Laminate Flooring

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I'm thinking of putting in laminate flooring throughout a house I just bought. Currently it has carpet. I have roughly 900 sq ft to do.

My main question is: How hard is this to put in yourself? It's advertised as easy to do yourself, while places that sell it have installation fees that are roughly 3X that of installing carpet. Is that just because it's more time-consuming, or is it more difficult?

My other questions are: Is it more difficult to install if there is already carpet down? I've read about the "floating floor" concept, so it sounds like I'll have to pull up the carpet tacks after I remove the carpet. Is there more to it than that to get a typical floor ready for this stuff, or will I just be able to go?

Is this stuff really a lot better (durability-wise) than carpet? I've heard mixed things about it.

Thanks for any info!