You never really give your floors much of a thought, unless they are dirty or degraded, yet flooring is what supports us the whole day. Many options are available, and many more varieties within these options; however, laminate wooden flooring is becoming one of the most popular choices amongst homeowners. It has the warmth and romanticism that is linked to solid wood floors, yet it doesn't have the laborious maintenance regime to go along with it.

Laminate flooring can be installed on most existing floors, such as wooden floors, Novilon, tiles and concrete floors. Wall-to-wall carpets need to be removed, and it is essential that the surface is clean, level, thoroughly dry and even. Installation can either be done by the DIY'er, or by the supplier, who usually offers an installation service. It is also not a time consuming exercise - once the preparation is done, you could be walking into a totally transformed room within a few hours.

The original room with ten year old carpets

Pull up the carpet and remove the gripper rods with a hammer and chisel. Once the carpet is up and out of the room, move on to the underfelt - pull it up, scraping most of the glue remnants off with a chisel. Ensure that the surface beneath is level and clean. All types of concrete floors, light concrete floors or ceramics demand damp insulation. This is also needed even if the damp insulation is integrated with the subfloor construction. Lay the 250-micron builders plastic on the floor, slightly up against the skirting as added water protection. When you lay plastic, make sure that if it overlaps, it is joined with masking tape, again for better water protection.

Usually when laying laminate flooring, you would lay a foam covering over the plastic. With the specific flooring that we used, a foam layer was attached to the bottom of the boards, saving us preparation time and money. If you do need to lay foam, lay it so that it runs in the opposite direction to the floorboards.

1 Firstly, remove the quadrants using a chisel.	2 Pull up the old carpets to expose the flooring beneath.
3 Using the hammer and chisel again, remove the gripper rods from all around the room.	4 Pull up the underfelt, and scrape most of the excess off the raw floor.
5 Lay the plastic, making sure that if it overlaps, it is joined with masking tape for better water protection.	6 Cut strips from the floorboards of around 8-10mm to put around the edges as spacers.
7 With your left-hand, press the floorboard gently down onto the floor, at the same time sliding it into position until you hear a click.	8 Measure and mark the boards that need to be cut, and cut to size with a jigsaw.
9 Carefully measure and cut profiles around doors and cupboards.	10 At the doorway, measure the floorboard to be cut.
11 If done correctly, there will be a seamless transition between the rest of the floor and the doorway.	12 Measure the end trims for the doorway where the laminate flooring will meet the tiles. Cut to size with a jigsaw.
13 Use an acrylic sealant to secure the end trims in place.	14 The final effect of the transition between tiles and laminate flooring.
15 Once the floor is laid, reinstall the quadrants to the skirting.	16 A mixture of beech and white acrylic was used as a gap filler. The excess can be wiped off with a wet cloth.
The completed room ? ready for use right after being installed.

When starting the second row, use the cut piece of board from the previous row to start the next row. This must be at least 30cm. When cutting the boards, use a jigsaw, and start at the aluminium strip. If you would rather used a handsaw, use a fine-toothed variety.

Always ensure that the end joints are staggered when the boards are laid, with a minimum gap of 200mm between the joints. The staggering of the joints ensures that the boards won't lift if any expansion occurs.

Push this piece up against the first row horizontally. Lift the long side and push the floorboard up against the floorboard in the first row, making sure that the long sides come into contact with each other.

Lay the next board in the same manner. When you angle the board down, make sure that the short side is positioned approximately 5mm from the short side of the preceding board (over this board's aluminium moulding). With your left-hand, press the floorboard gently down onto the floor, at the same time sliding it into position until you hear a click. Alternatively, you can interlock the ends by sliding the floorboard into position using your foot.

When you come to the end, place the final floorboard face down and the end piece 6-10mm from the wall. Mark where the floorboard is to be cut. Place the floorboard face down on a work surface and cut to size with a jigsaw, using a floorboard as a guide to make a right-angled cut. Cut the floorboards face up, and start at the aluminium strip. Use a sawing motion that is almost horizontal to the floorboard.

When you have laid three complete rows of floorboards, slide the flooring in towards the wall, leaving a suitable gap of around 6-10mm. Cut strips from the floorboards of around 8-10mm to put around the edges as spacers - remember to remove the spacers when you are finished to allow for expansion. Measure around areas such as the cupboards to get the right profile, and cut this out using your saw.

The last row must be more than 5cm wide. Measure the width of the missing row. Add 6-10mm or more to it and cut off the unneeded part (lengthwise) of the floorboard. Note: It is the lengthwise part that has aluminium moulding that should be cut away.

If the wall is not straight, then the floorboards must be made to follow this contour. Pull the flooring back several centimetres and pick the first row up again. Saw it to fit the contour and place the floorboards back by pushing them at an angle under the floorboards that have already been laid.

Cut the end trims for where the wood joins the tiles or carpet using a jigsaw. There are three types of end trims available, t-joins for when the laminate flooring meets tiles, transition joins, which are slightly sloped for when you install the floor on top of tiles, and end joins for when the laminate flooring meets a sliding door. Use an acrylic sealant to secure the end trims.

Cut a few pieces of carpet, and glue them under your bed or furniture to protect the floor. The feet will not scratch the floor, but dust and dirt that collects on the feet could. The carpet will also make moving the furniture easier.

For the areas around the end trims, when you still need to take into mind the possible expansion, mix beech and white acrylic as a gap filler, wiping off the excess with a wet cloth. If you notice a bubble up of the floorboards, or see them lifting, remove the skirting and cut away a few millimetres. This needs to be done soon after it is discovered, as you haven't left an expansion gap.

Preparation

Care and maintenance
To prolong the life of the laminate floor, it is necessary to take precautions against unnecessary loads on the surface. Furniture and heavy objects should be fitted with felt pads. Always place a doormat of good quality inside any external doors. The ideal indoor climate for wood products is a relative humidity of between 40% and 60% and a temperature of between 19?C and 24?C.

Spillages of water should be wiped off immediately. Use felt/furniture pads under heavy furniture, and protective mats under chairs with hard material wheels. Stubborn stains can be wiped off with a well wrung-out damp cloth. Never use highly concentrated soap solutions on the floor.

For more information on Alloc laminated flooring, contact Wizard Flooring on 031-701-7151 or visit www.wizardflooring.co.za.