Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Correct Way to Measure for Laminate?

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Kohnwood
06-03-07, 05:03 PM
I have the laminate flooring and I'm almost ready to start installing. What is the best way to measure the floor and laminate to know if I need to rip the first row?

In other words, I laid a laminate floor before and the last piece was a very thin strip. I realized I should have ripped the first row so the last row would be a more manageable width.

Thanks in advance!

12thirteen
06-03-07, 05:27 PM
Measure the length of the room, so from the beginning wall to the end wall and divide that number by the width of the laminate plank. So for instance, if the room is 12ft in length (144 inches) and the laminate width is 5" then you would need to use 28.8 rows of planks (144 / 5 = 28.8). To get the .8 figure, you simply multiply the width of the laminate and the .8, so 5 x .8 = 4. So the last plank would be 4" wide but you would also need to subtract the expansion gaps for the start and end wall which would equal 1/2" if you are using a 1/4" gap which would leave the last plank to only be 3.5" wide.