As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Laminate is a photographic layer of wood or stone under a tough melamine wear layer, pressed onto a high-density fibreboard (HDF) core. The planks click together on all four sides and the finished floor lies loose on its underlay. That is called a floating floor.
What makes laminate different
Because the core is wood fibre, laminate swells and shrinks a little with humidity. The whole floor moves as one piece, so it must never be pinned down: no nails, no glue, and no heavy built-in furniture on top. Skirting is fixed to the wall, not the floor.
Wear resistance is given as an AC rating. AC3 suits every room in a normal home; AC4 and AC5 are made for heavier traffic and light commercial use.
Key numbers
| Rule | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Acclimatise | 48 hours, boxes unopened and lying flat in the room |
| Expansion gap | 8–10 mm at every wall, pipe and door frame |
| Shortest piece | 30 cm (some brands allow 20 cm) |
| End joint stagger | At least 30 cm between rows |
| Narrowest row | 5 cm, better a third of a plank or more |
| Subfloor flatness | Max 3 mm under a 2 m straightedge |
| Spare to buy | 5% for straight rows, 10–15% for diagonal |
The manufacturer's leaflet in the box always overrides these values. Some floors need a transition profile every 8 to 12 metres, or at every doorway.
Installation in short
- Let the unopened boxes acclimatise in the room for 48 hours.
- Check the subfloor is flat, clean and dry. On concrete, lay a 0.2 mm PE vapour barrier with 20 cm overlaps.
- Roll out underlay edge to edge (skip this if the planks have it attached).
- Undercut the door frames so the planks slide underneath.
- Plan the row widths so the first and last rows are not too narrow. How to plan the first row.
- Start in a corner with the tongue towards the wall, spacers in place. On the first row, the tongue is sawn off.
- Start each new row with the offcut from the end of the previous row, if it is at least 30 cm long.
- Angle each plank into the long side, lower it, and tap the short end closed with a tapping block.
- Lock the last row with a pull bar. Remove spacers and fit skirting.
Laminate and water: standard laminate does not like standing water. For bathrooms, use a product sold as waterproof or choose vinyl plank instead.
Underfloor heating
Most laminate works over water-based underfloor heating if the underlay is approved for it and the floor surface stays below about 27 °C. Check the thermal resistance of floor and underlay together; lower is better.