Re: Laminate flooring advice

[Mark Ayliffe]

> We're moving into a new house next week and flooring has become quite

>> a priority. The current owners are taking the carpet from the lounge >> and leaving a rather appealing bare concrete floor for us. > > I take it you meant appalling rather than appealing ;-) > >> But now, after reading articles on this news group, I'm >> beginning to wonder if I should have a go at the installation. > > Go for it. > >> The general concepts I've seen so far are, you need to lay a >> waterprrof membrane and fiber board padding. > > You can get an underlay and AFAIK shouldn't need the board padding if you > have a level concrete floor.

And it will probably do a better job of sound deadening when you walk on it.

> Being a DIY group I'm expecting you all to say I should do it myself, >> but if I am a real novice is this wise on a 20' x 20' lounge ? > > Yes, as an ex-novice I would definitely give it a go! We bought our first > house in March and have gone from "putting up a few shelves" before moving > in to laying laminate flooring in the smallest room, plastering, vinyl > flooring and all manor of minor enhancements. The Collins manual is the > best book I've found. > > Take it slowly, read up about what you are doing and get the right tools. > It's not that hard once you get going. Two other snippets I've learnt the > hard way: > > 1)Practice before starting (hammering in the beading to cover the laminate > expansion gap upstairs without damaging the beading) > > 2)Pick somewhere less obvious to start with (rather than starting with > your bodged piece RIGHT by the door!) > > Finally, if you do get the glue version, wipe the glue off straight away - > or plan on getting some decent glue remover from Screwfix - it doesn't > seem to come off with anything else!

Agree with all that. The difficulty of the job (in this case) is related to the complexity of the "twiddly bits". If you've got 4 radiators in the room, it's not very square and you've got alcoves all over the place in a small room it will be more complicated and a lot slower than a large simple rectangular room. Laying large numbers of uncut boards really is the easy bit. Ditto the underlay.

[JohnMBrebner]

It's not too dificult, I've done several and I would say that the trickiest area is around a door ie. sawing into the architrave and sliding the board under without gaps. Go for quality (I found Richard Burbridge to be easier to fit than the cheaper brands) and do practise runs say with hardboard for awkward bits. Once you get going its easy but do use a mask cos that hdf is nasty stuff, good luck John

[John Snow]

Thanks for all the advice...... a few more questions....

Is it better to use an all in one foam underlay (which seems quiet thin) or to lay a membrane and fiber board ? Does the two layers offer better heat insulation and reduce noise ?

If you do membrane and then fiber board - does the membrane go down first ?

Apart from the tools that seem to be on offer at all laminate retailers what special tools might I need ? I've heard people mention good saws - do I need an electric one ?

Thanks again

J

[Grunff]

I've tried both, and I definitely prefer the membrane + 1/4" fiber board approach. Warmer and quieter.

Depends how much you're doing. The first room I ever did I used a hand saw. Not too much hard work. Last room I did I used my trusty sliding chopsaw, which makes life much easier. I guess it comes down to whether you want a new toy or not.