Laminate is the most forgiving floor to buy and one of the least forgiving to fit. It is a floating floor, which means it is not fixed down at all. It sits on the subfloor, held only by its own interlocking joints and its own weight, and it has to be free to expand and contract as a single sheet. Almost every laminate failure in a British home comes from something that stopped it moving, or from moisture that should never have reached it.
This guide works through the ten mistakes that cause the trouble, in the order you are likely to meet them, and explains what to do instead. Doors2Floors has supplied doors and flooring to homes and businesses across the UK. We should say plainly that our own flooring range is luxury vinyl rather than laminate: we stock 12 flooring products from £14.00 per square metre, all Karndean vinyl. The fitting principles below apply to laminate specifically, and we have flagged where vinyl behaves differently.
What laminate flooring actually is
Four layers, none of them solid wood
A wear layer, a printed decorative paper, a high density fibreboard core and a stabilising backing. The wood look is a photograph. The strength and the weakness both come from the fibreboard core.
Why the core matters more than the picture
High density fibreboard is dimensionally stable when dry and swells irreversibly when wet. Once a board has swollen at the edge it cannot be dried back into shape. This single fact explains most of what follows.
It is a floating floor
Not glued, not nailed, not screwed. The whole floor moves as one plate, which is why it needs a gap at every edge and why anything that pins it down causes a failure somewhere else.
Click systems
Modern laminate uses an angle and tap or a drop lock joint. The joint provides the strength, so a joint that is not fully closed is a weak point that will open under foot traffic.
AC ratings
Laminate wear layers are graded for abrasion resistance. A higher grade suits a hallway or a kitchen, a lower grade suits a bedroom. Buying a bedroom grade for a hall is a false economy.
How laminate differs from LVT and vinyl
Luxury vinyl tile has no fibreboard core, so it tolerates moisture far better and is much thinner, which changes the door clearance calculation entirely. Our guide to what Karndean flooring is explains the construction.
How laminate differs from engineered wood
Engineered wood has a real timber wear layer that can be sanded and refinished. Laminate cannot be refinished at all. Our engineered oak flooring guide covers the difference.
What laminate is genuinely good at
Cost, scratch resistance, speed of installation and the sheer range of appearances. It is a sensible floor in a bedroom, a living room or a home office.
Where it struggles
Bathrooms, wet rooms, utility rooms, conservatories and anywhere with a persistent damp problem. In those places a vinyl product is the better answer.
Mistake one: ignoring the manufacturer instructions
Why the leaflet in the box matters
Expansion gaps, underlay requirements, maximum room dimensions, acclimatisation periods, subfloor moisture limits and underfloor heating temperature limits all vary between products. The generic advice online is generic for a reason.
Guarantees are conditional
Almost every laminate guarantee is conditional on the stated fitting method, the stated underlay and the stated subfloor moisture content. Ignore any one of them and the guarantee is usually void.
Maximum run lengths
Many products specify a maximum continuous run before you have to introduce an expansion joint. Running a single sheet of laminate from the front door through to the back of the house without a break is a common cause of buckling.
Underfloor heating limits
Most laminates specify a maximum surface temperature. Exceeding it dries the core out and opens the joints. Follow the flooring instructions and the heating system instructions together.
Read it before you buy, not after
If the product requires a subfloor moisture content you cannot achieve, you want to know that before the pallet arrives.
Keep the paperwork
Batch numbers, the fitting leaflet and the receipt. If you ever need to make a claim, these are what the claim rests on.
Mistake two: believing you should seal a laminate floor
You cannot seal laminate, and you should not try
The wear layer is already a sealed melamine surface. Nothing you apply on top will bond properly, and a varnish or lacquer will peel, cloud or go patchy within months.
Where the confusion comes from
Solid and engineered wood floors are sealed and can be resealed. Laminate cannot. Advice written for one is regularly applied to the other.
What to do about the joints instead
If you want extra moisture protection at the joints, some manufacturers offer a compatible joint sealant applied during fitting, not afterwards. Check whether your product allows it.
What to do about a dull floor
A dull laminate is usually a floor with a film of cleaning product on it. Strip the residue with a proper laminate cleaner rather than adding another coating.
What about wax and polish
Do not. Wax on laminate creates a slippery film that attracts dirt and eventually has to be stripped off.
