Wood Flooring Articles

Laminate flooring isn't particularly expensive, but when coupled with the cost of installation, the price jumps considerably. Many people overcome this cost by choosing to install the flooring themselves rather than paying for installation as part of the laminate flooring total price. If you're considering installing your own laminate flooring, be sure you know what you're getting into.

Do You Know What You're Doing?

Unfortunately, one or two episodes of your favorite decorating show won't tell you everything you need to know about installing flooring. Laminate flooring snaps together, but that doesn't take into account the corners, the angles and the thresholds of the room. Before you even consider buying boxes of flooring, read up about installation and give serious thought to how good you are at following these sorts of procedures.

How Are You At Measuring and Cutting?

A missed measurement or a bad cut can ruin an entire floor. You'll need to cut more than a few piece of flooring as you install them, and if you tend to cut only near the line, not on it, you might be in for a rough time.

Do You Have Time for Details?

Laminate flooring can take hours or days to install if you know what you're doing. If you're learning as you go, plan on a single room taking a weekend or longer. You'll have to get the floor started, make all the necessary cuts and adjustments throughout installation and then paint and affix trim around the baseboards of the house to cover the gap at the edges. You'll also have to install threshold covers. Once those are installed, you'll likely also need to do some touchup painting and spackle and paint the nail holes on the trim.
Is It Worth It?

If you enjoy home improvement projects and are confident you can make your new oak laminate flooring as sharp as it would be if installed by professionals, get started! If your time is already pulled and the thought of installing the floor is more of a headache than a thrill, go ahead and pay for installation. The extra dollar or two per square foot might be worth it for the peace of mind knowing your flooring will look perfect and that you have someone to fix it should there be a problem. One dollar a foot is also a fair price to pay if you hate the idea of doing it yourself.

Is There An Alternative?

There is an alternative to installing yourself of paying the company to install it for you. When you pay a flooring manufacturer or reseller for installation, they will likely outsource the job to local installers. If you can find these installers yourself, you can pay them directly rather than paying a premium which goes to the pocket of the middleman. Look around new neighborhoods or speak to the individuals installing your neighbor's flooring. Friends or family members might have recommendations as might a handyman or other crafty individual in your area.