Replace laminate flooring around back door with.. tile?

[brettnem]

Hello all, I have a lab puppy. She's gone through most of her destructive phases as a pup, but I'm left with some of her damage. Plus some damage from an improperly installed door.

Ok, so here's what we got. The previous owner very poorly installed a pre-hung door in our house. You can see the jamb is all crooked and I'm sure he didn't seal it properly. The dog, was nice enough to show us all the wood rot damage we had there by digging it out, and making quite a mess. At first, we thought it was just the jamb, but it turns out it (somehow) got under the threshold and into the laminate flooring at the door. So the laminate flooring had begun to bubble up and crack. and now I can see various layers into it.. It must be removed.

I personally only like Tile at exterior doors to absorb moisture (especially here in Texas). So I'd like to make a very small tile entry way (this is actually a backdoor which is part of our living room, so asthetic suggestions are welcome) I'm looking to install maybe 6-9 sqft of tile tops. What I'm not sure how to do is:

1. Remove laminate flooring just around door area. Seems like it must be cust straight so a threshold between the tile/laminate can be installed to hide the seam. Don't know what to cut this with. *** It is installed on a slab.
2. Do something clever with the wooden baseboard that adjoined the laminateflooring and the wall. Maybe I don't need to do anything here, maybe new tile will slip nicely underneath?
3. What else?

I'm mostly concerned about how to make a nice even square/rectangular area for the tile without ripping out all of those boards.

Also, I've never installed tile, Do i need to put something over the slab, or install it right on the slab. How do I align the heights?

And yes, I know I need to replace the door, that's part of this project. I can handle that.

Thanks for the help!!

-Brett

[barry]

Once you rip out the door stuff and associated damage, you should get a clearer picture as to what else has to go.

Then make that go. Then work back up to the cosmetics, with durability in mind this time.

Surely a competent local person can consult with you on material best suited to your climate. And help with your technological challenges. :')

IOW, once you get the big stuff right, the details are generally simple.

HTH, J

[brettnem]

Perhaps my original question wasn't very clear

I'm trying to figure out how to rip out the laminate flooring in just the area I want to place tile. The entire room is laminate flooring all the way up to the door. I don't wan to tear up whole boards because of the stagered pattern it'll go pretty far into the room.. So I need to cut it somehow , but there is slab underneath.

Ideas?

Thanks!

-Brett

[Keith Williams]

A circular saw with the dept set to the thickness (or a *little* less) of the laminate should work. It'll get "interesting" by the walls but a hand saw should work for the last few inches, though tiring. I have a Makita 3-3/8" cordless circular saw that's very good for such work.

[brettnem]

Keith, Fantastic. Just what I was looking for.. I thought something like this would work. Any idea how I tell the thickness? Is something typical for laminate?

So this door is in a corner. how far out should the tile extend? The jamb is about 1 ft away from the corner wall.. Should the tile go into the corner and along the wall? also how far into the room should the tile go? a nice square shaped area? Should it extend past the other door jamb/trim? Does it matter These are asthetic questions, I know.. But want to know what I can do to maintain the asthetic appeal and wondering if anyone has suggestions.

I'll be doing this work myself. I'm pretty handy, but I'm not sure how it's supposed to look to look good.. if that makes sense..

Thanks, Brett

[Keith Williams]

Start in the middle of the hunk that's to be torn up and adjust the depth of the saw until you barely cut through the laminate. There should be some sort of a pad between the flooring and subfloor, assuming it's a floating floor. You should be able to see this when you cut through to it. You can then cut a piece out and use it to make a more accurate depth gage.

That's what I'd do. A small sliver along the wall might not work too well (again assuming the laminate flooring is "floating").

What's the purpose of this tiled area? I'd want it balanced with the door. This may not mean the door is centered on the tile though, depending on the room. Centering the door in the tile is a good starting place though. You might take a piece of drop cloth (cloth anyway, so it doesn't scratch the flooring) and lay out the tile on top of the current flooring to see how it looks. If it's an area for muddy shoes or such it has to be at least deep enough to be able to take 'em off easily.

BTDT.