Silicone at the perimeter
Silicone around the edge of a room in a kitchen or a bathroom pins the floor and prevents movement. Use a scotia or a skirting to cover the gap instead.
Mistake three: confusing level with flat
They are not the same thing
Level means horizontal. Flat means without hollows or humps. A floating floor does not care whether the room slopes, but it cares enormously about hollows.
Why hollows matter
A board bridging a hollow flexes every time somebody stands on it. That flexing works the joint open and eventually cracks the click profile.
How to check
Lay a long straight edge or a level on edge across the floor in several directions and look for daylight underneath. Mark every hollow with chalk.
Fixing hollows in concrete
A self levelling compound is the usual answer. Prime the slab first or the compound will dry too fast and crack.
Fixing hollows in timber
Screw down any loose boards, then overlay with plywood or hardboard if the boards are cupped. Do not rely on underlay to take up a 5mm dip.
Humps are worse than hollows
A hump concentrates all the load on a small area and will wear a shiny patch through the wear layer. Grind or plane humps down.
Old floorboards need special care
Original boards move, squeak and have gaps. Overboarding with 6mm ply screwed at close centres gives you a flat, quiet base and stops the squeaks transferring.
Do not fit over an unsound floor
Springy boards, rotten joist ends or a crumbling screed all need fixing first. A perfect laminate installation over a failing subfloor is still a failing floor.
Mistake four: skipping or wrongly choosing the underlay
Underlay is not optional
It takes up minor irregularities, reduces impact noise, adds a little warmth and, crucially, can provide a moisture barrier. Fitting laminate straight onto a subfloor is a false economy.
Some laminate has underlay attached
If yours does, do not add a second layer unless the manufacturer says so. Two layers is too soft and lets the floor flex.
Concrete needs a moisture barrier
Any concrete or screed subfloor, however old, needs a damp proof membrane or a combined underlay with an integral barrier. Concrete transmits moisture vapour indefinitely.
Timber subfloors need to breathe
Do not put a sealed membrane on a suspended timber floor, because you can trap moisture in the joists. A breathable underlay is the correct choice.
Underfloor heating needs a low resistance underlay
A thick insulating underlay over underfloor heating defeats the heating. Use a product specifically rated for it and check the combined thermal resistance of underlay plus flooring.
Acoustic performance in flats
If you live in a flat, your lease may specify an acoustic performance for floor coverings. Check before you buy, because retrofitting is expensive.
Lay underlay in the same direction as the boards
Butt the joints, tape them, and do not overlap. An overlapped seam creates a ridge that telegraphs through the floor.
Run the membrane up the wall
Where you are using a separate membrane, turn it up the wall slightly and trim it after the skirting or scotia goes on.
Mistake five: getting the expansion gap wrong
Why the gap exists
The whole floor grows and shrinks with temperature and humidity. If it cannot grow, it will lift in the middle of the room. That lifting is the single most recognisable laminate failure.
Every edge, not just the visible ones
Walls, doorways, thresholds, radiator pipes, kitchen units, stair strings, hearths and any fixed object. Every point of contact needs clearance.
How much gap
The manufacturer sets it, and it usually increases with room size. Use spacers of the specified thickness rather than guessing, and leave them in until the whole floor is laid.
Do not fix the floor down anywhere
No nails through it, no screws through it, no adhesive at the perimeter, and no silicone bead pinning it to the wall.
Do not trap it under a kitchen unit
Fitting laminate under a run of units before the units go in traps the floor completely. Fit the units first and bring the floor up to them with a gap, hidden by the plinth.
Radiator pipes
Drill the boards oversize and cover with a two part pipe collar. A board cut tight to a pipe is a fixed point.
Doorways need a threshold, not a tight cut
Every doorway needs an expansion gap and a threshold bar over it. The bar covers the gap, protects the exposed board edge and lets the two floors move independently.
Long runs need intermediate joints
Where a floor runs through several rooms or exceeds the maximum run length, an expansion joint at the doorway is not optional.
Scotia versus removing the skirting
Removing and refitting the skirting over the gap gives the cleanest result. A scotia bead is faster. Either way, fix it to the SKIRTING or the wall, never to the floor.
Mistake six: not testing subfloor moisture properly
Concrete looks dry long before it is dry
A new screed can take a considerable time to dry, and the surface is dry long before the depth is. Laying over it traps the moisture against a fibreboard core.
