element in focus in your living room. You can change your choice at any time on our. The best way to lay laminate flooring is to start with a subfloor or old flooring that's flat, smooth, and clean. Build a second floor, add or remove walls and doors. April 24 . For help on removing a specific item to get the room prepared for laminate flooring, check out my other tutorials: Once all of your obstacles are out of the way, you can move on to the next step! Typically, this goes below the underlayment. It works for both metric and imperial measurement system. 16 following. Using a utility knife, trim the underlayment to fit against the walls and obstructions. You can also print your draft, along with the product details. This is a list that shows you how many inches your laminate planks equal when they are put together. Trim off the tongues (not the grooves) from the boards that will edge the first wall. Join me on home improvement tutorials, tips on my blog. Once the underlayment is down, place -inch (0.95-cm) spacers along each wall. Interior Floor Designs. Same with tile what do you do? To create a more natural look, you want to pull pieces from 2-3 different boxes at the same time. Just open your browser and design! Your email address will not be published. All I needed to know was here. The MagicPlan App makes measuring your floor easy by creating a virtual map of your indoor space. You can rotate floors or change room. The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our. Haha. When you launch Floorstyle, you can immediately choose the color you wish to check, although the availability of the hues will depend on the room you are working on. You can use 2 pieces of laminate flooring panels and lay one lengthways and the other widthways to find the best orientation to your floor. The direction in which you lay your laminate floor can have an effect on how it looks, how long it takes to finish laying and the amount of money spend on it. Also, this makes it more difficult for your eye to locate the board joints when you are done. You never really know. And we use a large number of techniques to to build and decorate our house. Laminate. Number of unused planks - and that's the number of unused planks from the last package, Everyone who receives the link will be able to view this calculation, Copyright PlanetCalc Version: Your email address will not be published. You can lock the side joints together or simply butt the planks against one another; just be careful not to walk on the flooring if the joints are not locked together. Diagonal This is an offset pattern set on a 45-degree angle for either tiles or planks. Designed with you in mind, DesignVisualizer is easy-to-use, flexible, and gives you unlimited options to design great spaces. Use proper eye and ear protection while using a table saw. Laminate flooring installation costs: $5 to $9 on average - so read on and save money! Increase productivity on the go and have an easy way to connect to the office. The online tool also lets you select the grade whether it is prime, natural, rustic, or heavy rustic depending on the product type. And our MagicPlan tool makes for measuring a snap, literally. Input real numbers only. Input the tile size 4. Plan each row in advance as you proceed to lay the laminate. Remove Toilets, Baseboards, Door Jambs, Other Obstacles To Prepare For Laminate Flooring, Level Uneven Concrete Subfloor & Install Underlayment, Install Metal Base Of Laminate Flooring Transition Strips In Doorways, Plan Staggered Pattern For Laminate Flooring Layout, Install Transition Strips Over Laminate Flooring Edges, Re-Install Toilets, Baseboards, Etc. Generally, hardwood is a pretty safe bet, but should you get light, medium or dark? Single Click area select for tile, carpet, hardwood or laminate floor areas. ft. /carton) Email or print this measurement report and bring it to a local store to get a quote for your wood or laminate flooring job, It saves their time and cost to get your laminate flooring project done faster. Measuring a room is really easy. For example you will be able to look at this sheet and see how many inches it is when 10 planks are put together, or 15 planks, or 20 planks and so on. Once all of your laminate floorboards are installed, you just need to complete these last few touches: Thats it! Start on the right side, and work to the left. I know this probably sounds super confusing, so here is a video that further demonstrates what I am talking about. To make this cheat sheet lock together ten planks side by side and measure to see how many inches it will equal. Snap the tongues on the long sides of the planks in the second row into the grooves on the first row. MagicPlan automates the capture of room measurement, shape and documentation - creating a comprehensive floor plan - a map of your indoor space. But in the end, the direction of laying the laminate flooring is dependent on the wishes of the individual. Lay out the pieces of laminate in the room in which you'll be installing them, and let them sit for at least 48 hours. This can be a little tricky with the last row of planksbecause you are working tight against the wall. For help on choosing the best underlayment for your home, check out my article here. But in the end, the direction of laying the laminate flooring is dependent on the wishes of the individual. I also like that it gives you all the tools and supplies that are needed. Just open 2-3 boxes at a time and go in order, pulling from each one then starting over. