Trafficmaster Allure ULTRA! Planks

tev9999 · 10-28-2012, 11:39 AM

I picked up enough to do the 100 square foot bedroom and layed out a box to get a better idea of how a large area would look. Looks great! (Cinnamon color).

The old hardwood has some gaps between boards - maybe 1/16 of an inch in a few places. Seems to be quite flat though. Should I fill the gaps in the old hardwood before putting the floor down? If so, with what product?

If I'm going to end up laying 700 square feet of this stuff, would I be better off setting up a miter saw with a vinyl blade to cut them rather than using the scoring technique? I assume a scroll saw is a good tool for doing the intricate cuts.

I'm also debating about all new molding instead of just adding quarter round. There is 60 years of paint built up on the wall, so removing and reusing the old stuff would probably be difficult.

Guess I should get started on the painting. Thanks for the advice so far.

zakany · 10-29-2012, 09:40 AM

I can't imagine that 1/16-in gaps would cause any problems. You get that kind of gap between subfloor boards.

tev9999 · 10-29-2012, 09:20 PM

I'm starting to rip up the living room carpet and have found that the area my aussie has marked several times has urine stains into the old hardwood. I've tried to clean it with the rug doctor as needed, but I think that often just helps flood stuff deeper.

Should I paint a layer of Killz over the affected area before laying the Allure?

zakany · 10-30-2012, 09:08 AM

I don't think you'd need to paint it. Allure is solid vinyl. It doesn't care if you lay it in a puddle.

What would matter is trapping moisture and rotting the wood over time. I assume that it's dry now, but what I would do is spritz the area with an enzyme urine cleaner and let it dry as a bit of added insurance against rot.

For your other questions - I cut mine with a box cutter. I had to press very hard (careful!) and make a couple swipes before breaking - and that wasn't the best or easiest method. Your idea of using a scroll saw (and a throw-away blade) is a good one.

What I do with my base molding is remove it, sand it down, fill in any nail holes, refinish it, and reinstall. That is a stupid amount of work. This may be a time to treat yourself to some new base molding.

The Allure Ultra really doesn't look bad when installed. It's obviously not wood, but it isn't affected by liquids and has enough surface texture to not be slippery. It has only a few, repeating patterns though so large areas would look particularly fake. I did my son's room in cherry and it looks nice against the maple furniture.

Filerunner · 11-11-2012, 09:45 AM

I'm going to be installing Trafficmaster Allure ULTRA in a 14 x 26 room on a cement slab. A pool table will be setting on it in the middle of the room and I am putting a 500LB gun safe in one corner. My question is, will the safe and the pool table cause problems with the expanding or should I put the safe in first and go around it with the flooring?

zakany · 11-13-2012, 02:26 PM

I wouldn't think that a 500-pound safe would keep it from moving, although it may have a preference to expand in another direction.

You might get permanent dents due to the safe, though.

tev9999 · 11-13-2012, 06:44 PM

I would be concerned that if the weight was concentrated at a point near a seam it could cause buckling. Does the safe have feet that will concentrate the weight in a few square inches? If so you might want to set it on some thick plywood to help spread the load over a larger area of floor.

Filerunner · 11-14-2012, 09:49 PM

The safe is flat, no feet. I'm not too much worried about indentations but I don't want it to buckle. Thanks for the replies.

tev9999 · 12-31-2012, 09:12 AM

I finally got started putting down my floor this weekend. Got about 450 of my 700 square feet down in the living room and master bedroom. Two smaller bedrooms to go. Some observations from a flooring novice:

Tools used:
Utility Knife
Saber Saw w/ wood blade
8" Miter Square
48" Steel Ruler
Rubber mallet
Knee pads
15" Roughneck Utility Bar (for removing staples)
Small crowbar
Miscellaneous shims and screws

I am going over existing hardwood. I removed all the carpet, pad and staples then just vacuumed and wet mopped.

Staples are my nemesis. When you think you got rid of all of them, one reappears under the end of the plank you just locked down, so you must remove it and it knocks four others loose.

