Just moved in to a flat that need some serious work doing in the lounge. Planning on laying laminate flooring down to make the room seem bigger, plus it help visually with other plans. The current flooring is what appears to be square rubber maths, that don't want to come up, they also run into the hall area. They do tend to go a bit sticky with a slight heat gun error. Can I just pour some self leveling concrete/other product to create a flat surface for laminting?
The room is cold as it has 2 outside walls, so I'm looking to get some decent underlay to help. What's recommend? Does laying newspaper down help?
As for laying the flooring am I assume that it's best to remove the skirting if possible to give a cleaner finish.
Sould I be doing flooring before wallpapering before skirting..
"Kinesin" wrote | Just moved in to a flat that need some serious work doing in the | lounge. Planning on laying laminate flooring down to make the | room seem bigger, plus it help visually with other plans.
Bear in mind that laminate can be very 'clacky' for your downstairs neighbour (if your flat is not at the bottom of the building) and some councils and feuholders are introducting provisions against it.
| The current flooring is what appears to be square rubber maths, that | don't want to come up, they also run into the hall area. They do tend to | go a bit sticky with a slight heat gun error. Can I just pour some self | leveling concrete/other product to create a flat surface for laminting?
If this is stuck-down studded rubber tiles (very Habitat early 80s), I think they would be an ideal base for laminate.
| The room is cold as it has 2 outside walls, so I'm looking to get some | decent underlay to help. What's recommend? Does laying newspaper down | help?
No. The only 'underlay' for laminate is that very thin stuff sold for the purpose. You cannot lay laminate on top of carpet underlay. Newspaper is a pointless underlay for carpet anyway.
| As for laying the flooring am I assume that it's best to remove the | skirting if possible to give a cleaner finish.
Yes.
| Sould I be doing flooring before wallpapering before skirting..
Only if you want to get wallpaper paste on your new laminate flooring. Good idea to put the flooring in near the end, and certainly after the messy bits.
Apologies - my news server lost the start of this thread, so reply aimed at OP's query... And I may have missed some of the original post.
OK - I did a lam> "Kinesin" wrote
It does add lightness and breadth, especially if you go for a lighter colour.
Very very true.
Possibly a latex levelling compound?? - it must be something that has some flexibility or it will crack.
This is probably fine. Laminate's not fussy as long as the floor is flat and stable and not spongey.
Well, you can combine the green fibre board stuff with a layer of the closed-cell thing foam stuff that's made for the purpose. Put the foam on top of the fibre boards. Remember that the boards need little expansion gaps (1-2mm) too. But as Owain says, carpet underlay is bad. The underlay needs to be resilient and not too compressive or your laminate joints will get knackered and open up.
Definately a big yes! It's difficult to get a precise cut on laminate (see below) unless you are used to doing it. Ripping the skirting off gives you more leeway, and that speeds up laying if you don't need to be a perfectionist about every cut.
Althought, laying laminate makes a *lot* of dust, unless it's convenient to cut outside.
My other tips for beginners is (based on I was a beginner and laid exactly one set of floors) are:
1) Cutting: Jigsaw with a selection of blades. A narrow blade for fiddly wibbly cuts. A deep blade for straight cuts. And a blade that cuts on the push rather than the pull for when you have the line marked on the top. Laminate should be cut with the rip pushing down into the substrate or it can chip. Test various blades - I found a medium/fine metal blade worked well as the surface is hard and also gives a fine cut. You can make the long straigh cuts well with a stiff spineless wood cutting saw tooo, but it is hard work.
2) Knowing how to start. Plan the layout and define one straight line to work to (not necessarily a wall!! Try to avoid having a long edge with
2cm wide board...
3) Doors and frames. I took the doors off and used an electric plane to allow them to clear the now higher floor. You can hire door trimming saws to do it in place too. I also bought an offset saw (2in stiff straight blade with a double bend in the handle - this is invaluable for undercutting door frames - or you could just leave a gap and add cork or sealant.
4) Level: Best check the floor first. I didn't to my cost. Had a depression around the main door to the living room which was only apparant after I laid the boards. Had to slide a few layers of thick card in from the outside to pack it out. A real bodge, though I more or less got away with it.
5) Product. I only used one, Pergo, and I can recommend it if you want to lay glueless one-clik stuff. A friend of mine decided to use the glued type and spend a little more time. His doesn't move at all. Mine was nearly perfect , though in winter, tiny gaps would open up between the boards, then disappear later - quite acceptable to me. Worth spending a bit extra on a good product - it takes a lot of time to lay well and it should last for years. Cheap products can suffer from surface dame more easily which looks awful. Google will find lots of opinions in this group about the merits of various makes.
6) Expansion gaps. Sure you know this: be religious. Always have the manufacturers minimum gap at *all* edges. This stuff does move with heat, and it *will* buckle if it's trapped.
Sorry if you knew all this - as I said, I didn't see the original post. MAybe some of it's useful??
"Kinesin" wrote | What about door frames? as the flooring will carry on into the hall
If you can, saw round them to get enough clearance to take the laminate under them.
| > | Sould I be doing flooring before wallpapering before skirting.. | > Only if you want to get wallpaper paste on your new laminate | > flooring. Good idea to put the flooring in near the end, and | > certainly after the messy bits. | Well painting the skirting is going to the messy bit, so not sure | when to do that..
IMHO painted skirting looks naff against wood (or wood-effect) floor. I'd try and budget for new timber skirting. Otherwise, make good and repaint the old skirting NOT in situ, then stick it back with Sticky Stuff From A Cartridge. If you have to use nails, at least you'll only have to touch up the nail heads in situ.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.