The plastic sheet test
Tape a square of polythene tightly to the slab and leave it overnight. Condensation underneath, or a darkened patch of concrete, means the slab is still releasing moisture.
Use a meter for anything important
A hygrometer or a concrete moisture meter gives a number rather than an impression. Hire one for a day rather than guessing on a whole house.
Timber subfloors have their own limits
Damp floorboards mean an unresolved problem underneath, usually blocked airbricks or a failing damp proof course.
Never block underfloor ventilation
Airbricks serving a suspended timber floor must stay clear. Blocking them to stop a draught is how you rot the joists, and any ventilation serving a gas or solid fuel appliance must never be obstructed.
If in doubt, get a survey
Persistent damp, tide marks or a musty smell need a qualified surveyor or damp specialist before any floor goes down. It is far cheaper than lifting a finished floor.
Bathrooms and utility rooms
Standing water at a joint will swell a laminate edge permanently. For these rooms a vinyl product is the sensible choice, and we stock 12 vinyl flooring products.
Mistake seven: skipping acclimatisation
What acclimatisation is
Leaving the unopened packs flat in the room where they will be fitted so the boards reach the temperature and humidity they will live in. Usually a couple of days, but follow the product instructions.
Why it matters
A board fitted cold and dry will expand once the heating comes on. If it has already been locked in with no gap, it has nowhere to go.
Lay the packs flat, not on edge
Stacked flat in the middle of the room, not leaning against a cold external wall.
Do not open the packs
Unless the instructions say to. Most products acclimatise perfectly well sealed.
Get the heating to normal first
Acclimatising in an unheated room and then turning the heating on afterwards defeats the purpose. Bring the room to its normal working temperature.
Underfloor heating needs a warm up and cool down schedule
Most systems specify a gradual commissioning sequence before and after fitting. Skipping it stresses the joints.
Winter deliveries
A pallet that has been on a cold lorry needs longer. Do not fit flooring the same day it arrives in January.
Mistake eight: poor layout and staggering
Decide the direction before the first board
Running boards along the longest wall, or in line with the main light source, usually looks best. In a narrow hallway, running lengthways makes the space feel longer.
Dry lay the first few rows
Twenty minutes of dry laying tells you whether the last row is going to be a 15mm sliver. Adjust the first row width to avoid that.
Never leave a sliver at the end
A final row narrower than about a third of a board width is both ugly and structurally weak, because there is not enough board to hold the joint. Rip the first row narrower and share the difference.
Stagger the end joints properly
End joints in adjacent rows should be well offset, and the offset should vary rather than forming a regular staircase pattern. A repeating diagonal is the giveaway of a rushed job.
Mix boards from several packs
Open three or four packs and work from all of them. Printed decors repeat, and working pack by pack puts identical boards next to each other.
Check the pattern repeat
Most laminate has a limited number of unique board faces. Knowing how many there are tells you how carefully you need to mix.
Start against the straightest wall
Not necessarily the longest. Then scribe the first row to the wall so the second row onwards is dead straight.
Keep the tongue facing the right way
Groove towards the wall, tongue into the room, unless the instructions say otherwise. Getting this wrong on row one means starting again.
Doorway and threshold planning
Plan where the board joints fall relative to doorways before you start, so you are not trying to close a click joint underneath a door lining.
Fitting into a bay or an alcove
Work out the return before you commit. A bay window is where a badly planned layout becomes impossible to hide.
Herringbone and pattern layouts
Pattern laying needs a set out centre line and considerably more waste. Our notes on herringbone flooring cover the look, and our parquet care guide covers the traditional equivalent.
Mistake nine: bad door and frame detailing
Undercut the architrave, do not cut round it
Sliding the flooring underneath the architrave looks like joinery. Scribing around it looks like flooring. Cut the architrave with a flush cut saw at the exact height of underlay plus board.
Do the same at the door lining
The board should disappear under the lining and the stop, with the expansion gap hidden.
Check the door still clears
Underlay plus laminate typically raises the floor by 10mm to 14mm, and a thicker underlay raises it more. A door that cleared the old carpet may catch the new floor.
Trim the door, do not force it
Take the leaf off, measure, and plane or saw the bottom edge within the manufacturer allowance. Our guide on planing a door covers the technique.
