How to Purchase Laminate Flooring
- 1). Measure the room where you intend to install the flooring. Measure length and width, and multiply these 2 numbers. This gives you the square footage. Laminate flooring is sold by square footage. For example, a 10-by-12 foot room equals 120 square feet.
- 2). When looking at laminate flooring in the store, look beyond price. The expression, “You get what you pay for,” holds true when purchasing this type of product. If the flooring is very inexpensive, then it’s unlikely to hold up for more than a couple of years.Good laminate flooring is going to cost around $3 or $4 a square foot at most home improvement centers. In this price range, the laminate will be thick enough to tolerate high traffic.
- 3). Laminate flooring comes in planks, and is considered a floating floor. You don’t need to glue or nail it down. The planks fit together in a tongue and groove fashion. When looking at the various options, take into consideration the width and length of the planks; they do vary from product to product. The width and length does affect the overall look of the floor.
- 4). Take a look at the cartons of the laminate flooring products you may want to purchase. The information you need is on the carton, including the width and length of the planks. You will also see listed the amount of square footage that the box contains. For example, a carton may indicate that the coverage is 18.49 square feet. You need to know this to calculate how many cartons you need for your project.
- 5). Going with the example above, assume you have 120 square feet to cover. Add at least 10% to that for cuts and errors, though 20% is better. At 10%, your total is now 132 square feet. To calculate how many cartons you need, divide the square footage of the space (plus 10%) by the amount of coverage in a single carton: 132 divided by 18.49 equals 7.14. Round up and you need 8 cartons of laminate to cover the flooring in your project.
- 6). You will need a moisture barrier (a kind of plastic film) for your flooring. A moisture barrier will prevent naturally occurring moisture in your sub floor from damaging your laminate flooring. Moisture barrier comes in 120 square foot rolls. For this project, 1 roll would suffice.
- 7). You also need underlayment. Underlayment is nylon spun into sheet form. Underlayment not only protects the laminate, it reduces noise and adds resilience to the floor. It also provides an anchor between the moisture barrier and the planks. Underlayment comes in 50 square foot rolls. You would need 3 rolls for the example given here. 3 rolls covers 150 square feet. 2 rolls would be too little, so you need to round up.
- 8). Before making your final purchase, ask the store associate if you can take home samples of the products that you are interested in. This will ensure you get the right color and style for your home.
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