Today we're going to be talking about an installation
method of laminate flooring called Drop And Lock. Now, as you probably know, there are different
ways to install laminate flooring. Every manufacturer has their own license for
a lock system or a click system so ALWAYS BE SURE TO READ THE INSERT THAT COMES IN THE
BOX with the flooring you purchased before attempting to install any flooring. The one that we're going to talk about today
is Drop & Lock. The two most popular install methods, or click
methods, are "Drop and Lock" and "Angle Angle". We've already done a video on Angle Angle
installation. Today we're going to be demonstrating the
Drop & Lock installation. So let's get started with one of our drop
and lock products. The first thing you'll want to do is put your
spacers all along the wall every 18 inches to two feet or so, and down your side walls
as well. On a Drop and Lock flooring installation,
just as with an Angle Angle, you have two sides to your boards. You have a groove side, which is kind of a
lowered lip, and then you have a tongue side. You install this flooring with the tongue
side against your wall, and your groove side out into your field, out into your install
area. You're going to be up against your spacers
on the side wall, and your spacers on your back wall. There are two common mistakes people often
make when installing Drop & Lock flooring, but they're easy to correct, and then the
rest of your install job should be a breeze. Let's look at the two common mistakes real
quickly. The first - this is your starting wall. This is the groove side of the board. This needs to be out into your field, out
into your room, and the tongue side needs to be up against your starting wall. Often people reverse that. They put the groove against the wall, and
the tongue into the field. Makes everything backwards, very difficult
to install, but very common mistake and very easy to fix, because all you do is you turn
it around. But make sure that lower lip, that groove
side that's out, is facing into your field, and then this tongue side is facing towards
the wall. That's the first common mistake people make. Okay, so we have our first board installed,
laying up against, or sitting up against, the spacers on both sides. To continue out and finish our first row,
all we do is we line up the end joints, and simply place the second board over top of
the first, line up the end joints, make sure everything is tight against the spacers, and
continue all the way to the end of the first row. Now these pieces are not completely locked
together. That's one of the tricks that most people
don't know about the Drop & Lock system. When you put the end joints together, this
seam is not fully installed until you do your next row and this joint is covered. So it takes the next row to fully engage and
fully lock in the row behind it. So we have our first row done all the way
to the end of our wall, and always remember that, with Drop & Lock flooring, just like
with Angle Angle, whatever cuts off over here usually is a good sized piece (and you need
to measure it. It needs to be at least eight inches long)
is usually a good sized piece to come over and start your second row with, because, with
Drop & Lock, just like with Angle Angle, you will want your end joints, or your end seams,
to be a minimum of eight inches apart. So you need to make sure that that first piece
in the second row has a board length that will give you at least an eight inch stagger
between rows. So, to start the second row, the first piece
of the second row goes in at a slight angle. You'll see that it can slide very easily. Slide it all the way down to the end, up against
a spacer, and then rock it into place. If necessary, you can tap the face with the
palm of your hand. Now the second piece in the second row, you
start with the side seam, the long seam. It, too, will slide at a slight angle. You do need to be careful to hold this seam,
this joint, together, because it's not engaged yet. You slide this in all the way over to the
first piece, to where it's basically laying right on top of the end joints, and then you
push that down into place. Again, if necessary, palm of your hand across
the board. Now this is what locks in, like we said before,
the seam in the first row. So just as this wasn't locked in until the
second row came in, this joint is not locked, fully locked together, until the third row
comes in. So you continue that all the way down. The second common mistake people make when
trying to install Drop & Lock flooring is that - you install the long, side seam first. You angle it in, you slide it, you get it
over top of the other end seam, and then you push it down. The common mistake here is that people try
to put in this end joint first, and they try to angle this in, slide it back, and then
somehow rock the piece on the long side. Can't be done. Causes problems. Causes boards to break. Causes locking mechanisms to break. Makes people want to use a tapping block,
or a rubber mallot, on the side seams. Causes this row to come apart, all kinds of
problems when you try to do the end joint first. And the reason people do that is because that's
the common method on Angle Angle installation. On Drop and Lock installation, you must know,
and must remember, you must install the long, side seam first. Bring it over, and drop it on top for the
end seam. Two common mistakes. Very easy to fix. On your third row, just as we've said, your
next row has to come in to lock down your side seams, so when you angle in the long
side seam, all the way down to the spacer, pull back a little with your fingertips, rock
it down. It will fold. Palm of your hand if necessary, and you have
a lock. As you go into your field, and as you go into
your install job, the more rows you add, the more weight the floor will have, and so if
there is a slight bow - you can see how this piece is slightly, maybe an eighth of an inch
off of the surface - as you add weight, that will come down. That is perfectly natural. There is no defect in the board, or anything
like that. The weight of the flooring will hold the floring
down. Now, on your last row (because, as I've said,
the side seams don't lock together until you get the next row in) on the last row, what
will lock in those side seams - there's two things to consider. Number one is the weight of the entire floor. It's one, moving, floating floor, so the weight
will keep it down, and of course your trim pieces. Whatever trim piece - if you've ended the
last row at the end of the room, and there's a wall, and you put a quarter round down,
or there's a transition piece - you're going to carpet, or tile, that transition piece
will provide the locking for the side seams - I'm sorry, the end seams - in your last
row. So that is how we install Drop and Lock flooring.
