How to Install Laminate Flooring Around Doors

If you’re planning to install laminate flooring in your home, you’ll inevitably need to deal with doorways. Whether you’re rejuvenating your floors in one room or your entire house, installing laminate flooring around exterior and interior doorways requires a few extra steps. Here’s a handy guide on laminate floor installation to help you deal with those tricky doorway areas.

Before you install your laminate flooring of choice, you’ll first want to trim your existing door jamb to make room for your new floor. If you’re removing old flooring, the door jamb may already have enough clearance for your new laminate. If not, you’ll need an undercut saw to trim your door jamb neatly and accurately.

First, butt a piece of laminate against the bottom of the door jamb and draw a line where the top of the laminate meets the door jamb. This line will be your cut mark. Using the undercut saw and a scrap piece of laminate for backing, cut the door jamb and adjoining trim away. If your new flooring doesn’t come with pre-installed underlayment, make sure you take the underlayment thickness into account when measuring your cut.

Once you trim the door jamb to the proper clearance, you’ll want to measure and mark the piece or pieces of laminate going through the threshold. If your flooring runs parallel with the door, you’ll likely have only one piece of laminate to trim.

Using a framing square, measure the depth of your door jamb by sliding the square under the newly cut gap until the tool hits the door frame or stud. Measure on the inner jamb as well as both sides of the door where the trim is located. Transfer these measurements to your laminate. If your laminate runs perpendicular to the door, you’ll have multiple pieces to measure and mark.