Never trim a fire door to clear a new floor
Cutting a fire door beyond its certified allowance, or reducing the threshold gap in a way the certification does not allow, can take the assembly outside its scope. Our overview of fire doors and where they are needed is the place to start, and requirements should be confirmed with your local building control body or a fire risk assessor.
Threshold bars at every doorway
Flat strips where the two floor levels match, ramp or reducer profiles where they differ. The bar covers the gap and protects the board edge.
Fix the threshold to the subfloor, not to the laminate
Screwing a threshold bar through the laminate pins the floor at exactly the point where it most needs to move.
New skirting and architrave
A new floor makes tired trim look worse. Our guide to door architraves covers the profiles, and we stock 16 architrave products and over 30 internal frames and linings.
New floor, tired doors
The same applies to the doors themselves. We stock over 710 internal doors from £30.84, over 290 internal oak doors from £87.75 and over 80 white primed internal doors from £30.84, and our guide on how to measure a door covers getting the new bottom clearance right.
Draught proofing after the floor goes down
A larger bottom gap under a door lets more noise and draught through. A brush seal solves it without pinning the floor. See our guide to draughty doors.
Mistake ten: cleaning laminate the wrong way
Never use a wet mop
Water sitting on a joint will wick into the fibreboard core and swell the edge permanently. Damp, wrung out, and dried behind is the rule.
Never use a steam mop
Steam forces moisture into the joints under pressure. It is the fastest way to ruin a laminate floor, and it usually voids the guarantee.
Sweep or vacuum before you damp mop
Grit dragged across a wear layer is what dulls it. Remove the grit first, every time.
Use a hard floor vacuum setting
A rotating brush bar designed for carpet will scuff a laminate surface over time.
Use the right cleaner
A dedicated laminate or hard floor cleaner. Not bleach, not washing up liquid, not multi surface spray, and never anything abrasive.
Deal with spills immediately
Especially at joints, and especially in a kitchen. A spill left for an hour on a joint is a swollen edge.
Mats at every external door
A good mat at the front and back door removes most of the grit before it reaches the floor.
Felt pads under furniture
Chair legs are the most common cause of visible scratching. Felt pads cost almost nothing and need replacing once a year.
Castors and office chairs
Hard castors will mark laminate. Use soft wheels or a mat under a desk chair.
Rugs are fine, backing is not always
A rubber backed rug can discolour a laminate surface. Use a breathable underlay pad instead. Our notes on rugs in a living room cover placement, and never place a loose rug at the foot of a staircase.
Sunlight
Direct sun fades printed decors over years, and a rug left in one place leaves a visible outline. Rotate rugs and use blinds on a south facing room.
Preparing the room before you start
Empty it completely
Everything out, including curtains and anything hanging low on the walls. A floating floor is laid as one continuous sheet and you cannot work around furniture.
Lift the old floor covering fully
Carpet, underlay, gripper rods, staples and tacks. A single leftover staple under a board is a permanent click.
Decide about the skirting now
Removing the skirting and refitting it over the expansion gap gives the cleanest result. If you are keeping it, buy scotia in a matching finish before you start.
Undercut the architraves before laying
Doing it after the first row is down is awkward and you will damage a board. Cut them all at the start, to the height of underlay plus board.
Check and mark the joist positions
On a suspended timber floor, knowing where the joists are matters if you have to screw anything down or overboard.
Check for services under the floor
Pipes and cables run in notches in joists. Screwing plywood down without checking is how a heating pipe gets punctured.
Vacuum thoroughly, twice
Once after lifting the old floor and once after any levelling or overboarding. Grit under the underlay creates high spots.
Sort the doors out first
If the doors are being replaced anyway, hang them before the floor goes down so you can set the bottom clearance to the finished floor. We stock over 420 unglazed doors from £30.84 and over 280 glazed doors from £107.25, and our guide on choosing the right door covers the decision.
Plan the order of the whole project
Walls, then trim, then flooring, then final decoration, is the usual sequence. Laying an expensive floor before you paint the ceiling is a decision people regret. If you are painting doors and trim as part of the same job, our guides to painting an interior door and maintaining painted doors cover the technique.
The fitting sequence, in order
One: set your datum and direction
Chalk a line parallel to the straightest wall at the width of the first row plus the expansion gap.
Two: lay the membrane and underlay
Membrane first on concrete, then underlay, joints taped and butted rather than overlapped.
