Laminate Flooring Suggestions.....Please

[George2615]

I installed Pergo flooring in my own house several years ago. It was a tongue and groove type that you ran a bead of glue in. I did install a new 1/2" sub floor in mine. 4 years ago I installed snap and lock flooring in a second home I own that one of my sons rents from us. Attached are a few pics of that install. We installed a 1/4" sub floor on top of the existing floor then lay down foam padding then the floor. The laminate floor is a floating floor that moves. Installation instructions say to leave a gap all the way around for expansion. It went down fairly easy. We did the living rm, dining rm, and hallway in one weekend.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Scotty,

I do a fair number of laminate floors every year and have a few thoughts on them. First, they are a floating installation. This means that it is not anchored down in any form. It stays in place by gravity and it's total weight. You have to leave a small gap around the edge so that it doesn't buckle or bind the edges of the boards that are snapped together. I don't remember what that gap is supposed to be, but it's not very much. A quarter inch is plenty. If you leave the baseboards in place, then you need quarter round to cover that gap. I prefer to take off the baseboards and cover up that gap when I put them back on. I do this with tile too.

For brands and price, stick with the name brands. If you heard of them, or if they make other flooring products, you should be fine. Ignore the warrentee's. They will honor them, but usually it's just a replacement piece of flooring. If and when they send it to you, you will still have to replace it yourself. If you never heard of it, if it's Chinese or something weird, avoid it. Sams Club has some that they sell allot of for about a buck a square foot. If you look at it closely, you can see that it's falling apart in the package. Twice I've seen people loading it up in the parking lot to return it. One time I asked the guy about it, and he wasn't happy. He said that it was falling apart on the floor after install, but before anybody had even walked on it.

As for which is better, a good laminate is going to be harder and more durable then a real wood. You can get a floating engineered wood floor with a thin veneer on top for the finish, but it's generally too thin to refinish if you ever had to.

Also be careful of bamboo. It's supposedly the "green" alternative to flooring because it's a grass and grows fast. Unfortunately, it's soft and wears out fast too. They push it on TV all the time, but I don't know anybody who does floors who recommends it. Not even the stores who sell it will recommend it.

You have to have a padding under a floating floor. It moves a very small amount every time you walk on it, so that movement must be absorbed by the padding. There are three basic types of padding to choose from. The cheapest is an open cell type of foam. It's usually white or clear in color. Over time, the cells break down and you end up with just a flat piece of plastic that doesn't do anything. Squeaks and buckling may occur in high traffic areas with this type of padding. I never use this and advice strongly against this type of padding.

Next is a more solid foam type padding. This is pretty good. I lasts a long time and for most applications, it is all that you need. I use this the most often.

The best is a felt like product. It's more fabric like and sort of reminds me of some floor mats. This is for commercial applications, or areas with allot of traffic. If the price is similar, but this type. I've used it a few times and like it, but don't really notice the difference between it and the solid foam type padding.

I start on the wall opposite of the closet. Starting from the left corner and work your way across to the right. The next row should be one third, or two thirds shorter then the first one. Then the third row is another third difference inlength.

I use a 12 inch miter saw to cut them. Get a good blade and cut from the top down. The 12 inch blade is just a tiny bit too small, but so close that it works.

You will also need the end of one of the pieces to use when tapping them together.

If you can, measure the width of the room and figure out who much you will have to cut the last row. If it's going to be an inch or two wide, then you might want to rip the first row to even it out. It's not so much to hide a seam, but to make it a little stronger . Those thin strips like to curl up on you, or not lay flat.

Before you decide on what you want, buy a bunch of samples and put them in the room. Most people who do this, change their minds on what they want. Usually they have an idea based on another place that they saw, but in their house, it's not as nice looking as it was in their memory. I tell clients to look at the samples for at least a week. Sometimes it instant and you know right of what works and will look the best, but sometimes you are just not sure. I do this with tile all the time. The last one was fun because they had already bought the tile before hiring me. It was really ugly tile, but they thought it was nice. I went to Home Depot and bought ten tiles that might have worked with two that I thought were really nice. They had the tile a week before even admitting they were unsure of what they wanted. It was about a month until they changed their minds and bought a different tile.

Eddie

 

[schmism]

i have been putting down the cheepest stuff i could find at lowes in my trailer.

A lamiment snap together floor for $0.80 sqft. its a nice light color, oak look, lays up tight with no micro bevel which i cant stand.

Its thin only about 3/8" with a MDF backing. I did opt for the foam-plastic underlayment to help level out and cushion my uneven floors (reduces the "taping" sound the floor can make if you dont use a cushion)

my first section (in the bathroom) has been down for about a month and holding up fine. We'll see how it does long term.

 

[rockinmywaypa]

I've also been thinking of using this stuff to finish a floor. In my case the floor is raised, it has two steps down to the next level. how would I finish the edge so that there isn't a trip hazard and yet the edge has a finished look.

