Thanks for the info.

"Roger Mills" wrote in
message ...

ginger_neil wrote in message
...
Fantastic - someone's brain to pick !!!!
A couple of question, if I may...:
1. Does the 'scotia' edging look OK? I am tempted to take the skirting
off,
fit the laminate and then put the skiting back over the top to hide the
expansion gap. However, I am an absolute DIY virgin (will even be buying
my
first saw for this !!) and am wondering if I am better sticking with the
edging.

2. What did you use to cut the planks ?? I was thinking of borrowing a
jigsaw and buying an appropriate blade - is this a good approach or
might
I
damage the laminate ??

3. when going under door frames, how easy was it to cut them to a high
sufficient to pass the laminate under ??

4. In relation to the above, when you slip the laminate under the
doorframe,
how do you ensure there is still an expansion gap between the wall and
laminate ??

5. How did you attach the underlay to the floor - and did you overlap it
where there were joins ??

6. Are knee pads the MUST that everyone says they are ?!?!?!

7. Where did you get your lamainate and how much did you pay ??

I completely agree with your comments about the cost of 'extras'. I'll
be
doing our entire flat (not bathroom and kitchen), total of about 55m2.
The
cost of the laminate is about £760, but then the edging, tools, underlay
etc
etc bumps that up to near £960 !!

Anyway - a couple of questions have quickly turned into lots !! I would
much
appreciate your help !!


I will attempt to answer *some* of the above questions, having recently
laid
some engineered wood flooring - which is similar to laminate, but about
twice as thick and has a real wood surface.

If at all possible, take the skirting board off and replace (or renew) it
after laying the flooring. In my opinion, beading round the edge *always*
looks like a retro-fit job. [But paint the skirting *before* (re-)fitting
it
so as not to get paint on the floor, and stick it on with GripFill.

A jigsaw, with a fine blade designed for laminate is fine. The pundits say
to cut from the underside so as not to tear the top surface. Whilst this
is
good advice, some people find it difficult to measure and mark out odd
shaped pieces which are the wrong way round - and the cut will be covered
by
the skirting anyway.

Even if you don't remove the skirting boards, you *must* undercut the door
frames. For this, you need a fairly bendy hand saw. You place a scrap
piece
of laminate against the frame, lay the saw flat on it, use one hand to
keep
the business end of the saw flat, and the other to move the slightly bent
up
handle end to and fro. [It's actually much simpler than it sounds]. If the
saw doesn't cut all the way through the frame - as sometimes happens with
rebated frames - you may have to use a sharp narrow chisel to remove the
wood below the cut.

To ensure that you have an expansion gap under the door frame, slide a
scrap
piece of laminate under the frame and mark how far it goes before hitting
something solid. Then measure and cut your actual piece so that it goes
under the frame but still ends a few mm short of the wall.

I laid my flooring on a solid concrete sub-floor, and used combined
underlay/damp-proof membrane. The membrane extended beyond the underlay
down
one edge, complete with a peel-off adhesive strip to facilitate overlaps.
The underlay isn't actually *stuck* to the floor - but it ain't got
nowhere
to go!

I have never used knee pads, but I *do* have an old cushion to kneel on.

I'll leave it to others to answer about prices and sources of supply,
because I used a different material.

One final point, *do* get all the proper tools - wedges, knocking block,
pulling bar, webbing clamps, etc. if you want to make a decent job. My one
regret is that I didn't buy a heavy duty pulling bar - the one which came
in
the £8 kit was far too flimsy, and one or two joints in awkward places are
not as tight as I would have liked.

HTH,
Roger