Any tips, do's, or don'ts for somebody considering installing laminate
flooring on slab in a bedroom? Is this an easy job for somebody who
hasn't done it before?

Replacing carpet. Already know I have to pull up tack strips, remove
baseboard, use a vapor barrier over the slab, and cut bottom of door
trim to clear the laminate flooring.

If the masonry nails from the tack strips leave any small holes/pits in
the concrete, do I need to patch them first?

Any other advice and/or suggestions appreciated.


Thanks,
Jerry

If you visit Mannington site you can download installation instructions for
their click floors. One trick is to stick with minimum lengths and widths
of planks. I had a guy that ignored those specs and I fired him when he
refused to fix it. Mannington can be clicked and unclicked unlimited times
and edges are moisture resistent. Other brands are click once or twice and
you are done and edges suck up moisture.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Any tips, do's, or don'ts for somebody considering installing laminate
flooring on slab in a bedroom? Is this an easy job for somebody who
hasn't done it before?

Replacing carpet. Already know I have to pull up tack strips, remove
baseboard, use a vapor barrier over the slab, and cut bottom of door
trim to clear the laminate flooring.

If the masonry nails from the tack strips leave any small holes/pits in
the concrete, do I need to patch them first?

Any other advice and/or suggestions appreciated.


Thanks,
Jerry

wrote in message
ups.com...
Any tips, do's, or don'ts for somebody considering installing laminate
flooring on slab in a bedroom? Is this an easy job for somebody who
hasn't done it before?

Replacing carpet. Already know I have to pull up tack strips, remove
baseboard, use a vapor barrier over the slab, and cut bottom of door
trim to clear the laminate flooring.

If the masonry nails from the tack strips leave any small holes/pits in
the concrete, do I need to patch them first?

Any other advice and/or suggestions appreciated.

Not sure where you are, but consider some "Delta-FL" under the floor.

In article . com, wrote:
Any tips, do's, or don'ts for somebody considering installing laminate
flooring on slab in a bedroom? Is this an easy job for somebody who
hasn't done it before?

Yes, provided you have a suitable saw and know how to
use it (safely).

Replacing carpet. Already know I have to pull up tack strips, remove
baseboard, use a vapor barrier over the slab, and cut bottom of door
trim to clear the laminate flooring.

If the masonry nails from the tack strips leave any small holes/pits in
the concrete, do I need to patch them first?

No need to patch small (nail sized) holes. But do be
sure to remove any high-spots, even small ones.

Any other advice and/or suggestions appreciated.

Plan out the details before you start. As well as
the overall layout, plan the specifics of how you
are going to handle the doorways, closets, and other
such features and joins. Also decide and plan how
you will handle the edges -- quarter round, new
matching baseboard or whatever.

Follow the floor manufacturers instructions to the
letter so you don't void their warranty.

And finally, don't forget to think about any other
projects that would best be completed before the
new floor goes down (e.g. repainting the ceiling
and walls).

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

wrote in message
ups.com...
Any tips, do's, or don'ts for somebody considering installing laminate
flooring on slab in a bedroom? Is this an easy job for somebody who
hasn't done it before?

Replacing carpet. Already know I have to pull up tack strips, remove
baseboard, use a vapor barrier over the slab, and cut bottom of door
trim to clear the laminate flooring.

If the masonry nails from the tack strips leave any small holes/pits in
the concrete, do I need to patch them first?

Any other advice and/or suggestions appreciated.


Step #1. Buy knee pads

A little protrusion from a nail may cause a fit. It can probably be broken
off with a cold chisel and a hammer blow. A tiny recess is no big deal.

Removed the baseboard carefully and it will go right back in, albeit a
little higher. While it is off, put a coat of paint or poly on it so it
will look fresh when it goes back.

Use a carbide tipped blade to cut the pieces. I miter saw is a big help.
Laminate is tough stuff and will kill a steel blade in just a few cuts, a
carbide by the end of the job (it can be re-sharpened). Be sure to get the
first row in square and straight and the rest of the job goes easy. Stagger
the seams randomly.

