How to Install Armstrong Swiftlock Flooring Over Concrete

Installing Armstrong SwiftLock flooring over an existing concrete floor can upgrade and beautify an aging area. Due to it's nature, SwiftLock laminate floors are designed not to be physically attached to the subfloor, and are therefore considered "floating floors." Using wood flooring to update an area can warm a room up, as the color and texture of wood flooring is very different than concrete.

Pry bar
Vapor barrier foam underlayment
Foil tape
Hand saw
1/4-inch spacers
Hammer

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the baseboards from the walls by gently prying them away from the wall with a pry bar. Be careful not to damage the baseboards with the pry bar. Set the baseboards and the nails aside to be replaced later.
- 2
  Roll out strips of vapor barrier foam underlayment on the concrete floor, keeping the edges tight against adjoining walls. Where the strips of underlayment meet one another, seal the seams with foil tape to keep the pieces from slipping away from one another.
- 3
  Lay pieces of flooring across the floor, pushing them together tightly. Measure the space between the last full piece of flooring and the wall. Subtract a 1/2 inch from the total distance and divide the difference by two to determine the width of the outside pieces of flooring.
- 4
  Turn the SwiftLock flooring finished side up and cut it to the width determined in Step 3, using a hand saw. Use these thinner pieces along the walls to avoid having an extremely skinny piece of floor at the edge of the room.
- 5
  Place 1/4-inch spacers along the wall to maintain the expansion gap, needed to allow the flooring planks room to swell and shrink with the temperature changes in the room. Cut the tongue off of the first row of flooring and lay the flooring pieces in place. Lock subsequent pieces of flooring into place by sliding the tongue into the groove on the short side of the plank. Tap each piece of flooring gently with a hammer to secure it.
- 6
  Secure subsequent pieces by sliding the tongue into the groove of the piece of flooring next to it. Continue laying the SwiftLock planks in this manner until all the floor is covered.
- 7
  Cut pieces of flooring near the wall to the proper length if there is not space for an entire plank. Use a hand saw, and cut the plank with the finished side up. Always remember to leave a 1/4-inch gap between the flooring and all walls. Remove the spacers when all the planks have been installed.
- 8
  Reinstall the baseboards by putting them into place. Using a hammer, nail the baseboards to the wall.

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