laminate flooring

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 11:26 am

Anyone ever done it before?

I bought some at Menards today, $0.68 a sq foot, lol.

Its only a 10 year warranty. I dont intend on staying in this apartment for 10 years, so

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 11:54 am

What type did you get? The 12 by 12 squares, or a large sheet?

Either way, you need to make sure your floor is well prepped, and if you can pull up all the base board. It will look way cleaner if you can run it under some.

Oh and if its the 12, by 12, make sure you lay it all out before you start.

For example

Stand in the door way, and lets say the back wall is right in front of you. Well then you want to start your tile there. So measure from the back wall to the wall the door is in.

I doubt its going to be an even number of feet, so we will say its 12ft 10 inches. So you will have 12 full pieces, and 2 five inch pieces.

Now measure from side to side. Lets say its 10 ft 8 inches. So you have 10 full pieces, and 2 4 inch pieces.

Now don't start cutting its time to lay it all out.

The first thing you need is two reference lines. One running from the front to the back of the room, and another running from side to side. Don't measure off the wall for these. I have never tiled a room were the walls were square. So your going to use the 3, 4, 5 rule. Pick you a corner, and make 2 lines as close to square as you can get them. You want the line on the back wall to be 5 inches out, and the line off the side wall to be 4 inches out. Now measure 3 ft out on one line, 4 ft out on the other line, and mark both points. If the lines you put down are square, you will have 5 ft between the two marks. If they aren't square then adjust one so that you have 5 ft between your two marks.

This is going to change your distance from the line to the wall at some point, but thats ok. You will take care of that later.

Now take your two lines, that are square to each other, and draw them out from wall to wall. The point were they connect is the point you will lay your first tile. As long as they are square to each other, the rest of the tile should go down and line up perfectly. Once you get the center of the room done its time to start on the edges.

If you removed the trim this part will be easy. Cut it close, reinstall the trim, and your edges are hidden. If you didn't remove the trim, you will have to measure both sides, and cut it to fit.

Hope that helps. If you have any questions let me know.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 1:18 pm

These are the board/plank type laminates.

I put commercial grade vinyl in my bathroom. Came out rather well :)

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 1:48 pm

Yeah thats a little diffrent. Just make sure you have a good line to start off of and leave a little gap under all your trim for expansion. You don't want any of your edges to tight (around the walls), or it can expand and pop up.

Bwcad1 · Post by **Bwcad1** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:53 pm

Prep and starting in the center will make or brake that job.

cargodz · Post by **cargodz** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:15 pm

So you got the hardwood floor looking kind that are tongue and groove (floating floor kind)?
If so those are really easy to do.
Pull up all your baseboards first and start at one side, then for your next row make sure you stagger the boards by at least 6-8" or more (12-14" is premium), and then just keep going till you get to the other side... the last boards may have to be ripped own for fitment (but hey that's what you've got a table saw for :) )... Put all the trim back and your done.
We did it at my daughter's house for her kitchen/ dining area and living room and that was with my ex-son in law... If he could do it a stupid monkey with a blindfold could do it, so I'm sure you'll have no problems

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:44 pm

might want to look into whisper walk, its a material kinda like a thin layer of foam that goes between the flooring your putting down and the old flooring and keeps it from sqeaking

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:03 pm

Hehe, got that type stuff Terry. Damn 100 Sq ft of foam was $25... ouch.

I got the floor in today with the assistance of my dad. Took the day off work as Im so pissed at it and had to get it done.

Now Im left with 1/4 rounds... I got it all cut up except 1 piece I need. Need to finish off the back door trim, paint... then done done done done...

I have big old radiators in my place. The back one in the kitchen was removed. The nut literally split... So I gotta get that figured out

kevinberry1 · Post by **kevinberry1** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:06 am

Ryan from Ohio wrote:Hehe, got that type stuff Terry. Damn 100 Sq ft of foam was $25... ouch.
I got the floor in today with the assistance of my dad. Took the day off work as Im so pissed at it and had to get it done.
Now Im left with 1/4 rounds... I got it all cut up except 1 piece I need. Need to finish off the back door trim, paint... then done done done done...
I have big old radiators in my place. The back one in the kitchen was removed. The nut literally split... So I gotta get that figured out

That's cool you got it done. If you take any pics I'd like to see how it turned out. I've heard that foam underlayment is an absolute must for laminate to reduce noise, no personal experience though.

cargodz · Post by **cargodz** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:39 am

Believe it or not that underlayment actually cuts down on heating and cooling costs too.