What to hit laminate flooring with

[Tim Sampson]

Hi

What should I hit glueless laminate flooring with when laying it if I don't want to pay twenty quid for B&Q's 'tradesman's tapping block'?

Thanks Tim

[Grunff]

Make a suitable tapping block out of wood??

[Tim Sampson]

What is suitable? Can I just whack a bit of 2x1 against it?

Cheers Tim

[Andy Jeffries]

An offcut of the laminate flooring, cut the top of the groove off? That way you can damage the tongue side of the offcut without knackering the tongue on your plank.

I paid a lot less than that for a laminate flooring laying kit though.

9 quid including a plastic tapping block.

Andy

[NC]

nope - the thing you wahck it with must be shaped to avoid putting pressure on the 'tongue' that will be sticking out of the plank. The 'proper' ones have little steps in the them. You could mimic one out of wood - or get the £9 set in the last post from B&Q.

[Grunff]

That should do fine.

If you are laying underlay of any sort, it's useful to have a smooth surface for the hammer to slide along. A piece of thin sheet steel is great for this.

[Andy Dingley]

A _white_ rubber mallet for the surface (Axminster or Tilgear)

A hard plastic block for the edges, cut into the right shape. You can either buy this, carve a few from MDF (they'll wear out quickly, but a coating of windowframe wet-rot repair resin helps) or carve one from hard plastic (plastic fake-wood decking, Trespa/Corian, or the stuff that Metpost sell as drivers for their fencepost brackets).

You _must_ have a tool for hitting the edges, or you'll mash things that shouldn't be mashed.

[Roger Mills]

> Cheers,

The tapping block and wedges which come in the kit are fine. What is *less* fine is the pulling bar. In the kit, this is just made out of a strip of mild steel with one end bent down to pull the edge of the flooring, and the other end bent up to hit with a hammer. The problem with this is that it is not rigid enough - and makes it very difficult to get really tight joints in awkward places. A professional pulling bar costs about £15 - but is a much heavier duty affair, with a solid metal block welded on to hit with your hammer - rather than just a turned up bit.

In retrospect, I wish I had bought one of these - rather than just a £9 kit - when I laid my wooden flooring.

Roger

[<nightjar>]

When I put down some laminate flooring, I overcame that problem by assembling it so that I hit it on the groove side.

Colin Bignell

[Alex]

Buy the click lock system from B & Q no banging or mashing required,just clicks together,Having used both the clicklock is much easier,but you will still need a set of wedges to keep it straight and true.

[Tim Sampson]

they didn't have those when I went in there - probably accounts for one of those empty hangers with no label.

I still don't get how the solid block protects anything (it is solid, isn't it?)

Cheers Tim

[Tim Sampson]

Ah, I already have the flooring.

Thanks anyway Tim

[Roger Mills]

Not quite - it has a groove which fits over the tongue of the flooring.

Roger

[Gnube]

And where, pray tell, might you have got it from? I was about to make one, but I got my plate pretty full as it is right now! I can't afford it, but SWMBO can and it's "her" floor when all is said and done! ;O)

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

[Roger Mills]

The heavy duty pulling bars were invariably available from the same outlets which sold the ordinary kits. I'm sure I saw some in B&Q. Otherwise, Wickes or a specialised flooring shop.

Roger