Flooring – Should I install baseboards before or after laminate flooring

Pick up a kit like this from your local hardware store, it will include every thing you need.

Make sure you measure the room and make sure the last row is not going to be a tiny sliver, it is better to start with a thinner first row than get to the end and realize you are going to have a really thin last row.

Also be very careful when tapping the boards together, if you go to far you will chip/crush the board you are butting up to. When tapping the boards together be careful not to let the tapping block slip up, because that too will chip the plank.

Oh and don't forget to remove any baseboards before you start, and then measure again without the base boards.

When buying the underlay material make sure you get some that is made for concrete, you don't want moisture wicking up through the concrete into your new floor.

It's also a good idea to pick up an extra box or two of flooring, it could save you a trip to the store in the middle of the project if you underestimated or damage some of the planks during install. You can always return any unopened boxes when your done.

A miter saw is also very handy.

EDIT:

Be careful when tapping the planks into place, if you don't have weight on the floor or you are not using spacers the whole floor could shift and become crooked (I learned this the hard way). I was about halfway across the room when I realized the planks that I had previously installed were shifted, if I hadn't caught it I would have ended up with a very crooked floor.

Strip flooring can be installed in any direction in any room, however the convention is to run parallel with the longest wall in most situations. Rarely is this type of flooring run perpendicular to walls in a hallway. Not only does it tend to make a hallway look narrower than it actually is, but can cause a lot of waste of material when installing. Don't be afraid of changing directions from the room to the hallway if your using a good wood product that can be cut cleanly on a table or chop saw. You simply need to make a very straight and slightly back angled edge (maybe 2 degrees) so the adjoining 90 degree slats are tight with no open gaps. This is extremely difficult to do with cheap laminate, but not so much with a good wood product.

There are transition pieces available for both styles, but they usually involve a change of floor level like a threshold and are not a good idea to use on open flooring, as they can create a tripping hazard, however they are fine to use in doorways etc. If you really want to have different directions between spaces, consider using a darker color "frame" around the room. This can make a very attractive transition to a large hallway or separate use area in an open design.

Let me add that I am NOT a fan of laminate flooring. Laminate flooring comes in a wide variety of quality levels, from extremely poor to fairly good, but share a common trait. They are always a "picture" of wood on some pressed paper or synthetic backing. They can be miserable to work with, easily damaged and almost impossible to repair after installation. Consider an engineered wood "click lock" instead. Pricing is very close and the engineered products usually are much more stable due to having a solid plywood backing, and somewhat refinish-able with a true hardwood veneer. They also handle the occasional water spill much better than most laminates that usually swell, bubble and blister at the site of water!

Another serious consideration is what type of flooring to use in a large high traffic area vs a smaller room. Laminates are almost always floating and will invariably sound hollow and creak as the temperature changes. For instances, walking across a cold laminate floor first thing in the morning can be like entering a haunted house at a fun park! Seriously investigate the advantages of a better quality engineered product.