How to Install Glueless Wood Flooring

Laying your own flooring can be a big job for someone who is just getting into do-it-yourself home repair, but there are some simple flooring types that can be put into place without even having to use glue, such as laminate flooring planks. Laminate flooring planks snap together and lay over the top of an existing floor with no need for any other type of fasteners. The unfixed nature of the flooring makes it easy to remove again if you make a mistake or change your mind.

Things You'll Need

• Level
• Self-leveling compound
• Sandpaper
• 1/4-inch spacers
• Plastic flooring underlay
• Laminate flooring planks
• Tape measure
• Saw
• Floor trim
• Wood glue

Instructions

1. Check that the floor is level. You can do this by moving a level around the room and making sure that the level sits flat. Checking the floor every foot or so should be enough to determine that the floor is level. If there are any spaces that dip down beneath the level, fill the dip in the floor with a leveling compound. After the compound dries, sand it down to even up with the floor.

2. Install a plastic underlay. Plastic underlay comes premade with an adhesive strip on the side. Just peel off the backing and stick the underlay to the adjacent strip. Overlap all of your underlay by approximately 1 inch.

3. Place ¼-inch nylon spacers against the walls. Flooring planks should not directly touch the walls. They need room to expand. Leaving 1/4 inch of space is sufficient, and spacers will keep you from accidentally getting too close.

4. Put down the flooring planks. Planks are created with a self-locking feature. Lay the first one, and the next one will slide into the edge of the other. Insert the second piece at a slight angle and push down. The pieces will lock into place. Different flooring planks are locked differently. There will be detailed instructions for the particular type and brand of planks you are using in the packaging.
   Begin installing in one corner of the room and work your way across the room. The next row of flooring planks will lay directly beside the first, and you will continue in that fashion until the floor is completely covered. If you run into any obstacles, one of the best things about flooring planks is that they can be easily cut down with a saw. Measure the width of the space that you need to fill with the plank, measure and mark that width on the plank and trim the plank to the size you need. You can smooth any rough edges with sandpaper.

5. Remove the 1/4-inch spacers after your planks are installed.

6. Cover the gap that is left for plank expansion by adding a flooring trim around the edges of the room. Trim can be attached to the wall and the edge of the flooring with just a little wood glue.

Resources

• Do-It-Yourself flooring