Three: dry lay the first three rows
Check the last row width, check the stagger looks random, and check where the joints land relative to doorways.
Four: rip the first row if needed
Adjust the first row width so the final row is a sensible width. This one step prevents the most visible layout error.
Five: lay the first row with spacers
Groove to the wall, spacers at the specified thickness at the wall and at both ends.
Six: work across the room
Angle and tap the long edge, then close the end joint. Use a tapping block, never the mallet directly on the board.
Seven: check every joint is fully closed
Run your fingernail along each joint. A joint you can feel is a joint that is not closed, and it will only get worse.
Eight: cut the apertures as you reach them
Pipes, hearths and awkward corners. Cut oversize and cover with a collar or a trim.
Nine: the last row with a pulling bar
Rip it to width, allowing the expansion gap, and draw it in with a pulling bar rather than forcing it.
Ten: remove the spacers
Only once the whole floor is down. Taking them out early lets the floor creep towards the wall.
Eleven: fit the trims
Threshold bars at every doorway fixed to the subfloor, then scotia or skirting fixed to the wall, never to the floor.
Twelve: clean and check
Vacuum, damp wipe, then walk the whole floor listening for movement or clicking. Deal with anything now rather than in six months.
Laminate room by room
Hallway
High traffic and a lot of grit from outside, so specify a high abrasion grade and put good mats at both external doors. A vinyl product copes better with wet shoes.
Living room
An excellent application. Add rugs for warmth and acoustics, and felt pads on every furniture leg.
Dining room
Chair legs are the enemy. Felt pads, replaced annually, and consider a rug under the table.
Kitchen
Possible but not ideal. Spills at joints are the risk, and the floor must not be trapped under the units. Vinyl is the safer specification.
Bathroom and cloakroom
Not recommended in laminate at all. Use a vinyl product from our 12 vinyl flooring products, and pair it with hardware that tolerates humidity such as our over 60 bathroom locks from £6.64 and 18 bathroom door handle sets.
Utility room
Washing machine leaks are common and a leak at a laminate joint is permanent damage. Vinyl again.
Bedroom
The easiest room to get right. Low traffic, dry, and a lower abrasion grade is perfectly adequate.
Home office
Watch the chair castors and use a mat. If the room is echoey, our wall panelling guide covers acoustic slat panels and we stock 10 acoustic wall panels.
Landing and stairs
Laminate on a landing is fine. Laminate on stairs is a specialist job with dedicated nosings and it is genuinely worth paying a fitter for.
Conservatory
Large temperature and humidity swings make a fibreboard core a poor bet. Our conservatory flooring options guide covers the alternatives.
Under the stairs and in cupboards
Continuing the floor into a cupboard looks better but complicates the expansion strategy. A threshold at the cupboard door is the simpler answer.
Rooms with a pet
Claws mark a wear layer over time and accidents at joints are a real risk. Our notes on dogs scratching doors and cats scratching doors cover the door side of living with animals.
Diagnosing a floor that has already failed
Lifting or peaking in the middle of the room
The floor cannot expand. Find the pinch point, which is usually a doorway cut tight, a silicone bead, a threshold screwed through the boards or a unit sitting on the floor.
Gaps opening at the end joints
Either the joints were never closed, or the floor is flexing over a hollow, or the room has dried out excessively.
Swollen, crumbly board edges
Moisture has reached the core. This is not repairable and the affected boards have to come out. Find the water source first.
Cupping or doming across a board width
Moisture from below, almost always a concrete slab with no membrane or a damp suspended floor.
A hollow drumming sound in one area
The underlay has compressed or there is a void in the subfloor. It will eventually crack the joints above it.
Clicking or movement underfoot
A loose subfloor board or a high spot. Locate it by walking the floor slowly and marking where it moves.
Shiny worn patches in a traffic line
The abrasion grade was too low for the room, or grit has been dragged across it. There is no refinishing option on laminate.
A cloudy or streaky surface
A build up of cleaning product, or a coating somebody applied on top. Strip it with a proper laminate cleaner.
Fading in one area
Direct sunlight, or the outline of a rug that has been in one place for years. Blinds and rug rotation prevent it.
When to lift and relay versus replace
If the boards are sound and the problem is a pinch point or a subfloor hollow, lifting and relaying is worthwhile. If the cores have swollen, the boards are finished. Consult a qualified flooring specialist if you are unsure.
