What tools do I need to lay laminate flooring?

A tapping block and a pull bar to close the joints, a saw to cut the ends of rows, and expansion spacers to hold the gap at the walls while you lay. Knee pads, gloves and a dust mask go on the same list: laying is done kneeling, and cutting boards makes dust.

Do I need underlay under laminate?

Most floating floors need underlay under them, over the same area as the flooring. Boards with underlay attached need none. The flooring's instructions decide, so check before you buy.

Do I need a damp-proof membrane under laminate?

On a concrete or ground floor, usually: a moisture barrier goes under the underlay unless the underlay has one built in. A suspended timber floor above a ventilated void does not usually need one. The flooring's instructions decide.

How many packs of laminate for a 4 m by 3 m room?

With packs covering 2 m² and 10% extra for cuts, 7 packs. The floor is 12 m², 13.2 m² with the extra, and 7 packs bring 14 m². Both figures are generic examples: use the m² printed on your pack.

What you need to lay laminate flooring: the full list

To lay a click laminate floor in one room you need the flooring in whole packs, underlay unless the boards have it attached, underlay joining tape, expansion spacers, beading or scotia to cover the gap at the walls, a door bar for each doorway, a tapping block, a pull bar and a saw, and knee pads, gloves and a dust mask. On a concrete or ground floor a moisture barrier usually goes under the underlay as well. A 4 m × 3 m room takes 7 packs at the example figures of 2 m² a pack and 10% extra for cuts.

The checklist

These are the lines BuildBatch lists for a click-together floating floor, with the mark each one starts with. “Check first” means it may need buying, and something the list cannot know decides it.

Item	Starts as	Why it is on the list
Laminate, in whole packs	Need	The floor, plus an allowance for cuts and waste
Underlay	Check first	Most floating floors need underlay under them; some boards have it attached
Damp-proof membrane or moisture barrier	Check first on concrete or a ground floor	It usually goes under the underlay there, unless the underlay has one built in
Underlay joining tape	Check first	Seals the joins between underlay strips, and a membrane’s overlaps
Expansion spacers	Need	A floating floor needs an expansion gap at every wall; the spacers hold it while you lay
Beading, scotia or new skirting	Check first	Covers the expansion gap round the room
Threshold or door bar	Need, once the doors are entered	One for each doorway where this floor meets another
Tapping block, pull bar and saw	Need	To close the joints and cut the ends of rows
Knee pads, gloves and a dust mask	Need	Laying is done kneeling; cutting boards makes dust
Flooring adhesive	Not needed	A click-together floating floor is not glued down

What decides how much

Laminate. The floor area, plus 10% for cuts, divided by the m² printed on the pack and rounded up. BuildBatch starts with 2 m² a pack and 10% extra as labelled examples; the figures for your floor replace them. The sum is in how many packs of flooring do I need?
Underlay and membrane. Each covers the same area as the flooring, extra included, and is counted in whole rolls from the m² on its own roll: see how much underlay do I need?
Joining tape. One roll usually does a room; the roll length and the number of joins decide.
Beading or scotia. The length of wall, not counting doorways, divided by the length it is sold in and rounded up. 2.4 m is a common length. None is needed if the skirting comes off and goes back on over the floor. See measuring for skirting, beading and scotia.
Spacers. They hold the gap the flooring’s instructions give, so read the gap before you buy them.

What to check first

Read the flooring’s instructions before you buy anything to go with it. They decide:

what it can go onto: timber boards or chipboard, concrete or screed, or an existing hard floor, and whether the subfloor is flat, dry and sound enough;
whether it needs underlay, and a moisture barrier under it: see underlay and damp-proof membranes;
how long the packs sit in the room before fitting, and at what temperature and conditions;
how wide the expansion gap at the walls must be;
whether it suits underfloor heating: both the flooring and the underlay say;
how dry new concrete has to be: the instructions give the test. Do not guess a drying time.

Then three things about the room and the packs:

The skirting. It either stays where it is, with beading or scotia to cover the gap, or comes off and goes back on over the new floor.
The old floor. Old floor tiles, and the adhesive under them, can contain asbestos. Do not sand or scrape a coating you are not sure about; get advice first.
The packs. Buy all the packs at once, and where the packs show a batch or lot number, check that they match: the colour can vary from one batch to the next.

A membrane is not a cure for a damp floor. If a floor is damp, or you are not sure, find the cause first and get advice.

Worked example

A bedroom 4 m × 3 m on an upper floor, with timber boards under it and a click laminate. No pack has been chosen, so the laminate line uses the generic example figures, 2 m² a pack and 10% extra for cuts. They are not the figures of any product.

Laminate: 12 m² of floor, 13.2 m² with 10% extra, so 7 × 2 m² packs, which is 14 m². About 0.8 m² left over. Need.
Underlay: 13.2 m² to cover, the same area as the flooring. Check first. Say you need it, enter a roll that covers 15 m², and it becomes 1 roll, about 1.8 m² over.
Damp-proof membrane or moisture barrier: Not needed. A suspended timber floor above a ventilated void does not usually need one.
Underlay joining tape: Check first.
Beading, scotia or new skirting: about 14 m of wall. Check first.
Threshold or door bar: Check first, until the doors are entered.
Expansion spacers; tapping block, pull bar and saw; knee pads, gloves and a dust mask: Need.
Flooring adhesive: Not needed.

That is four lines to buy, four to check first and two not needed.

Add the room’s one door, an internal door 762 mm wide, and two lines change. The door bar becomes a count of 1, and the beading becomes about 13.238 m of wall, not counting the doorway.

Put the same room on a concrete ground floor and one more line changes. The membrane becomes Check first, with 13.2 m² to cover: check whether your underlay already includes a moisture barrier and, if it does not, add a separate membrane over the same area.

The whole list for this room, with the working behind each quantity, is in the worked example for laminate in a 3 × 4 m bedroom.

Do it with BuildBatch

Open the flooring calculator, type the room, add the doors, and say what the floor is going onto, whether it is a ground floor and how it is fitted. You get the packs and every other line above, each marked Need, Check first or Not needed, with the reason it is there.

Painting the room as well? The room refresh planner puts the paint and the floor on one list, and painting and a new floor in the same room says which to do first.

What this guide does not cover

How to lay the floor, which the flooring’s instructions give. Glued, nailed or stapled floors, where the adhesive or fixing and its coverage come from the instructions. Carpet and sheet vinyl. Stairs. Levelling or repairing the subfloor. Trimming doors to clear a thicker floor. Finding the cause of damp.