How to Install a Laminate Floor in the Half Bathroom

Laminate flooring can work well in a half bath.

Half baths are tricky spots for home renovations. While the scale of the project is small, tight spaces make everything more difficult. Laminate flooring is a common choice for bathroom floors and can work well if installed properly. It does not like moisture, so precautions must be taken to prevent water from getting underneath the flooring. The good news, should the worst happen, is that floating laminate floors are some of the easiest to repair.

Things You'll Need

• Screwdriver
• Hammer
• Wrench
• Vapor barrier
• Foam underlayment
• Cardboard
• Utility knife
• Laminate flooring
• Jigsaw
• Circular saw or table saw
• Rubber mallet
• Silicone caulk
• Finish nails
• Toilet flange spacer

Instructions

1. Remove the door from its hinges by tapping a screwdriver up through the bottom of the hinge to drive the pins out.

2. To remove the toilet from its base, turn off the water at the cutoff valve underneath the toilet and siphon out the standing water in the toilet. Loosen the hold down bolts on each side and the nuts to the water supply hoses with a wrench and take the toilet off its flange and carry it out of the bathroom.

3. Remove any carpet or glued down flooring and sweep and mop the floor. Remove the base boards with a flat pry bar and pull the nails out through the back to preserve the face. Lay a plastic sheet of vapor barrier to cover the entire area. Cut around the vanity and toilet flange with a utility knife. Cover the vapor barrier with a layer of foam underlayment. Cut it to size with a utility knife.

4. Start the first row of flooring behind the toilet flange. Cut a piece of cardboard the size of a flooring plank. Measure the area behind toilet and cut the cardboard with a utility knife to fit the space. Space from walls 1/2-inch. Cut it to fit around the toilet flange. Trim as needed for a good fit. Mark the outline of this template onto a floor plank. Cut it out with a jigsaw. Repeat the template process with any work-arounds for the toilet and vanity.

5. Space the flooring 1/2-inch from walls with spacers from your flooring dealer. Place the groove side of the first flooring plank toward the wall. Measure each subsequent piece and cut to fit, maintaining the 1/2-inch spacing from the walls. Tap the boards with a rubber mallet against previous rows to fit the groove over the tongue of the previous row snugly. Continue cutting and placing full width boards as far as possible. Lay the floor up to the last row against the far wall, measure the distance and rip, or cut, pieces to width using a table saw to fit the remaining space, with a 1/2-inch gap to the wall. Lay the last row in place.

6. Caulk around all edges at the floor with 100 percent silicone caulk to seal the floor at its base. Replace the baseboards using finish nails every 12 to 18 inches. Apply a bead of caulk to the bottom edge of the baseboard for added protection. Measure the door and cut a transition molding to fit inside it along the floor edge. Glue this down with construction adhesive.

7. Add a spacer ring (toilet flange spacer) to the toilet flange the same thickness as the floor. Bolt the toilet in place and reconnect the water. Replace the door on its hinges.

References

• Build Direct: How to Install Laminate Flooring
• "Laminate Flooring 1, 2, 3": Benjamin W Allen, Jeff Day; Meredith Books, 1999