How to cut a clearance gap around edges of an installed laminate floor

I didn't leave the recommended 1/4" gap between the floor and the sill plate, so now I want to saw it out before installing the base molding. I need cut about nine feet, so using a flush pull saw would be tedious.

I went to Home Depot and Lowe's looking for a small circular saw blade (maybe 4 or 5 inches) that I could stick in an electric drill. Neither store had anything, even in the Dremel section. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Ray

Reply to
Ray K
Loading thread data ...

Is the wall you butted agains drywall? If so, it would be far easier to cut the drywall and dig out the chalk chips.

You could use an "undercut" saw: Here's an example:

formatting link
These are available at the box stores.

Reply to
HeyBub

To clarify, I want to go no more than 1/2" in from the wallboard (the base molding is 3/4" thick). So the gap to the sill plate would be the thickness of the wallboard, plus the gap I cut. This is more than the required 1/4" for the laminate, but the practical realities of the presence of the wallboard must be considered.

Reply to
Ray K

If you have required clearance from the fixed sill plate I'd second the previous suggestion of simply cutting the wallboard just above the floor surface.

--

Reply to
dpb

My followup post clarifies this.

This would work, but very tedious for the 8 or so feet I have to deal with. (But the other 45 feet are properly gapped.) ;-)

I'll follow up on this excellent idea.

formatting link

Another excellent idea. There's a couple of rental places nearby.

Not much to do in this regard. The worst problem is that there is a bit of waviness in the wallboard between some of the studs. I'll take care of that with caulk along the top of the molding.

Thanks for the ideas.

Ray

Reply to
Ray K

If it's gapped on the opposite wall, forget about it. The stuff doesn't have to move left & right, just one or the other.

Reply to
HeyBub

Ray K wrote in news:484c0582$0$17953 $ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:

Whatever you end up using, if the laminate surface contained aluminum oxide, any blade less than carbide will dull very quickly. You may have already learned that when installing the floor.

Reply to
Red Green

Followup to original message:

I spoke to a Pergo support guy today and he suggested what two of you did: removing the bottom inch or two of the wallboard where the gap is missing and rotate that last row up to free it. Worked pretty well, although some of the grooves were damaged but still usable when I reinstall the floor after ripping the last row 1/4" narrower.

I had to shorten the wallboard 1.75" above the laminate so the last planks, which had been ripped down to 3" wide, could clear it. Wider last planks require shortening the wallboard more; for a 7-5/8 plank to clear a 5/8" wallboard, the wallboard must be shortened to 3" above the floor.

Of course the bottom row of sheet rock nails were right in line with where I was going to cut. So I put new screws above them (but still close enough to the floor so the baseboard molding would cover them), then gouged around the nails and pulled them out with a vise-grip.

To shorten the wallboard, I used the Irwin model 20014450 dovetail/jamb saw from Home Depot, about $11. Here's what it looks like:

formatting link
This solved the gap problem along a 9-foot wall inside a closet. I still had a problem for about 22 inches along the ends of three rows of planks. I couldn't use the same trick to remove the planks to shorten them. I finally came out of my coma and remembered the 4.5" angle grinder I bought last week to grind high spots in the concrete floor using a cup grinder. (Most people use that tool with a disc grinder, not a cup grinder.) So I bought a 4.5" disc grinder designed for masonry (I thought that would be a better choice than the one for metal). It did the job, but laminate dulls even a masonry grinder wheel pretty fast. I ran the wheel through a brick, hoping it would "renew" the face. It didn't, but the job is finally done anyway.

As someone pointed out, aluminum oxide finishes will dull blades fast. The Pergo Prestige and American Cottage lines, with their 30-year warranty, do have the oxide finish. I guess that's why the grinder wheel clogged/dulled. Someone else suggested renting undercut saws; neither of the rental places near me had one.

Lessons learned:

  1. Remove the baseboard molding, and align the ends/edges of the laminate planks with the inside of the wallboard, so the clearance to the immovable sill plate will be the thickness of the wallboard, which is well above the recommended 1/4" around the entire perimeter. If you use the spacers the way the manufacturer recommends, there will be a problem of how to remove them. If you just eyeball the spaces, pay particular attention until the first five or so rows are installed. Before then, the floor can shift if you use one of the installation tools, even if you are sitting on it. After six or so rows, the weight of the floor pretty much maintains the previous gaps.

If part of the floor meets an immovable visible edge like a granite strip under a bathroom door, leave the 1/4" gap and fill it with a color coordinated sealant that remains flexible.

  1. Measure your baseboard molding. My is 2.25" high by 11/16" at the base. That set the limits on how much you can shorten wallboard and the maximum gap between the end of a laminate plank and the inside of the wallboard.

  1. Do buy the installation kit. It's absolutely necessary.

Thanks to all for your suggestions/comments.

Ray

Reply to
Ray K

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.