You want to somewhat have the laminate or vinyl plank close to where it is going to be so you don t cut a plank short or long.
Which side of laminate against wall.
1 prepare the laminate flooring for.
The tongue on laminate flooring is the small flat edge on one side of the board this is the top edge that is going to angle and lock into the bottom side of another board.
Flooring materials including laminates expand and contract with changes in humidity.
The first thing that you want to do is lay out your first few rows of laminate flooring from wall to wall.
The opposite side the bottom side will contain the groove edge which is a larger wider side that contains a lip to hold the boards together when locked.
An expansion gap allows for this movement.
If the wall isn t straight and you start a full course of flooring against it then the whole floor will look crooked.
The solution is to angle cut the lengths of the first and last courses for your laminate floor layout pattern so the floor is straight even if the walls aren t.
Which side is the tongue which the groove and which goes first during installation the tongue is the side that you will want to place against the wall as you start your laminate flooring installation.