Basic guide to laying laminate flooring

Ok Here is a basic guide on how to fit laminate flooring. First things first clear the room of as much furniture as possible, if you can’t clear it all out of the room then at least move it to one side so as you are able to have a clear area to start from.
To start you need to make sure your floor is level (again, it’s all in the preparation) laying click together laminate can be one of the easiest jobs in the world if you have a level floor. If you have poor condition floor boards which you’ve decided to lay over then you should first lay some 7mm ply board to the area. This will give a stable subfloor for your laminate to rest on. Eliminate squeaky floor boards first the best way to do this is using screws rather than nails as nails may work lose over time causing the return of the squeaky boards. After laying your ply board if you still have level variations use a wood levelling compound to finish the job. If the unlevelled floor is concrete simply use a concrete levelling compound to level the area.
Now you have a nice level area on which to start to lay your laminate boards. Remember when laying the boards to lay the length of the board to follow the length of the room. So if you have a room 20” x 12” the length of the laminate boards should follow the 20”.
You will have to start laying the boards from one side of the room to the other, it is always best to work your way back to the door of the room. You now need to check that the wall you are starting from is square. The best way to check this is to lay boards the length of the room and slide them to meet the wall you are starting with. Then just look down the length of the boards to get an idea of how square they look. (the term square in this context means, not crooked. You do not want to look at your nice laminate floor and see it running at a different angle to the walls of your room and it is possible that one wall in your room is square but the other is not, so you need to compensate for this when you start.
If you are happy that your first row of boards is square you now need to scribe them into the wall. This is a process by which you follow the pattern (shape) of the wall, if the wall curves in places you want your first row of boards to curve with it. You must remember to leave a 5-8mm gap between the edge of the laminate boards and your skirting boards, or wall using spaces every 12” you will be able to tightly fit your boards this will make your job easier when laying the rest of the boards. Now your first row of boards follow the contours and shape of the wall you have scribed them to the rest is easy all you need to do is start with the next row of boards always make sure you don’t have boards joining at the same point leave at least a 12” space.