installing laminate

[CleverNickname]

Freefloating notched stuff isn't too hard, right? Third floor condo, assume subfloor is pretty flat. My living room has bay windows and a fireplace, so it might be a pain. I'd do the living room and see how it goes before I do the two bedrooms. I'm basically seeing prices at home depot around $3-5 per sq ft. Getting it installed seems to be more like $8-10. These numbers consistent with what others have found? I looked into cork, bamboo, engineered and hardwoods, and my place cost doesn't really justify such an outlay. A nice laminate seems the high end standard for my area (in terms of eventual resale chargeback value).

 

[MrPhlegm]

Laminate isn't hard to install, we did one of the kid's rooms and are going to do another. We used Pergo and it worked fine.

One thing though, invest in one of those $99 table saws from Home Depot, we tried cutting it with a skil saw and after we messed up a couple of boards we went and got the table saw and everything was much easier. We got one that came with a stand. And be sure and ask the guy at the tool place what kind of blade to use for laminate flooring and make sure that you have the right kind, cause the table saws don't always come with the blade you need they come with a general purpose blade.

That and buy the install kit, it makes things easier.

 

[EEE]

laminate flooring is a snap! (sorry) it is amazing how fast you can put a floor together that looks great. i used a circular saw for most of the cuts on the 10' x 12' room i did and didn't have a problem, but then i did use a fine-tooth carbide blade. a good jigsaw will do all the work, and really comes in handy for complex cuts around stuff like door casings. also a reversible back-saw is a must for those door-casings or other things that extend to the floor.

 

[Campus Loop(y)]

If you are in Austin and want help, lemme know. I need practice for when I put mine in...and you may get tasked to help me, haha. But seriously, I want to see this done, get the cuts down and get my hands dirty.

 

[CleverNickname]

Early may, laminate installing party at my place. Who is down?

 

[Campus Loop(y)]

*raising hand*

 

[Touchdown_Texas]

I am thinkin of doin the same with our new house next month some time...but I live in Orlando.

Road trip?

 

[Campus Loop(y)]

Hmm, never been to Orlando or the parks, lol.

 

[Horn_Spanker]

Here's a trick I used. To get the pieces to snap together easier, I got a bar of soap and would slide it along the tongued board. It acted as a dry lubricant and was easily cleaned up after the floor was together. It really saved a lot of time.

 

[accuratehorn]

PM me as well, when the date is confirmed. The wife is interested in alternate flooring to carpet, and I would like to help for a day if available.

 

[ths71]

As stated in a previous thread, be sure and go for the high-end padding. I used quiet walk. The special tools I used were the tapping block, an undercut saw for trimming the door jambs and a pull bar used when you are too close to the walls to tap from the side.

 

[CleverNickname]

Here is a timeline. If all goes well, I should close on the condo I am buying by the end of the month. Shortly there after I'm going to rip up the carpet in the living room and assess the floor. It it looks flat, I should begin May 7th or so. I don't have much in the way of tools, but my fiance's father has saws to spare (hopefully a small table saw, etc). Steps you can get in on:
(1) I will probably compare prices at Lowes and Home Depo from now to next week. Possibly look at internet prices, even with heavy shipping it can be cheaper. Any reccomendations from old hands on brand?
(2) Pull up the carpet on April 30th. Generally this is pretty easy, hopefully no suprises. But labor can always help. Also check out floor, might need some levelling cement or even a new lawyer of plywood.
(3) Pick up laminate in the first day or two of May. They say it needs to adjust to the rooms temp and humdidity (pre-expand)
(4) collect the tools prior to and do the install the weekend of the 7th.

Beer will be available. In case of injury, duct tape shall be on hand. This is Enfield/Expo area of Austin.

 

[Tenor]

I just got done doing my house and my dads house. The prep is a big part of the job, just getting the floor ready to put laminate down on can take 2 or 3 hours for a good size room.

Some things you will need :
Table Saw
reversable hand saw.
clear packaging tape
tap block and pull bar
crow bars, one big one small,
hammer,
broom and dustpan,
shop vac
Big Level
Utility knife

Before we started we had a guy that installs laminate for a living come out and give us a few tips on doing things to make the job easier. If you want I can write down some of the things he told us that make it a little easier as well as give it a little bit more of a professional look. Just shoot me a PM or post back on thread.

 

[CleverNickname]

Is the reversable hand saw the thing that lets you undercut your wall a bit? And is the crow bar so that you can remove the molding around the floor? Any and all tips appreciated. This will be my first home, so its all kinda new to me. I have helped remodel a kitchen, but this will be my first floor.

 

[Luke Duke]

Is the reversable hand saw the thing that lets you undercut your wall a bit? yes And is the crow bar so that you can remove the molding around the floor? yes

You should get a Lowe's or Home Depot 10% off coupon. You can find them all over ebay. It will save you a couple of hundred dollard.

Lowe's Coupon

Home Depot Coupon

 

[EEE]

don't pay someone on ebay for a free coupon - you can get one at fatwallet
link

scroll down a bit and there is a link to an autoreply email which will send you the link.

also sam's club has flooring, though not a great selection. costco may as well.

 

[next2naus]

save your $, buy real hardwood. try Palo-Duro Hardwoods. they will even set you up with an installer. they are on of the West's largested distributors, however they help you direct too. they also rep some high end stuff as sole NA Agents.

amazing hand scrapped stuff...and no I sell security and compliance software, not wood.

 

[CleverNickname]

Update: I'm probably only going to be in the condo for 4-5 years. Laminate prices range from $1 to $5. I imagine that if you get the $4 pergo (hopefully find it on sale for closer to $3.40 or so) it would last and last. But since I only hope it looks decent in 5 years (no dog, no kids), then am I right in thinking I could go with the cheaper stuff? Something like the kronotek brand that Lowes sells just less than $2 per sq ft?