thanks for the info - I appreciate your input.
We should be moving in within the next month so it's going to be a while til
I get going on this - good to have soem initial ideas / plans though.
Cheers.

"Mark Ayliffe" wrote in
message ...
On or about Thu, 24 Jul 2003 at 08:47 GMT,
ginger_neil illuminated us with:
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.

The answer to that's a bit subjective, and it depends how easily your
skirting will come off I expect. Some of the laminate edging will allow
you
a bit more space to "get it wrong", but then so might a thicker skirting.
I
used Uniclic QS Edge profile which in my opinion looks OK in a
conservatory.
It may not be a good "look" in other rooms and you may have a lot of work
fixing your walls where the skirting used to be. And my underfloor wasn't
as
solid as I thought, so this particular method is a bit of a compromise. It
also meant that I couldn't really use the spacers as intended, so a lot of
the gap judgement was "by eye".

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 ??

I borrowed a handheld circular saw and also used a jigsaw. The jigsaw
alone
would be fine and (in my case) had the advantage of a selection of blades.
The circular saw was of course quicker, though not inherently more
accurate.
A bench circular saw or band saw is probably the next "step up", but
overkill really. As other have said, the cuts are hidden by the skirting.
The material is basically some kind of high density fibreboard and you
need
to make the dust somewhere that doesn't matter, it's nasty stuff. Of
course
I was able to work outside for the cutting, which helped.

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

I didn't have to deal with these problems, but I see someone else has
already answered this point.

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 ??

I'd guess by using the spacers on the wall adjacent to the door.

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

You don't attach it, it's supposed to be free to move a bit. The underlay
I
got had a wide strip of polythene without foam along each edge. This was
sufficent overlap & then I used gaffer tape to join it. DON'T DO THIS, use
something more likle parcel tape. Gaffer tape is too sticky on the "wrong"
side and doesn't let the floor slide. I don't think I';ve done any long
term
harm, but it was a pain fitting the boards over the joint.

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

They are your knees! I didn't use pads (and it was a hot day, I was
wearing
shorts IIRC), but I'm hard like that!

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

According to my CC statement I must have used Aspen (online)
http://www.aspen-laminate-wood-floor...shop/index.htm
AKA Alaris Ltd apparently. This was a few months back, they may not have
the
best deals today.

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 !!

OK, Hope that lot helps! All the best.

--
Mark
Please remove nospam | Ambition is a poor excuse
to reply by email. | for not having enough sense to be
lazy.
www.ayliffe.org |