By George Davies Assistant director of marketing, Shaw Industries
A popular product among do-it-yourselfers, glueless laminate can be directly installed over most existing flooring except carpet. In addition, wood flooring glued to concrete must be removed before installing laminate. Here are some things to consider to ensure a successful installation.

1. Acclimation. Cartons of laminate flooring should lay flat and unopened in the room to be installed for 48 hours before installation, and room temperature should be maintained at 60–85 degrees with a relative humidity between 35% and 65%. Acclimation time is not required if the HVAC system has been in operation five days prior to and during installation.

2. Subfloor moisture testing. If installing over concrete, concrete covered with ceramic tile, marble, stone, vinyl tile or linoleum, the floor should be tested for excessive moisture. More assistance on moisture testing can be obtained through the Shaw Information Center Hotline at 800.441.7429.

3. Subfloor preparation. Fill any low spots in the subfloor greater than 1/8-inch in 6 feet with a Portland cement leveling compound. Check this by using a 6-foot straight edge. Remove any high spots by sanding or grinding. Remove any existing floor molding except for the wall baseboards and make sure the floor is swept clean.

4. Underlayments. Use the underlayment appropriate for the floor on which you are installing the laminate (i.e., concrete subfloor, wood subfloor, wood floor, concrete floor). Unroll one width of the underlayment along the longest wall. Always work from left to right.

5. Installation. The width of the first row of planks should be approximately the same width as the last row. This may require cutting the first row plank to a shorter width. Measure across the room (inches) and divide by the width of a plank to see how many full-width planks will be used and which size width will be needed for the last row. The last row should never be less than 2 inches in width.

Use ¼-inch spacers to maintain the proper expansion gap around the entire perimeter of the floor. Quarter round molding will cover this expansion gap. Important: This ¼-inch gap must be maintained around cabinets, pipes, toilet flanges and any other obstacles on the floor.

Working in front of the laminate, begin the installation in the left-hand corner, placing the plank a minimum of ¼-inch from the left wall. Begin by constructing a starting row of planks against the wall and continue with the rest of the installation. Place the final plank face down with the short side (without the locking strip) toward the wall. The remaining expansion space should be at least a minimum of ¼-inch from the wall. Draw a pencil line where the plank is to be cut.