Hardwood gives a beautiful and traditional feeling, but it’s not always appropriate. These days, if you are finishing a basement “man cave” or income apartment you must do the floors in a material that will withstand the wear of cold, hot, and wet conditions. Luckily, laminate flooring is a wonderful, albeit expensive, alternative to true wood floors and the woodgrain pattern is becoming closer to the real stuff. So, what is laminate flooring? It consists of engineered wooden planks that are covered in a laminate finish, typically with a wood grain finish.
10. Gather your equipment
Laying laminate over linoleum can be a tricky job made easy with the right equipment. Make sure you have the following at hand for a smooth job: pry bar, vacuum cleaner, mop, mild detergent, foam underlayment, flush-cut dovetail saw, utility knife, duct tape, 1/4-inch spacers, glue, rag, tape measure, circular saw, safety goggles, tapping block, hammer, painter’s tape, and a jigsaw.
9. Take extra care when removing the molding
This tip is especially necessary if you want to reinstall the quarter-round after the laminate flooring is complete. Use the pry bar to get in behind the baseboard and tap it in gently with the hammer to ease it away from the wall.
8. Clean all of the debris from the linoleum first
Once you have exposed the area you will be working with—both by moving furniture and appliances and exposing the area where the wall meets the floor—it’s time to clean. Vacuum, scrub and mop the area with a mild detergent and then leave it to dry completely. Debris left under the new floor is bad enough, but moisture will start to deteriorate the foam underlay.
