Ordered my laminate

[Russ]

Well I ordered my laminate today from fastfloors.com. Now I have some more questions.

I tore off the old particle board baseboard trim and am going to buy some 5" tall trim from a local mill (pine I guess) and paint it white. I was told to put the baseboard trim down first (to the floor) and then install the wood laminate. Once done, I was told to put the shoe molding around the edges. I was told to install the laminate say to leave a 3/8" gap between the base molding and the laminate. Is the shoe molding generally wider than 3/8" so that it will cover up the space? And does this all sound correct? My areas were measured at a total of 718 sq ft, so I ordered 750 sq ft to cover for waste. I ordered Mannington M-Loc glueless and the Mannington Aqua barrier. $2.35/sq ft for the M-Loc, $80 per 300sq ft roll of the underlayment. So the order is paint and install the trim, install the laminate, put the shoe mold down (nail it to the base trim, not the floor so it can expand), and seal/caulk everything?

[jim evans]

Yes, the shoe molding I've seen is about 1/2" x 3/4" tall. If you're worried that's cutting it a little close (pun recognized) you could use quarter round instead of shoe molding. Quarter round is 3/4" x

3/4"

jim ___ Have a home upkeep question? Try my help page. It's sort of an alt.home.repair FAQ.

[Carpenter Ant]

just a thought why not install the floor 1st. then the base board trim (this will eliminate the molding)

pine trim? poplar is better (harder and no knots) and paints up real nice.

C.A.

[Steve]

My suggestion comes directly from experience:

Lay the flooring first.

Take advantage of the "extra space" that you have without any baseboard and use that space as your required gap area! You never know for sure when a plank might end up a "gnat's hair" (or more) short of the distance that the baseboard (or shoe moulding) might cover. With the baseboard *not* being in the way, you'll have the extra advantage of being able to knock off the *bottom* of the wallboard where necessary to get your "gap space" should you end up with a plank or two or three that's just a bit on the "long" side.

Then, once all the flooring is laid down, go ahead and replace the baseboard to the new height of the floor. With good fortune, you'll have no "holes" beyond the baseboard face, but if you do, you still have the "option" of covering over the "error" with the extra moulding -- something you might not have if the baseboard goes down before the flooring is laid.

Assuming "good fortune" holds fast, you'll end up with a better-looking end result by having the full height of the baseboard show rather than it being visually "chopped off".

Also, consider that with a router, router table and the proper bits, you can very easily mill your own mouldings -- of whatever thickness you want or need. Considering the linear-foot cost of store-bought moulding, that could well be economically viable!

And Last, you're cutting it too short on the amount of flooring you are buying vs. the given sq-footage. Might as well admit it now than regret it later -- you're gonna make a "goof" in cutting somewhere... probably several goofs. They add up fast. You will also want to have at least one or two cases of unopened flooring left over as a hedge against the unlikely need to replace some pieces over the next 15 or 20 years. Many installation house will recommend over-buying by about 20% -- do what's comfortable for yourself, but *do* overbuy.