I've been laying some laminate and got to a doorway and got stuck thinking about what I should do with the little difficulty that I've encountered. I cut the doorjambs with a flush cut saw just like they show and is common knowlege to be a thing that you have to do. I also have all of my trim off of the walls and around the door openings. Basically, I have what would amount to a room that had just been drywalled and painted, I thought that this would make for the best looking installation, to hide the edge of the laminate under the orignal baseboard trim without a shoe molding, if possible (and it looks to be with what I'll put down). Now, I've gotten a piece of laminate trimmed to fit in the last row, with an "L" shape on it to extend into the doorway which will but up against the Pergo "Hard Surface Reducer" to finish off the floor to the concrete floor in the closet that adjoins the room. I have then slid it under the door jamb, got it to where it leaves the customary 1/4" gap using the Pergo Spacers (which in my opinion, suck, because they are two piece and the pieces are not flat). Now I go to admire my progress and to check out how the jamb area will look with the casing put up around the doorway. I try a short section of trim out above the floor on the door and then my look probably turned to one of horror. I find that the trim to be used as the door casing will not cover the 1/4" gap used at the edge of the floor, and that's because I'm using the typical "clam shell" or other basic types of molding which have similar dimensions as the clam shell molding. As the trim gets to the side that's thinner, it actually gets thinner than the gap required for a floating floor. I can see that I could just substitute a thicker type of molding, but I tend to like the thinner types. I don't know exactly what the problem is and how to remedy it in the proper way without getting an interference at the floor margins from expansion, if I were to just close the gap tighter. The various forms of instructions from the Manufacturer don't tell all of the tricks (partially because they can't cover every situation, which is well understood by me), and I've heard that sometimes givng comprehensive instructions makes the job look daunting and impedes sales to consumers. I've created a gap of
1/4" between the studs of the rough door opening as well as along the wall. Ok, so, is the typical "Clamshell Molding" not compatible with a floating floor because of the thin dimensions of the trim being smaller than the gap required for the floor, or is there a trick that I've missed in installation here that can allow me to use this trim for the door casing. Will I be required to use a thicker trim on the casings. I"ve got to get a solution here because my wife is getting on me because the floor is not progressing as fast as she wants now. If it were up to her, being ignorant of any type of mechanical skills, it's a simple matter. She'll just stand over me and try to force me to run the floating floor tight up to the wall or just leave the gap created saying "do you think anyone will notice". Yes, I think it will be easily seen, and what's more important, I'd know it's there. The sad thing is that she was one of the first to beat up the former residents that put up a tile floor and did almost the same thing. They left all of the trim and shoe molding in place and either cut a piece of tile to fit up to the shoe molding and grouted a thin edge at the shoe molding, or simply ran a wide band of grout to the shoe molding, whichever was easier, in effect, sinking the shoe molding below level of the tile floor, "encapsulating it". I really need some help here to get me out of trouble with my wife, and so that I can "do it correctly" so that someone doesn't come in or buy the home and talk about the "moron" that did the job.Thanks,
Danny
(by the way, I could take digital pics if someone would need them)