Laminate flooring

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glenwilson

glenwilson

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15 Mar 2012
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Falkirk, United Kingdom
Looking to do the two bedrooms with laminate flooring. I have laid solid pine flooring in the hall, kitchen and bathroom which is fine. Have the tools needed and watched a ton of how to videos so have a good idea on how to get it done.

Was looking at 12mm rather than thinner stuff. Just wondering if anyone has any other advice and what is it like for long term use?
 
glenwilson said:
Looking to do the two bedrooms with laminate flooring. I have laid solid pine flooring in the hall, kitchen and bathroom which is fine. Have the tools needed and watched a ton of how to videos so have a good idea on how to get it done.

Was looking at 12mm rather than thinner stuff. Just wondering if anyone has any other advice and what is it like for long term use?
Click to expand...

we have "click-laminat" here to use. very easy to work with and easy to handle. just look that you have a proper soundproofing insulation beneath the lamintat. is this really laminat? guess its very thick with 12mm. the "normal" one here are between 6-8mm. around 12mm is called "parkett" here. that is having a real wood layer on top. so not sure what your are using lol
 
This one.

www.costco.co.uk

Golden Select Providence (Grey) AC4 Laminate Flooring wit...

Installation Guide Measuring Guide Golden Select Laminate Flooring is produced from the highest quality materials from Germany. AC4 wear rating means this laminate flooring is made to last. A 14mm extra thick plank allows for a solid underfoot feel, by reducing sound transmission and eliminates...
www.costco.co.uk www.costco.co.uk

Says it is German so HAS to be good. :D Can get 8mm stuff cheaper but the floor we have isn't the best so 12mm should help with that.
 
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Same situation i will be in, because of moving in next months...

So we decided a material called vinyl, i am totaly excited from.

it is a bit expensiver then laminat, but not that expensive as parquet.
also it is more tough and water resistant!

the idea is, to use it double time (aprox 20 years) then laminat (aprox 10 years) , or sand parquet in 10 years to use it another 10...

....but as allways, reality and plans .... she said ^^
 
We have carpet in the bedrooms at the moment. Whilst it wasn’t the most expensive it wasn’t cheap either and it hasn’t lasted well at all.

The other factor is getting the carpet installed would mean emptying both bedrooms whilst it is fitted and that isn’t practical. The laminate will allow us to do it in a more practical way. Neither room is high traffic though one will have a PC / modelling bench - less bits lost to the carpet monster! 😆
 
glenwilson said:
We have carpet in the bedrooms at the moment. Whilst it wasn’t the most expensive it wasn’t cheap either and it hasn’t lasted well at all.

The other factor is getting the carpet installed would mean emptying both bedrooms whilst it is fitted and that isn’t practical. The laminate will allow us to do it in a more practical way. Neither room is high traffic though one will have a PC / modelling bench - less bits lost to the carpet monster! 😆
Click to expand...
we have a water bed, and cut a new carpet around it once.... but now we do all new from beginning ^^
 
IceDiverTom said:
Same situation i will be in, because of moving in next months...

So we decided a material called vinyl, i am totaly excited from.

it is a bit expensiver then laminat, but not that expensive as parquet.
also it is more tough and water resistant!

the idea is, to use it double time (aprox 20 years) then laminat (aprox 10 years) , or sand parquet in 10 years to use it another 10...

....but as allways, reality and plans .... she said ^^
Click to expand...

My mum has just had her kitchen floor redone in vinyl as the previous one only lasted about 30 years. The reason she got it replaced was because when she had a fridge and freezer delivered they managed to tear it.
 
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So after a discussion we decided on a light grey wood laminate flooring. Pretty neutral and we can have some rugs on it to add colour. Also, if we changed the wall colour it would probably go with anything new. On Tuesday went to Costco and they had all the colours on display. Mrs said what about another colour but then said stick with what we decided.

So I ordered the colour we decided. She then says Oh so we aren't having the other one then! 🤬

The lesson learnt is from now on I am getting any colour decision in writing and signed before doing anything. That in itself will create some tension but it has to be worth it. 😁

Neither of the rooms are square and there isn't an obvious direction to lay the stuff. In one room laying it across the width will be easier as it is two planks across and just need to cut one in half randomly and doing the door entrance will be easier. Doing it along the length of the room is easier as less cuts but the small entrance to the room will have them just lined up. Asked my wife what she thought and 🤷 was the response.

The other room is square with a bit of an alcove so no real issue for that one.

Thus the saga of the sleepless nights.
 
So finished one room. Took about 9 hours and still have a bit of the edge to do. In one way it was simple to do but despite watching hours of how to videos actually doing it was still a learning process. In this room there were a few places for the door and built-in cupboard that added extra time. Very little waste compared to having carpet laid. Only screwed up one board out of about 55. The other room should be easier as there will be less boards to cut as there are longer runs. Very pleased with the result.

Only tool that would have been great to have wood be a table saw. My mitre saw couldn't cut the boards to length as the blade isn't big enough and cutting along the length of the board was almost impossible with a circular saw. That meant most was done with the jigsaw and that isn't great for long 'straight' cuts.


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Ok, spent yesterday doing the other bedroom. Glad we don't have a swear box otherwise I would be bankrupt. All started off fine. We have built in wardrobes with sliding doors so that was the best place to start as it also was in line with the bedroom's door. That meant getting all the difficult bits out of the way early on. After that it should have been board, board, cut and on to the next row.

On the third and fourth rows one plank would just no lock together. We tried different boards still no luck. It felt like the boards were curved as they would fit one end but not the other. Checked the floor with a spirit level and it was well within tolerance. Ended up having to remove some of the click-in strip on a few of the boards and after that it was pretty simple.

Still, some finishing to do but really pleased with it. Would I do it again? Yes.

Lessons learned.

A table saw or a track saw would have been a big help. If I hadn't got any saws one of those and a jig saw would be worth the cost.

Don't get fingers in the way of the hammer.
 
Little painting trick, when painting around wall switches/sockets, loosen the 2 screws but not all the way out 5-10mm then tap the sw/socket gently to break the seal between it and the old paint, the sw/socket will come away from the wall just enough to paint around it with a brush when cutting in. When painting finished tighten the 2 screws for a perfect finish with no paint on the sw/socket (y)
 
Good advice and I normally do do that. Most of the sockets and switches are the shitty cheap ones that were in the house when we moved in and have since become less than white, a sort off off white with a hint of grey. There are also a lot of single sockets too.

Next project is to replace single sockets with doubles that also include USB charging ports. Thus the slap dash painting around them. May not be in the next few weeks but will be soonish.
 
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