Laminate Floor Plank Alignment

Terry Weinheimer | Kevin Weinheimer — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:31:26 +0000

Staggering of Laminate Floor

Laminate flooring manufacturers require their floors to be staggered anywhere from 8 to 12 inches or more. (See manufacturers installation instructions.)

A floating floor that is not staggered will look odd.

A floating floor not staggered properly will compromise its strength and structural stability.

The planks in the photo above have not been staggered. Not only does this look bad, the floor will not perform properly.

Out of Rack Laminate Floor

Planks must be installed tightly together on both the short and long sides.

When the laminate flooring is not installed tightly together a wedge shaped gap known as “Out of Rack” will occur.

Laminate Floor Problems - Solutions - Care - Repair » gap