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Hard Flooring
Can you lay new laminate flooring over old laminate flooring?
Hi, I want to lay new laminate but cant be bothered with the mess and stress of taking the old up. Is it poss to just lay it over the old? i know you can tile over tiles, so i thought baybe you can laminate over laminate??
thanks
25 Answers from MyBuilder Flooring Fitters
Best Answer
No it isn't advisable...both floors are floating floors and both will be moving (expanding/contracting differently)...could cause problems, when they start moving against each other.
Tiles dont float.
Also you may have to cut doors, architraves etc down, which then will be too short if you ever decide to change it again.
But it comes up easy...no stress, little mess :)
Answered 26th Nov 2011
There is nothing wrong with putting one panel on another apart from the height. I wouldn't say this is not done properly but it will definitely be a problem with shaving doors etc as you guys said before. I had this once, that customer wanted me to lay 2 layers of panel flooring because he had 2 rooms done by someone before and the level was not right in other rooms. I have used 9mm ply in 2 other rooms. just think about the square meters I had to charge for!! :) not recommended by me personally.
Answered 24th Oct 2013
Probably best to take old up first.If a jobs worth doing its worth doing properly
Answered 24th Nov 2011
You can but be aware that any doors you have might need to be cut smaller, because your raising the floor.
Its better and easier to take old floor up, shouldn't take long and you can dispose of it at your local tip.
Answered 24th Nov 2011
no laminate will expand and retract there will probably blow
Answered 26th Nov 2011
As a professional flooring installer, i say it is always best to go back to the subfloor. I.e. remove the existing floor covering and start again. As a few have said the height would be a factor, but the main thing is expansion....and can you be 100% sure the existing floor has been laid perfectly and is completely sound? Its not worth the risk of something going wrong.
Answered 10th Jul 2014
hi,wood no as it can sweat and buckle , laminate yes as i have done this at least 10 times over the past few years and the only reason against this is the height difference/finishing issues with adjoining flooring [carpets especially] if you use a clic laminate and do have problems u can take up both floors and relay the new one, good luck lance
Answered 24th Nov 2011
Yes you can but there's no point the floor is so easy to take up with no mess you would make moor mess going over it as you would need to shave all doors and loose your skirts
Answered 24th Nov 2011
As with all the other replies, technically the flooring should be lifted this is the correct action to take. However in the past I did do this for a customer at their request and only after explaining the implications. Their sub-floor was uneven I recommended the old flooring be lifted and they should ply the sub floor however as this would add to the cost of the job, they requested I lay the flooring on top of existing flooring at their own risk. I have returned a year later to fit an additional floor in their house and there had been no issues.
Answered 18th May 2019
You should always take the old floor up as it’s a floating floor. Best to do a job right first time
Answered 13th Jan 2018
Take the old floor up, if a so called professional fitter came to mine and said it was OK to put laminate on top of laminate then I would show him the way out immediately
Answered 12th Apr 2018
Always best to uplift (especially Laminate as it can be problematic)and check the subfloor, it doesn’t take long and you can be sure everything is as it should be.
Answered 4th Jan 2018
You can do this as long as the flooring that is down first is well put down saves some mess
Only down fall
Can cause problems if both floors move
Doors needing cut archs needing cut
Going back to the original floor would have big gaps at the door bottoms
Better just keeping yourself right and lifting the floor and starting again
Keeps you right In the long run
Answered 25th Apr 2018
It’s best to take the old flooring up and then it will be done right. If the flooring below moves a lot from the one on top it could cause problems and it’s not a proper job.
Answered 11th Dec 2018
Go back to your subfloor not advisable to lay on top as many have previously said height expansion etc comes into play
Answered 4th Jan 2019
It is not recommended.
Answered 1st Oct 2019
It's not advisable, I would strip it back and start a fresh
Answered 11th Dec 2019
It’s best to take the old laminate flooring up first , it’s doesn’t take long. Laying one of top of the order can be more time consuming when you have to remove all the doors and trim the bottoms.
Answered 19th May 2020
Personally if you would like a professional job I would take the old laminate up, it doesn’t create to much mess disposing of the old. If you kept the old laminate down all you would create is movement in the flooring itself. Also laying on top creates more work as I can imagine you would need the doors shaved etc... I also wouldn’t advise laying on top of old tiles for future projects.
Answered 3rd Dec 2019
I would advise against this, it’s a floating floor and isn’t fixed to anything and where the old stuff is removed leaves a gap for the new floor under the skirting boards. Doesn’t take long to rip out old laminate anyway, plus you’d be cutting out more of the door cases and skirting boards.
Answered 21st Jun 2021
I’d say no, for the amount of time taken to remove old flooring it would makes laying the new flooring easier and prevents any problems with movement and heights
Answered 24th Mar 2022
I would say no I would always suggest removing the old flooring to stop any problems also its a floating floor so you shouldn’t lay on top of the laminate
Answered 6th Apr 2022
It’s not recommended as it’s very little mess to remove and going over the top will cause a bigger step in the door ways
Answered 4th Jul 2022
No i would remove it and start fresh ,could mean cutting doors down and could just cause a hole load of problems .not advised .
Answered 28th Jul 2022
Hi Annette, as a floorlayer of 40+ years, ABSOLUTELY NOT......!!! You may be fine for a while, but expansion, `sweating`, loads of cons, which vastly outweigh the one plus of `can`t be bothered`. If you aren`t able, a cheap labourer will have that up in a few hours. Hope this helps, Chris M-W.
Answered 4th Nov 2022