Noise, warmth and neighbours
Laminate is noisier than carpet
Footfall, dropped objects and pet claws all carry. A good acoustic underlay makes a real difference and is worth the extra.
If you live in a flat, check the lease
Many leases specify an acoustic performance for hard floor coverings, and some prohibit them in certain rooms. Check before buying, not after complaints.
Impact noise versus airborne noise
Underlay addresses impact noise transmitted downwards. It does very little for conversation carrying between rooms, which is a door and wall issue.
Doors do more for room to room noise than floors
A hollow core door is the weakest point in almost any partition. Our comparison of hollow core and solid core internal doors explains why mass matters, and we stock over 350 fully finished internal doors and over 20 laminated internal doors from £75.00.
Warmth underfoot
Laminate feels colder than carpet. Rugs, a slightly thicker underlay or underfloor heating all address it, within the product limits.
Squeaks from the subfloor
Fix them before the floor goes down. Squeaks that come back through a new floor are maddening and require lifting it again. The same logic applies to doors, which our guide on stopping doors squeaking covers, along with our notes on doors that swell and stick once a room changes humidity.
Draughts at the perimeter
A floating floor on an old suspended timber floor can be draughty at the edges. Seal the subfloor gaps rather than the laminate, and never block underfloor airbricks.
Tools and materials checklist
Measuring and marking
Steel tape, long straight edge or level, pencil, combination square and a chalk line for the set out.
Cutting
A fine tooth crosscut saw or a mitre saw for square cuts, a jigsaw with a downcut blade for curves and apertures, and a flush cut saw for undercutting architraves.
Fitting
Expansion spacers of the specified thickness, a tapping block, a pulling bar for the last row and a rubber mallet. Never hit the board edge directly.
Underlay and membrane
The correct underlay for your subfloor and your heating, plus jointing tape and a damp proof membrane if you are on concrete.
Trims
Threshold bars for every doorway, scotia or replacement skirting for the perimeter, and pipe collars for radiator pipes.
Subfloor preparation
Self levelling compound and primer for concrete, or plywood and screws for timber, plus a vacuum for the dust.
Safety
Eye protection, a dust mask when cutting fibreboard, and knee pads. Fibreboard dust is fine and irritating, so cut outdoors or with extraction.
Waste allowance
Add ten per cent for a simple rectangular room and more for a room with a bay, an alcove or a pattern layout. Running short of one batch is a real problem because decors vary between batches.
Is laminate even the right floor for you?
Where laminate makes sense
Bedrooms, living rooms, home offices and landings. Dry, moderate traffic, and where cost matters.
Where luxury vinyl is better
Kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms, cloakrooms, hallways and anywhere with pets or children. No fibreboard core means moisture is far less of a threat, and it is much thinner so door clearances are easier.
What we actually stock
Our 12 flooring products are all Karndean luxury vinyl. Prices start at £14.00 per square metre, our 6 Karndean Knight Tile ranges start at £33.40 per square metre, and our 5 Karndean Da Vinci ranges start at £50.06 per square metre. Our guide to Karndean flooring explains the difference in construction.
Where engineered wood is better
Where you want a real timber surface that can be sanded and refinished, and where the budget allows. Our engineered oak flooring guide covers it.
Where nothing wood look is right
A conservatory with large temperature swings, or a genuinely wet room. Our conservatory flooring options guide covers the first case.
Grey and pale decors
Grey remains the most requested tone and it shows dust more than a mid brown. Our guide to styling grey wood floors covers making it work.
Matching the floor to the doors
A cool grey floor with warm oak doors is the most common clash we see. Our comparisons of white and oak internal doors and oak and walnut help, and we stock over 110 black internal doors and over 60 grey internal doors if you are going cooler throughout.
Panelling and flooring together
If you are refreshing a hallway completely, panelling and a new floor at the same time is far less disruptive than two separate projects. Our wall panelling guide covers the walls, and we stock 15 wall panelling products and 10 acoustic wall panels.
When to pay a fitter
A single rectangular bedroom is a comfortable weekend job. A whole ground floor with a kitchen, a bay and five doorways is where a professional pays for themselves. Consult a qualified flooring specialist if the subfloor needs significant work.
Frequently asked questions
Can you seal laminate flooring?
