How to Lay Floating Tongue and Groove Flooring
- 1). Use a hammer and pry bar to remove the floor trim from around the perimeter of the room. Be careful not to break it. Set it aside.
- 2). Lay out a sheet of moisture barrier along the side of the room where you want to start, rolling it out along the length of the room. Cut it to fit with a razor knife.
- 3). Set a floorboard at one end of the room, with the grooved side toward the wall. Set spacers between the board and the wall. Connect the second board to the end of the first one, snapping them together by the fittings on the edges.
- 4). Lay the rest of the boards of the first course along the wall, locking them at the ends by their tongue and groove fittings. Cut the final board of the course on a miter saw to fit at the end.
- 5). Set the next course in place by snapping the boards alongside the long edges of the boards in the first course by their tongue and groove fittings. Arrange the boards so the ends don't line up between courses.
- 6). Work your way across the room, course by course, continuing to arrange the boards so they don't line up between courses. Roll out more moisture barrier as needed.
- 7). Cut the boards for the last course length-wise with a table saw so they go along the far wall, leaving a 3/8-inch gap there.
- 8). Reinstall the floor trim with trim nails and the hammer, hiding the spaces.
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