Laminate Flooring

[Brett Wustman]

Tomorrow I will be installing that snap together, floating, fake wood, laminate flooring in my house. Does anyone have any advice for me? I have never done this before, and I am a little nervous.



Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!



Brett

 

[Bo Loo]

I had ours professionally installed...so no advice on that. I'm currently in the market to get another room done (222 square feet) and have mostly decided on Pergo Prestige.



http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100637520&N=90401+10000003



It's 10m thick, so it should last real well.



What did you buy?

 

[JohnM LowryJr]

Its not fun! Measure twice or three times and then cut onces. I'm 40 years old and kicked my tailend. Fingers where sore for a week afterwards along with my knees and back! Looks good but the 22 x 24 room fills colder now without any carpet. Had to put down some rugs to help with the furniture to stay still.:wacko: wife:wub:

 

[LaRue Medlin]

READ the directions,, I just started laying the stuff down and had to pull it back up and start over.

 

[Brett Hartwig]

From one Brett to another-



Can't help much with the installation, we also had ours professionally done. I know my limitations. We do like ours alot though. We had 2 layers of ceramic tile that had to be torn up first. Glad I didn't try it, even with a crew of 3 guys, by the time they broke up all the tile, moved it out of the house, then installed the laminate flooring, they had 8 hours in the job. Plus the whole second floor was covered in tile dust that took me a couple hours to get clean.



Brett

 

[Todd Z]

Pick the direction you like, Long ways makes the room look thinner, width makes it look wider...



Leave 1/4 to 1/3 inch space around all the edges for expansion, This stuff does move !!!...



Use a good molding to hide the gap... Don't put the seams too close to gether...



Use a fine tooth blade to cut, and ALWAYS cut from the back side, it will prevent shipping of the cut pieces..



Wear knee pads....



Use a good underlayment with vapor barrior......



If using in a kitchen ma want to consider a joint sealant to prevent water from getting in the cracks if it spills...



PRE drill any nail holes needed....



PATIENCE, PATIENCE !!!!



It lasts long and is a great floor if installed correctly..



ALSO make sure the sub floor is good, if wood check for movement and noise first, FIX ALL issues...



Hope this helps



HERE are the last 2 floors i did... Not too big, but a lot more cutting in smaller areas, and the need to properly trim and transition it..



Todd Z



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[kevinbakon]

I sold flooring for 4 years, and as with any job, I soaked up as much industry knowledge as possible.

The top brands (quality) are Wilsonart, Pergo & Quick-Step.

Wilsonart has the thickest wear layer.

Quick-Step is your most water resistant.

Pergo has a very thick wear layer (second to Wilsonart), but what makes Pergo stand out is the variety of products

Every manufacturer & every product installs a little differently.

Both JMLscoop and Todd are spot on. In addition:

- Leveling/floating the floors is vital for preventing dips and humps.

- Make sure you leave the recommended gap size around the perimeter.

- Always use quarter-round, never put base boards on top

- I would recommend using the manufacturer's trim pieces, but since the quarter-round will receive no wear, you can save some money by buying raw wood and staining it

- Rent a saw to under score the door jams

- Open all boxes and use a little from every box for variance

- Obviously, stagger the boards

I could go on forever, not knowing the manufacturer you chose, here are some installers guides for a few of the manufacturers:

http://www.mairmg.com/wilsonart/homeowner/uploads/ResTapNLockInstall.pdf

http://www.pergo.com/images/pdfs/Install_Essentials.pdf

http://www.hardvidarval.is/gogn/1127755050.pdf

http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/laminate/en/us/article18121.html

http://www.findanyfloor.com/InstallationGuides/InstallingLaminateFlooring.xhtml

http://www.shawfloors.com/Tips-Trends/Laminate-Installation

http://www.mohawk-flooring.com/laminate-flooring/laminate-installation/Mohawk_Laminate_Installation.pdf

 

[scott degroot]

I just got done doing 2 rooms with Pergo and honestly it couldn't have been easier. Make sure that you have the plastic tapper block to hammer the pieces together adn when you do, have a firm grip of the block so that it doesn't slip when hit or else it will chip the board that you are hitting. And the biggest piece of advice that I can give you is to make sure that the floor that you are laying over is absolutely level with no dips or high spots, if there are any fix them now because you will definetely feel it after the floor is put down. I put down about 5 feet on what I thought was a level enough floor adn was just not happy with the results, I ended pulling it up and grinding and filling the whole floor with self leveling concrete, now it is rock solid. Alot of people don't like the Pergo but I am sold on it. For the $ you can't go wrong

 

[Jeff Jolley]

Measure twice

Best to have a framing square, a chop saw and a jig saw

Cut your door jams

Stagger your joints (the ones in the laminate that is)

Prefit and snap each entire run together before joining the floor that is already layed

Use scraps as spacers for the walls and I also used scraps for a tap block

Do not use that cheap a$$ plastic quarter round to trim with, get real wood prime paint and it will look and work much better



I installed about 1000 sq.ft. in our other house and after the first couple runs it was second nature. Make sure you have at least 5% extra for waste and miscuts. You'll have a couple pieces that just don't fit right... not that it will be your fault

 

[Mike Roncarati]

I agree with l1tech, not too hard at all. I did 3 rooms and each one got easier! I kept falling for the same goof at least once on all 3 jobs though. No matter HOW MANY TIMES you measure, it's all for not if you cut the wrong edge of the piece. Just toss it aside if it happens and use it as a shorter piece when possible. Take your time, think it through and you'll be pleased with your results. Good luck!

 

[Jeff Jolley]

Mike I understand your pain, I used those pieces in the closets

 

[Brett Wustman]

Thank you all very much! I am thinking that I will go with the Pergo, I have looked at it a few times at Lowes and I like the look. I'll post an update tomorrow after I am done. Again, thank you all so much for the advice, I printed out the post so I can read it over again tomorrow morning.



Brett

 

[robert broere]

i'll let you know after this weekend.i'm doing a bedroom with dupont.i friend of mine in the business told me that it's the best.

 

[Johnny O]

I did my kitchen through the foyer to the front door ten years ago. Can't add much to what Todd Z said. Measure twice, cut once. Buy a little bit extra. Take your time and don't hurry. I didn't think it was that hard to do.

 

[David Clary]

I installed dupont and just advised my son to use the same the other day. It snaps together and we couldn't be happier. The most noticeable improvement was that it removed the odd smell (in the carpet) from previous home owner. My wife cleans it with a swifter. I have had it down for a couple of years. Still looks new. Purchased from home depot. As with the other posts, measure, measure, measure. Its fast, easy and fun to lay. Good luck!