For anyone who has laid laminate flooring, I have a question, hoping to draw on your experience.
Background - I just completed one room of my house using a click-style flooring. You hold the board at 30 degrees, fit it, and lay it. Nice and tight seam. The board ends get tapped together. Probably pretty standard stuff.
My one room went pretty well. However, I got flummoxed at the doorways (one bathroom, one hall, one closet). I was laying laminate parallel to the door (the long edge of the boards went across the door opening). The challenge was getting the edges of the laminate hidden under the door jamb and casings on both sides.
I undercut the jamb and casings for the laminate thickness as recommended. So there is no problem - they will slide nicely underneath, and there is tons of room to both slip the piece under and leave clearance for expansion.
I briefly considered one board to span the entire doorway. That didn't seem sensible - how would I get it inserted into the tongue, and slide it under the jamb on both the left and the right at the same time? So I decided two boards, meeting in the middle (note - this didn't work either
- proof that I don't think ahead all that well)
I started by laying the board on my left as I kneeled on the completed floor in the room. It was easy enough to measure and cut the board properly. It was easy to fit the tongue & groove, then tap to the left to get the cut edges to slide under the door jamb. Looked good.
The problem was the board on the right. I had to hold it at 30 degrees to fit the tongue, then slide it right to get under the jamb, and left to get it into the end of the left board I just laid. This didn't work (obviously). I had to remove the casing, the doorstop, and the jamb, then lay the board, tap it left to get it into the other piece, then reinstall the jamb, the doorstop and the casing. It fits, and covers the cuts, and even leaves 1/4" clearance as required - looks good.
But, it doesn't seem right - am I supposed to have to remove all the door trim down to the framing studs to do this properly, or is there a better way? Thanks in advance.