Clean really well before you begin.

Durham's Water Putty was a cheap and good fix for the low area where a wall was removed. I also used it to fill some other spots where I felt there was too big of a gap or holes from running wires and such.

The score and snap method is the best way to make straight cuts. I found you can cut it with a power miter saw, but it actually takes longer and makes a big mess. I used a $3 eight inch miter square from Harbor Freight as a guide. A 48" steel/aluminum ruler comes in handy for making horizontal cuts. It can be tough to keep everything straight while cutting since it is somewhat slippery.

A saber saw is the best way to make curved cuts or notches around door jams. A regular wood blade works fine.

It took forever to get my first few courses down. The wall I started on was not straight. I used the existing hardwood lines as a guide to make sure the floor was straight, but I did not do a great job shimming it well and things kept moving around on me.

In hindsight I would have been better off putting down a single course about 10 inches from the wall. Once straight, use scrap pieces of Allure screwed to the floor to prevent movement towards the wall. After the rest of the floor is layed and there is plenty of weight, remove the scraps and install backwards towards the wall. It would also help plan out room to room transitions.

Get good kneepads - I didn't and I'm paying for it today. Gloves would also have been a good idea as I spent two days scraping my knuckles on the floor, but the clunky leather gloves I had around were too bulky.

Use a scrap about 2x2 to tap in planks with a rubber mallet. I got lazy a couple times and just used the mallet and damaged the locking tab slightly.

Use a small crowbar/nail puller to drop and lock strips along walls.

I'm doing great on scrap with only about 5% through 23 boxes. I have many 48x4" planks that hopefully will be recovered when I hit the back wall of the house. Only had one damaged plank with a bad corner, which could have been from my handling. The boxes are extremely slick and slide around like crazy. Make sure you secure them well when transporting or you may end up with 1000 pounds of floor flying into the back of your SUV seat if you stop hard.

juryduty · 01-22-2013, 12:44 AM

Hi folks, I just laid down some Allure Ultra in my kitchen (Vintage Oak Cinnamon). After finishing the job last night, this morning I woke up and found it coming apart at the #$@ long-side seams. I SWORE I pushed and pounded these things until they were locked tightly together.

So now I have to pop it all up and try again. Question is, does this stuff handle a "re-install" pretty well or should I return the 12 boxes to Home Depot?

Thanks in advance!

rusty baker · 01-22-2013, 09:40 AM

Return it and buy something else. If they will take it back. This stuff has a BAD history.

SuperJETT · 01-22-2013, 10:38 AM

It's strange to hear complaints about it. I did our kitchen with Allure Ultra (click, not stick), around 250+ sq ft back in September and haven't had a single piece lift anywhere. We like it, though it's also a temporary solution until we remodel the entire kitchen in a year or two.

rusty baker · 01-22-2013, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperJETT

It's strange to hear complaints about it. I did our kitchen with Allure Ultra (click, not stick), around 250+ sq ft back in September and haven't had a single piece lift anywhere. We like it, though it's also a temporary solution until we remodel the entire kitchen in a year or two.

They have had many, many, complaints.

SuperJETT · 01-22-2013, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rusty baker

They have had many, many, complaints.

That's what I was commenting on because our experience has been great. No issues at all during install and 4 months now of no problems at all, plus the house has gone from late summer with windows open (warm) to 10F today and no buckling.

I do think it's like a lot of other situations/products where the unhappy people are very vocal about it while the satisfied customers just carry on and never mention it. We found the same thing when researching prior to my wife's back surgery.

rusty baker · 01-22-2013, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperJETT

That's what I was commenting on because our experience has been great. No issues at all during install and 4 months now of no problems at all, plus the house has gone from late summer with windows open (warm) to 10F today and no buckling.

I do think it's like a lot of other situations/products where the unhappy people are very vocal about it while the satisfied customers just carry on and never mention it. We found the same thing when researching prior to my wife's back surgery.

It may be because, those that do have problems, have trouble getting it resolved. If they get stuck with a bunch of bad flooring, they will get vocal.