If you want the look and feel of a hardwood floor, but not the hassle of a complicated week-long installation process, consider a laminate floor. Most systems consist of engineered plywood planks topped with finished hardwood veneer, which clips together via tongue-and-groove connections and doesn't have to be sanded or stained once installed. Most systems today are ``floating,'' meaning they do not need to be secured to the subfloor. Traffic Master manufactures laminate flooring that makes installation even faster and easier without the need for an additional foam, material or cork buffer between the planks and the subfloor.
Preparation
Your Traffic Master floor, like many other floating floors, can be installed directly over just about any solid surface, including tile, wood, vinyl or cement, with no layer of anything between it. It shouldn't be installed over carpet; if there's carpet, pull it up. Whatever the floor surface, you'll need to remove the floor trim, so you can run the flooring almost to the walls, then re-install the trim to hold down the floor (since it won't be nailed or glued). Remove the trim with a hammer and pry bar, taking care not to break it so you can re-install it later. Make sure the surface area is clean, dry and doesn't have any bulges or loose materials.
Layout
You'll lay your first planks of flooring along the longest wall in the room, but you shouldn't start snapping boards together until you know where the last planks are going to land on the other side of the room. Measure the width of the room and divide that number by the width of a floorboard to figure out how wide the last section is going to be. If it's smaller than half a floorboard wide, split the difference with the first plank, ripping the first boards lengthwise on a table saw. Rip from the grooved side of the board, not the tongue side.
Installation
Set the first section down so that grooved side (or the cut side, if you have ripped it) is facing the wall and positioned about 1/4 inch from it. That gap will allow for the floorboards to expand with moisture. Clip the boards together end to end, cutting the last board on your miter saw to fit. Lay the subsequent planks alongside the first one, snapping them all together at the tongue-and-groove connections. Cut the end pieces as needed on your miter saw, leaving a 1/4-inch gap at the perimeter near the walls. Rip the last planks on your table saw as needed. Re-install the floor trim, nailing it into the walls (not the floor) and sitting it directly on the floorboards so it holds them down.
Tags: traffic, master, laminate, flooring, Traffic Master, boards together, doesn have, floor trim, grooved side, last planks, Most systems, together tongue-and-groove, together tongue-and-groove connections, tongue-and-groove connections
