Be Excellent To Each Other

The rental chap suggested I put down a laminate floor in the dining room.

Any suggestions where to get it, how to lay it... I just want a cheapish one..

B&Q were as good as anywhere for the cheap stuff last time I looked, particularly if you rope an elderly relative in to get the 10% discount on Wednesdays. It's pretty easy to lay in a perfectly square room; fiddly bits (e.g. around a fireplace) don't need much skill but quickly become time consuming. Buy a fitting kit so you get one of the spreader-knocker-angle thingies. Consider getting sealant stuff to use between joins and getting splashproof laminate if you think your tenants will spill stuff on it -- my living room laminate has had glasses knocked over loads of times without any ill effects.

Also : knee pads.

Pretty much what the Doc has just said, we did a room last year and got everything from B&Q (probably worth getting some at the weekend as I assume they'll have bank holiday discounts). Get one of the kits that comes with lots of spacer thingies, and the hammery thingy. You can get wooden bits to go around radiator pipes (to cover the massive gap you leave in the floor). We chickened out on removing the skirting boards and bought strips to go round the edge, but I think next time we do a room we'll try taking the skirting boards off. As for how to do it, B&Q also do a dvd for about 2 or 3 quid and I think that told us everything we needed to know.
Let's face it, if Beex's resident DIY expert can do it, you shouldn't have too much trouble.

My first laminate experience was in our tiny bathroom. As a novice, it was hard, but easily doable. Don't buy the ultra cheap shit though, it shrinks.

Doesn't all laminate flooring shrink to a certain extent? All the videos I saw about fitting it said to allow for that...

Which leads me nicely onto the fact that there's loads of videos on YouTube on how to fit flooring. They're all pretty much the same except the presentation so I'd recommend having a look there. I did and now my dining room floor looks ace!

And yes... knee pads.

I've never laid a floor.

Or a woman.