a few laminate floor install questions

mcvane

Hi There.

I'm about to install laminate in a 9x11 bedroom above the porch. This porch is rather cold, as air seeps through especially in the winter.

I pulled the carpet off and can feel cracks at the base of the floor (bottom of the baseboard0 as chilly air is coming in.

1) A Home Depot rep. suggested I use expanding foam (stuffit) to fill the gaps in there.

2) After this, I plan on laying a vapour barrier, to not only prevent moisture, but prevent air from flowing up.

3) Then, I will use underpad to prepare it for the laying of the laminate itself.


Questions:

-does my 3 step process seem to be okay?

-they say I need 1/4" spacers...what exactly are these and in conjunction with this, the bottom of the drywall is maybe 1/2 an inch above the floor board...do I need to cut the bottom of the drywall to push the laminate further beyond the bottom of the drywall? How far should it go

-I've read different things about which direction to lay the laminate. Should I lay it lengthwise to the doorway as I walk in or should it be width wise? I would think that it should be width wise to the doorway that I am walking in from, although some books say it should be parallel to the sunshine coming in from the window...I will lay out my room in an attempted sketch (attached).


Any help/information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

peter1

The 1/4 spacers help to leave expension gaps around the perimeter which are required by all laminate flooring. The actual size of the gaps are manufacturer dependent, the one I installed requires 3/8 gaps.

AtlanticWBConst has explained the expansion gap in detail here: How much does laminate flooring expand or contract

In terms of practicality, you should install the planks lengthwise along the longest wall to minimize cuts/wastage. If the wall is too short, then you have to cut a lot in order to stagger the planks. The instruction I read says that the staggerring need to overlap 16".

Actually I think it depends on what the manufacturers tell you. This is more of an "optical effect". In my case, the width joins are more visible then the length joins, so installing the planks parallel to the light source makes the width joins less prominent.

mcvane

Thank you for your reply.

I understand the expansion characteristics of flooring, however, how do I exactly install/get a spacer? Is it just a piece of thin wood that I should get from the hardware store?

Also, the 1/4" requirement...should that space be left from the drywall or from the wooden stud that is further back (at the base of the floor?).

I guess this applies to my situation as the room is finished, but I am not sure where to put the spacer...

Thanks

AtlanticWBConst.

Hi,
You can purchase manufactured [plastic spacers, However, you can also just cut your own out of wood. Really, anything about 1/4" - 3/8" can be used as a 'spacer' as long as it keeps the flooring planks 1/4" - 3/8" away from the wall/wall area materials ... (especially when you are 'tapping' the planks together on their 'butt end' direction)

Good question. That space should be left from any 'wall material' that is at the same height as your finished laminate flooring height. Whether sheetrock or wood framing member...you want that 'gap' there to seperate the flooring material from the 'wall' to allow for room to expand.

Here is a link that has some illustrations and directions that may help you:

http://qs2006.quick-step.com/install...ring.aspx?id=6

__________________
- Build Well -

peter1

The shop that sells you the laminate flooring should carry installation kits, which typically contain 20 or so spacers, a tapping block, and a pull bar. In my case the kit came free, but it shouldn't cost too much if not free.

The spacers are actually triangular, the idea is to stack two spacers to provide different thickness. But of course you can use anything as long as it meets the required thickness.