Laminate installation

[Vic]

Hi Group,

Got a question about installing laminate. I'll be installing glueless laminate in a small bedroom which has a closet. I want to continue the laminate into the closet. I intend to cut away the door jamb molding and don't expect a problem with that and I understand that I may need to cut away the locking lip from the laminate in the doorway and glue those pieces together.

In this room the laminate will have to run parallel with the closet door frame. Can anyone give me any tips as to how to make the work around the door jamb as painless as possible? My alternative will be to install a transition piece in the closet doorway even though the same material will be in the closet.

Thanks, Vic

[HeyBub]

Okay.

Huh? I can't imagine a case where gluing laminate pieces together is appropriate. Further, the locking edge will be hidden beneath the door jamb but part will be available for hooking the continuation piece inside the closet.

1. Take off the baseboards - fit the laminate under. This is a good excuse to clean them up and repaint.
2. You can make GOOD use of a cheap table saw (HD has a Ryobi for , B&D has a cheap model also).
3. To cut the door jamb molding, get a Harbor Freight Multifunction tool, or a hand saw made for the purpose.
4. You can make good use of this "laminate floor ratchet clamp." No matter how much cussing and beating on the thing with a rubber hammer, there will be some planks that just refuse to click together. It's really easier than your think it might be and looks swell when you're done.

[Red Green]

Vic wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Not sure I understand exactly what you are getting at but I've run it in into doorways both length and width-wise.

Use a piece of scrap laminate. Lay it against where you want to undercut the doorway trim and cut with a dovetail/jamb hand saw. This one is nice in that the blade easily reverses on a center pivot for left or right cutting.

If pieces don't just fall out, just knock out with some tool you have. Pcs of laminate can be locked in to what's already down then slid under things by tapping on it's end. Butt a pc of scrap againt the end of the pc your install and tap it as not to damage the finished pc. There is also a laminate pull bar tool for for this.

50% or more of all this stuff is just improvising.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Or a miter saw since a lot of cross cuts are needed. In either case, use a carbide tipped blade. It will need sharpening when the job is done. Laminate is tough on blades.

[Vic]

Thanks for the links and advice. I'm feeling pretty confident that I can do a pretty good job now.

Regards, Vic

[HeyBub]

Yeah, I tried to do a room with a miter saw. It worked well enough, but, damnit, there WERE planks that had to be ripped! I soldiered on with the miter saw and taking planks to the garage where the radial arm saw was located. Got it done.

For the next, much bigger, room, I bought the cheap table saw and used it for both trimming and ripping. Much more satisfactory.