I have a 3/2 house with all bedrooms carpeted. The house is about 13 years old. The carpet is tan and a starting to look old and dirty. I had it cleand 2 times but I think it is just about done. I would like to install laminate flooring. I'm pretty handy and have built or installed many things in my house. How hard is this job for someone who hasn't done it before? What tools will I need? How do I prepare the flooring. I believe it is bare concrete below. Not sure if I need to put something down before the flooring. Any help would be apprciated.

 

First thing, give some thought to real wood, laminate, even the best simply looks and sounds cheap and considering all the money you will save the additional cost of the wood is a small price to pay for having flooring that you will truly love!

 

First, be sure that your slab is dry. It may look dry, but may still have moisture present. Take a garbage bag and tape it completely sealed flat to the slab and let it sit for a couple days. When you peel the bag off, if there is moisture present you will see some condensation.

You also didn't mention if the slab was at grade or below grade. Many laminates are not approved for below grade installation.

 

It is true that hardwood will look a lot better than laminate but hardwood requires a lot of maintenance. You will have to condition the hardwood once a year or once every two years to keep it look nice (and make it last longer). The hard thing about conditioning the hardwood is the furniture moving. Laminate on the other hand, doesn't require that level of maintenance. In fact, you don't "condition" laminate, just wipe it with clean ...water.
For tools, you need a miter saw, small table saw, tape measure, pencil, quick square, tapping block, spacers. If you are handy, installing the laminate floor should be no problem for you.
If you have concrete slab, you need to check the concrete for leveling. It doesn't have to be absolutely level, but relatively level. You will need to install a moisture barrier on top of the concrete slab. It can be as simple as plastic sheet or it can be heavy duty as vinyl. The goal is to block the moisture from contacting your laminate.

 

Could you explain what you mean by conditioning?

I've had hardwood for 20 years and never done anything other than normal cleaning, I've never heard this term!

 

Hi Marq1,
I might have used the wrong term. It is similar to light waxing with protective coats.

 

Thank you guys for all the replies. I think I am going to test this out in my spare office bedroom. It is basically a square 10x12 room. I'm not sure what below grade means but I live in south florida hurricane country and the house is at least 8" above the outside. I've been through several hurricanes and never came close to flooding.

 

Grade is ground level, below grade means a basement.