No. The surface is already a sealed melamine wear layer and nothing you apply on top will bond properly. Some manufacturers offer a compatible joint sealant applied during fitting, which is a different thing.
How big should the expansion gap be?
It is set by the manufacturer and usually increases with room size. Use spacers of the specified thickness at every edge, and leave a gap at every fixed object including doorways and pipes.
Do I need underlay?
Yes, unless it is already attached to the boards. On concrete you also need a damp proof membrane or a combined underlay with an integral barrier.
Can I use a steam mop on laminate?
No. Steam forces moisture into the joints and will swell the fibreboard core. It also typically voids the guarantee.
Can laminate go in a bathroom?
It is not the right choice. Standing water at a joint will swell the core permanently. Use a vinyl product instead.
Why has my laminate floor lifted in the middle?
Almost always because it could not expand. Something is pinning it, usually a tight cut at a doorway, a silicone bead at the perimeter, a kitchen unit sitting on it or a threshold screwed through it.
Why are my joints opening up?
Either the joints were never fully closed, or the floor is flexing over a hollow in the subfloor, or the room has dried out excessively, often because of underfloor heating running above the specified limit.
Can I lay laminate over existing tiles?
Usually yes if the tiles are sound, well bonded and flat, with a suitable underlay over them. Loose or cracked tiles must come up.
Can I lay laminate over carpet?
No. Carpet is too soft and compresses unevenly, which flexes the joints.
Which direction should the boards run?
Along the longest wall or in line with the main light source usually looks best. In a corridor, lengthways makes the space feel longer.
How much waste should I allow?
Around ten per cent for a simple room, and more for bays, alcoves or a pattern layout.
Can laminate be used with underfloor heating?
Many products can, within a specified maximum surface temperature and with a low resistance underlay. Check both the flooring and heating instructions, and follow the commissioning sequence.
Will a new floor make my doors catch?
Very possibly. Underlay plus laminate typically adds 10mm to 14mm. Check the clearance before you fit, and never trim a fire door to solve it.
Can laminate be repaired?
A single damaged board in the middle of a floor can be cut out and replaced, but it is fiddly and the replacement rarely matches perfectly. Keep a few spare boards from the original batch.
How long does laminate last?
It depends entirely on the AC rating, the traffic and the cleaning. A correctly specified and correctly cleaned floor in a bedroom will long outlast a bedroom grade floor in a hallway mopped with a steam cleaner.
Flooring and doors from Doors2Floors
Doors2Floors has supplied doors and flooring to homes and businesses across the UK. Our flooring range is Karndean luxury vinyl: 12 flooring products from £14.00 per square metre, including 6 Knight Tile ranges from £33.40 and 5 Da Vinci ranges from £50.06 per square metre. Alongside them we stock over 710 internal doors from £30.84, over 290 internal oak doors from £87.75, 16 architraves, over 30 frames and linings, 15 wall panelling products and over 2,900 door hardware products. Our door ranges include over 500 LPD products, over 250 Deanta products and over 20 clearance doors from £53.00.
Related guides
- What is Karndean flooring?
- Engineered oak flooring guide
- Cleaning and maintaining parquet flooring
- Herringbone flooring inspiration
- How to style grey wood floors
- Conservatory flooring options
- Rug ideas for a living room
- Wall panelling: measure, fit and style it
- A guide to door architraves
- How to measure a door
- How to plane a door
- How to deal with draughty doors
- What it costs to fit an internal door
- Fire doors: what, why and where
- How to stop doors swelling and sticking
- A guide to door finishes
- A guide to internal door materials
Still not sure?
If you are weighing up laminate against luxury vinyl for a particular room, get in touch with our team and tell us the room, the subfloor and whether there is underfloor heating. Those three things decide it, and getting the specification right is far cheaper than lifting a finished floor.
Product counts and prices shown here are correct at the time of writing and are subject to change. Always follow the flooring manufacturer instructions, which take precedence over general guidance, and follow the heating manufacturer instructions where underfloor heating is involved. Damp should be diagnosed by a qualified surveyor or damp specialist, significant subfloor work is best assessed by a qualified flooring specialist, and underfloor and appliance ventilation must never be obstructed. Fire door gaps and permitted alterations form part of a certified assembly, so confirm anything specific with your local building control body or a fire risk assessor.