No wrote:
if its a laminate floating floor, meaning its only fastened to itself and
not the sub floor, these floors will expand and contract. Typicly the gap
for expansion is left at the wall (See you package for how much) The problem
when doing a very large area is that the amount of expansion and contraction
can be greater that the amount of a gap that can be covered by a typical
molding.

So if I understand correctly, my options a

1) Put expansion molding in.
2) Leave a larger gap at the edges in order to accomodate significant
expansions and contractions with climate changes.

In my case the second is a very real option. The baseboard molding is
rather thick, the sheet rock is not hung to the ground, and the crown
molding we'll be putting down will be at least another 0.25". The
instructions say we only need 5/16" (0.3125"). All told, we're going
to have a gap of about 1.25" from the floor to the wall. That seems
like plenty of room for expansion. Is that the only thing I need to be
concerned about?

(Incidentally, I looked into hardwood, and I couldn't afford it. :-( )