How to Install a Floating Floor

Engineered flooring goes down over a thin foam sheet, which provides cushioning and sound-dampening. The planks glue together to create a floor that "floats" — moves freely — as a unit. You need to leave a 5/16-inch gap between the flooring and the baseboard or wall around the perimeter of the room to allow the floor enough space to expand. In most cases, you can install the flooring without removing existing baseboard, concealing the expansion gap with shoe molding (or quarter-round, which is wider). Or, you can remove the baseboard, lay the flooring, and then reinstall the baseboard on top. Regardless of which method you use, nail the molding to the wall, not the flooring, so the floor can move.

Once the prep work is done (Step 1), decide which direction to lay the flooring. Running the planks parallel with the longest wall usually looks best. Then measure the width of the room (subtract 5/8 inch to account for the expansion gap on both sides) and divide by the width of the flooring you've chosen to calculate how many courses of planks will be needed. Chances are you'll need to rip, or trim lengthwise, the last course to fit. If your calculation results in a final course that's at least 1 ½ inches wide, then the first course should be a full-width plank. But if the last course is narrower, rip the first course down to ensure the last course will have a pleasing width.