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. Also, underlayment is extremely important for laminate flooring over concrete. Well, look no further because I have your answer! You need to start each row with the other half of the board from the previous row because it wastes fewer planks, and because it makes the floor stronger when the boards do not start and end in a line. The easy-to-use online tool allows you to select from over 30 room settings and 150+ floor products. Pull planks from different boxes to ensure varied tones and plank lengths. If you think that, then others will think that as well. Description: This 2/1 features a sun-filled, open floor plan, coat closet, striking laminate flooring and an updated kitchen. The free tool lets you design the floors of your kitchen, bedroom, dining room, living room, and bathroom. Lowe's Visualizer. DEAKO plug and play switches, and more! The next step to installing laminate flooring is to finally start laying laminate flooring! Cut the plank to size, then install it. Spacers need to be placed against every wall to help keep the expansion gap from the wall and to support the first row as you tap the other rows into it. Only beautiful new floors. When your laminate installation h. You will start by putting in length of one wall, then, change the direction and put in the dimension of the next, and so on. Vinyl plank flooring is altogether more robust. All it takes is a little magic. For example, if you want a hallway to seem longer, it is better to use the laminate flooring in the lengthways direction. The grid pattern, also known as stack bond, is one of the most common layouts. The gaps along the walls should be entirely hidden by the molding. But what if the room has no windows? This tool allows you to see what different types of flooring look like in your very own dojo, dance studio, gym, basement, living room, etc. -Designed by Thrive Themes | Powered by WordPress, Which Direction to Lay Laminate Flooring: Surprise Answer You Need To Know. This will help you avoid having all the light pieces in one corner and all the dark pieces in another, and nothing is more randomized than literally pulling pieces out in random order from multiple boxes. Next, cut strips of underlayment to size and lay the strips down across the exposed floor. The offers that appear in this table are from partnerships from which The Spruce receives compensation. I like to choose the longest wall and run the boards parallel to that because it will result in the least amount of waste. Instantly create and share floor plans, field reports, and estimates on site with one easy-to-use application. Choose a paint color (available in some pre-set room images). Each one of us has an idea and a dream when it comes to our house. Features include: Upload your own photo or select a space from our segment gallery; Access to full Armstrong flooring portfolio; Customize patterns Compare flooring options side-by-side; 360 degree view; Download files If you already have an account, all you need to do is sign in with your registered email and password. A unique feature of this tool is that it lets you evaluate two designs of the floors. When modifying how a certain room looks like, you can also identify which specific part you would like to design. Don't stack the packs more than three high, and preferably wedge something between each pack so the air can circulate fully around them. The tool will take you to the design page where you can specify the product category, item, and paint color. Let users design with your products, generate leads and information requests, and lead customers to the showroom closest to them. Keep observing for the entire length of the day for the best result. To minimize chipping on the flooring surface, cut with the backside of the plank up. The way the light reflects in helps hide the seams. If there are more than one windows and light source in a room, you should find the position with the best light. The calculation of the number of planks Room length, meters Room width, meters Plank length, millimeters Plank width, millimeters Number of planks per package Laying by Calculation precision Digits after the decimal point: 3 Room area, square meters Number of planks used entirely Length of the last plank, millimeters If the old floor surface has damage or unevenness, you likely will need to remove it. Another factor that affects the orientation of the panels is the layout of the room. This will help you easily measure the floor to see how big of a piece you will have at an ending wall. If you have the product code, you can enter it in the search box in the same tab. The option also includes marking the floor area and changing perspective. The instructions with your flooring should specify these slight variations better for you. Another nice feature is that you can change the color of the cabinets, walls and countertops so that you can see how different colors work with different flooring types. The exact imitation of wood is going to give your home a raw, organic and rustic touch to your house. Measure your home so you will know how much flooring you might need. Nevertheless, the app allows users to change the color of the walls and cabinets where applicable. Be sure to account for the expansion gap at the wall. In fact, after you're done installing your floors, you'll wonder why anyone ever pays professional installers for it.