How to Install Laminate Lock Tight Flooring

Pry off the trim from the perimeter of the floor, using a pry bar and hammer. Don't break the trim as you remove it. Save it.

Lay out a course of plastic foam underlayment on the floor along the wall where you want to start the flooring. Cut the underlayment to size using a razor knife.

Lay a laminate locking floorboard at one end of the floor, next to the wall. Put spacers between the board and the wall. Link a second board off the end of the first one, snapping them together by the fitted ends.

Repeat laying the rest of the first course of boards end-to-end along the wall, locking them together at the ends. Use a miter saw to cut the last board to size as needed.

Lay the next course of boards alongside the first, locking the boards together along their long edges. Arrange them so the ends don’t line up between the first and second courses. Cut the end board as needed.

Repeat and continue, working your way across the floor course by course. Lay out more plastic foam underlayment as you go.

Cut the final course of boards on a table saw to fit along the final wall, leaving a 1/2-inch space there.

Reinstall the floor trim, using your trim nailer to shoot nails every foot, attaching it to the walls -- not the floor. The trim will hide the spaces by the walls.