 

[scott_vt]

Hey Scotty,

I do a fair number of laminate floors every year and have a few thoughts on them. First, they are a floating installation. This means that it is not anchored down in any form. It stays in place by gravity and it's total weight. You have to leave a small gap around the edge so that it doesn't buckle or bind the edges of the boards that are snapped together. I don't remember what that gap is supposed to be, but it's not very much. A quarter inch is plenty. If you leave the baseboards in place, then you need quarter round to cover that gap. I prefer to take off the baseboards and cover up that gap when I put them back on. I do this with tile too.
Eddie

Good Evenin Eddie,
Thankyou and all the others for some helpful suggestions ! Im glad you made a suggestion on the baseboard trim ! I was thinking exactly the same way as you ! I would rather pull that up and then reinstall it a bit higher after I have put the laminate down ! Rather than putting 1/4 round trim down after ! Its a bit more work but I like the idea better !

It will be a bit before I have all the carpeting up, in fact Kathleen came home tonite and Im not sure if she was happy that I started the project or unhappy that the upstairswas a mess !

 

[Bird]

Last year, I hired a local flooring company (pretty big company) to install laminate flooring and probably paid a premium price. The salesman told me what a great warranty they had, but I did not read the fine print in the contract as carefully as I should have. It wasn't long before it developed some squeaks, they sent an inspector, who then sent the same installation crew to replace some of it. Some pieces of the laminate were coming apart, so they replaced quite a bit of it. Another 3 months and the squeaks returned. The same inspector came again, said he was going to contact the manufacturer of the material. Then another inspector came who said he was hired by the manufacturer of the material. Then I heard nothing else. When I called, they'd just say they were waiting for the manufacturer. When I finally filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, the CEO of the flooring company promptly responded to the BBB that she expected to hear from the manufacturer within the next 2 days. She even gave a complaint number that they had sent to the manufacturer and the name of a person they expected to hear from. I called the manufacturer and was told they only dealt with their distributors; won't tell a consumer anything. And the flooring company CEO will not take my calls or return my calls. When I did read the fine print in the contract, the flooring company does not guarantee anything at all. It says the warranty is from the manufacturer of the material, and the manufacturer will not even speak with a consumer. So read the fine print carefully. The BBB asked if I would be willing to submit to binding arbitration and I readily agreed, but never heard anymore from them, and it's been over 6 months now.

The only good thing is that the flooring has not come apart, and after several months, the squeaks seem to be gone.

 

[EddieWalker]

...n on the baseboard trim ! I was thinking exactly the same way as you ! I would rather pull that up and then reinstall it a bit higher after I have put the laminate down ! Rather than putting 1/4 round trim down after ! Its a bit more work but I like the idea better !

Hey Scotty,

It's actually easier to take off the old trim and reinstall it, then it is to install and pain brand new quarter round. Even if you get the quarter round in the right color and don't need to paint it, you will either have to caulk the seam, or live with it. Cutting the quarter round is one of those things that I don't like to do because it looks so bad. I know allot of people do this, but to me, it just jumps out and screams amateur to me.

To get the old baseboards off, be sure to cut the paint with a Sheetrock knife and then work a putty knife into there first. You can usually get it out a little with that before going to your pry bar. Never push the pry bar agains the wall. I will put a hole in the wall above the baseboard. Instead, push it all the way down and pry with the tip at the bottom and away from the wall. Clean off the excess paint with your knife and then it will go back on real fast and easy.

Are you cutting the carpet into strips and rolling them up? For some reason, some people like to take up the entire carpet and then destroy the house trying got get it out without breaking your back. Cut it into strips about three feet wide and roll up each strip. Then it's easy to carry and you won't break anything while going through your house.

Good Luck,
Eddie

 

[2manyrocks]

About how much does a good quality laminate cost per sq ft to buy and roughly how much for labor? SIL is looking at it at the box store, and I have no clue what to tell her.

She wants to replace her carpet with laminate because she has two small dogs inside. Also, she says she is having an allergic reaction to her carpet.

Totally agree to pop the baseboard off instead of messing with quarter round.

 

[scott_vt]

Hey Scotty,



Are you cutting the carpet into strips and rolling them up? For some reason, some people like to take up the entire carpet and then destroy the house trying got get it out without breaking your back. Cut it into strips about three feet wide and roll up each strip. Then it's easy to carry and you won't break anything while going through your house.

Good Luck,
Eddie

Good Evenin Eddie,
Yes I am, I started by cutting 6 ft strips to make it easy to get it out of the bedroom and down to the first floor and out into the garage ! They fit into the pickup easy enough and then to the dump !

George2615,
Very nicely done, and thanks for posting the completed pics for us !

 

[BungeeII]

I've also been thinking of using this stuff to finish a floor. In my case the floor is raised, it has two steps down to the next level. how would I finish the edge so that there isn't a trip hazard and yet the edge has a finished look.

Some laminate floor makers have a "stair nose".