Click Laminate Flooring Or Glued? Which Is Best?

Fitting new flooring is a tedious task to tackle alone. So, it’s obvious why easy installation is a high selling point for any type of flooring. Laminate flooring is a popular home solution because installation is so straightforward and it allows even DIY novices to achieve professional results with either its click or glue method. This guide therefore takes a look at the differences in installation systems to help you decide whether click laminate flooring or glue for laminate flooring is better for you.

Related: The Cost of Laminate Flooring

Laminate Flooring Glue

The gluing method obviously uses some kind of adhesive to securely stick your laminate flooring to the subfloor underneath. Although gluing isn’t always necessary, it’s still a widespread installation method.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Using glue for laminate flooring ensures your flooring remains durable. Because your laminate is glued directly to the subfloor, it makes it less likely for the planks to rise from moisture damage.

However, the glue installation method is known to be messy, difficult and more time-consuming than the click method, so only opt for this if you’re willing to put the hours in.

How to Install Laminate Flooring with Glue

Before installing your laminate, it’s essential your subfloor, whether concrete or wood, is clean and dry. Conduct a moisture test to ensure the moisture levels are as low as possible. If your moisture meter reads too high, allow your subfloor time to acclimatise. Concrete or wood subfloors will need roughly 72 hours to dry out. Also during this time, allow your laminate flooring to acclimatize out of its packaging for at least 24 hours.

Browse our Adhesive section to find a suitable laminate flooring glue. After your subfloor is prepared, apply the chosen product directly to your subfloor using a Notched Trowel to create an even layer.

Press each board down firmly as you go along and wipe away the excess adhesive. Finally, nail or glue your beading or skirting around the edges. Ensure you allow the glue to dry for the recommended time stated on the product before walking on your new floor.

Click Laminate Flooring

The click installation method simply involves clicking each piece of laminate together using the tongue and groove laminate flooring. Because no glue is required here, it’s often referred to as the ‘floating floor’ method and can be snapped together over most surfaces.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Between the glue or click method, click lock flooring is often favoured. This is because it’s quicker and easier to install, without the mess that glue can bring. However, if you opt for this method, it’s recommended that you install underlay beforehand for extra insulation, which could increase the installation time slightly. Laminate floors which have been installed without glue also tend to sound more hollow when walked on than floors which are glued down.

How to Install Laminate Flooring with a Click System

Again, allow your click lock flooring to acclimatize out of its packaging for at least 24 hours prior to installation. Then ensure your subfloor is clean and dry. Moisture check does not have to be as thorough is opting for this method, because the layer of underlay will act as a moisture barrier.

See our Laminate Flooring Underlay section to view our collection of correct underlays for click laminate flooring. To install your underlay, place the underlay side by side and tape together securely so no parts overlap. Trim any necessary parts down with a craft knife or scissors and tape the underlay at the seams.

After you've prepared everything, click systems are incredibly easy to install. Simply start by laying the planks from the left-hand corner of the room, clicking each plank into place by the tongue and groove structure.

Related: How to Install Laminate Floors

It’s best to leave a perimeter of roughly 8-10mm around the walls of your room to allow for expansion and space for your floor beading. Finally, finish by installation your beading or skirting either with glue or a hammer and nails.

Our Flooring Calculator

When you browse any type of flooring at Factory Direct Flooring Ltd, each product has a flooring calculator on the page. Simply enter the surface area in either metres or feet squared and our My Project flooring calculator will tell you how many packs you’ll need and how much it will cost you.

By simply measuring your room and entering your dimensions, we will provide you with an instant price which will show on every type of flooring you browse across our website. You can either input the total coverage or your width and length measurements, in meters or feet. You can even save your measurements room by room to make your shopping experience stress-free.

It also offers to add an extra 10% for wastage. While this may cost a little bit more, we highly recommend adding it just in case there are mishaps during the installation process. Enjoy the My Project flooring calculator below:

The Verdict?

Choosing between the glue or click method highly depends on where your confidence lies in your installation abilities. While the glue method boasts durability, it’s probably best for beginners to opt for the click method. Clicking your laminate together will not only save you time but money as well.

Did you opt for the glue or click laminate flooring method? Let us know in the comments!