Can you hammer laminate flooring to make it fit?

[Rednadnerb]

Hi all

I am having to take up and replace a water damaged laminate floor in a small L shaped hall with 5 doors leading off it. I have carefully taken up the old laminate intending to use it as a template for the new cuts. The old laminate was laid by a professional from a carpet shop and I am scratching my head as to how he managed to get the ends to go under the architraves without leaving large gaps at the far end where it has been slid into place. There is a trick here that I am missing. Does anyone know how he did it?

Thanks

Brendan.

[charles]

remove architrave, fit flooring and then refit architrave.

[Richard Conway]

You can get a black plastic block which fits along one edge of the board, you then whack the block with a hammer and the piece you're working on will slide along the previous row. There's a steel thingy as well which you can use for the same purpose when the bit you're working on is next to the wall and there's no room to get a hammer in.

Remember to leave a gap around the edges for expansi> Hi all

hall with 5 doors leading off it.

as to how he managed to get the ends to go under the architraves without leaving large gaps at

the far end where it has been slid into place.

[Rednadnerb]

Thanks for the tips. I have fitted laminate before so have the black plastic block and the steel thingy. Neither of them are going to help me with this problem. The fitter didn't remove the architrave when he did it before (or so I've been told). I've always had to fill the gaps that are left with coloured goo that they sell in the sheds. I suspect the fitter used some kind of trick like trimming the groove and using glue but I couldn't see anything obvious.

[Richard Conway]

plastic block and the steel thingy. Neither of them are going to help me with this problem.

I've been told).

they sell in the sheds.

and using glue but I couldn't see anything obvious.

I see - sorry I missed the point about it being at the other end where the gap would be. Can't see away around it myself without remove architrave unless you could somehow get it pushed really far into the gap under the laminate at one end then fit the other end as tight to the bottom of the architrave at the other and somehow shimmy the whole row along so it was half under each architrave. Not sure how you'd do that though. Suction pads on the laminate and a hammer?!

[Chris French]

how has the expansion gap around the skirting been dealt with?

Beading or remove and replace?

You can tap a length of laminate to slide it along, so maybe he did that? Using the plastic block etc.

[Colin Stamp]

Slide the first row under the door frame into its final position and then lay the rest of the floor without any further sliding. When you get to the other end, you'll be able to fit the last row (cut lengthwise) to leave the required 10mm gap, the same as you should have left along all the other walls. Then cover the gap all round with quadrant beads.

You can make a much neater job if you take off the skirtings, fit the floor and then re-fit new skirtings, since you can then use the skirtings to cover the gap and won't need the quadrant bead.

How was it done originally? under skirtings or quadrant bead?

Cheers,

Colin.

[Rednadnerb]

Originally done with quadrant bead along the walls but slid under the architrave and door stop for each of the doors.

[Colin Stamp]

In that case, just do the same again. It should be easy to get the right gap with the rest of the floor already in place. You just need room to hinge the last bit down into position. 10mm should be plenty for that.

Cheers,

Colin.

[Colin Stamp]

One other thought. Are you sure you're fitting the floor the right way round? It's just about possible to fit it the wrong way round, but it'll be really awkward and you'll need a lot of extra room to get the last bit in...

Cheers,

Colin.

[Rednadnerb]

I haven't really explained it very well. But it's a bit like this, if you had a room with a skirting all the way round and a gap under the skirting for the laminate to go under, how would you go about laying the laminate?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its hard, but it can be done.

for the edges at the extreme ends of LONG strips, you need to use two strips butt jointed in the middle and slide each end under and then set the butts together. if the laminate clicks together cut a strip in half etc. and put the cut ends under the skirting.

For edges parallel to the run of the laminate, yiu have to do the edges first and somhoe lay a strip in the middle as teh last bit.

Needless to say its a bitch of a job and removing skirting is normally better.

You should leave pretty much the whole width of the skirting as a gap for expansion so another way is to cut the boards to exactly be one skirting width less than the room, assemble the whole lot as a floating floor under two edges of the skirting, and then slide it back halfway under the two other edges.

[Colin Stamp]

So you're saying there's laminate-sized gaps under the skirtings *and* the water-damaged laminate had quadrant beads?

I'd have thought your options are the same though, whether there's a laminate-sized gap under the skirtings or not:-

If you want to get the neatest look, then take off the skirtings, lay the laminate with 10mm gaps to the walls and then put the skirtings back, overlapping the gap. The original gap under the skirtings, if there is one, will be no good to you as your finished floor effectively needs to be bigger than the "hole" you have to get it through.

Easier and quicker would be to leave the skirting as-is, lay the floor with a gap to the skirting and then cover the gap with new quadrant bead. Not so nice looking, but it sounds like that's what you had originally.

Cheers,

Colin.

[Dave W]

You haven't described "laminate". Is it bendable so that it can be wedged into the space in a convex mound, then the edges pushed down to snap under the skirting and the laminate becomes flat?

[Chris French]

In message , Dave W writes

The OP said laminate flooring - this is typically about 8 mm thick or so - and rigid, and not bendable to any significant degree. Certainly not to do what you describe

[Brian-Gaff]

Yes, if you use the hammer idea, it can leave you with a bulged floor at some point. Very odd to walk on. Brian

[Rednadnerb]

Thank you all. Job done with a combination of all of your tips. Especially useful was the idea of doing one leg of hallway as a floating floor and the n sliding it into it's final position. I also found that sanding the groove d side of the strips made it much easier to work with them and no need for a hammer.

[RJH]

Sanding the groove is the method given for Wickes laminate, then wood glue down. Sounds unlikely, but seems to work - until you need to lift the floor.