Door trim can be cut with a $10 dovetail saw from Home Depot.

Laminate is nice, but consider an engineered wood floor also. I used
Mannington on my slab family room and hallway. I have Wilson Art laminate
too, but the real wood is much richer looking.

wrote:
Any tips, do's, or don'ts for somebody considering installing laminate
flooring on slab in a bedroom? Is this an easy job for somebody who
hasn't done it before?

Replacing carpet. Already know I have to pull up tack strips, remove
baseboard, use a vapor barrier over the slab, and cut bottom of door
trim to clear the laminate flooring.

If the masonry nails from the tack strips leave any small holes/pits
in the concrete, do I need to patch them first?

Any other advice and/or suggestions appreciated.

Don't cut the bottom of the door(s) unless you have to. If they cleared the
carpet, they should clear the new floor.

I'm not sure about laminate, but wood floors are subject to expansion and
contraction due to moisture content. DO NOT butt them flush with the wall.
Leave a gap for expansion which will be covered by the baseboards.

Clean the concrete. Clean it again.

Noozer wrote:


Not sure where you are, but consider some "Delta-FL" under the floor.

Was not familiar with the product, so I went to the website and
educated myself.

My application is in an 8 year old house, slab on grade, built on what
I'm sure was a cotton field 20 years ago, in the east suburbs of
Phoenix AZ.

Cool, damp floors are not the usual problem here. :-)

But thanks for the suggestion.


Jerry

Malcolm Hoar wrote:

Plan out the details before you start. As well as
the overall layout, plan the specifics of how you
are going to handle the doorways, closets, and other
such features and joins. Also decide and plan how
you will handle the edges -- quarter round, new
matching baseboard or whatever.


Hmm, the far end of the bedroom (the end away from the hall and
bathroom doors) has a bay window. Anything special I should know about
how to handle an end board with a diagonal cut? How do you pull on that
to snug up the end joint to the previous board in the same row?

Thanks,
Jerry

wrote in news:1163445138.045532.69030
@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Any tips, do's, or don'ts for somebody considering installing laminate
flooring on slab in a bedroom? Is this an easy job for somebody who
hasn't done it before?

Replacing carpet. Already know I have to pull up tack strips, remove
baseboard, use a vapor barrier over the slab, and cut bottom of door
trim to clear the laminate flooring.

If the masonry nails from the tack strips leave any small holes/pits in
the concrete, do I need to patch them first?

Any other advice and/or suggestions appreciated.


Thanks,
Jerry



As mentioned elsewhere, use a carbide tipped blade to cut the pieces. Had
a brand new high tooth count steel blade laying around. Figured I'd use
it. It was literally making smoke after 10 cuts. Switched to carbide and
it lasted the rest of the three floors. Many laminate surfaces contain
aluminum oxide for wear resistance. Aluminum oxide is the same stuff used
in automotive sandpaper for sanding metal.

There is a minimum width recommendation for the long edges against a
wall. You need to calculate it out before laying the first board. You can
measure one board but I found it to be very accurate (aka, came out
exactly as calculated) to take like 10 planks, snap them together,
measure total and divide by 10. Use this to do your calculations.

If you are considering a light colored floor (ash, birch, etc) look at
it carefully in a large enough sample. We put one down and from day
one the joints looked very prominent. Finally I called the
manufacturer, their engineer told me what color the floor was as I
described the problem. They had had so many complaints that they were
offering to buy that shade back.

To pull the last strips together or to work with diagonal cuts the
installation kit you can buy includes a Z shaped bar that hooks near
the wall and allows you to use a hammer to tighten things up if needed.


On Nov 13, 6:46 pm, Al Bundy wrote:
wrote in news:1163445138.045532.69030
@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:



Any tips, do's, or don'ts for somebody considering installing laminate
flooring on slab in a bedroom? Is this an easy job for somebody who
hasn't done it before?

Replacing carpet. Already know I have to pull up tack strips, remove
baseboard, use a vapor barrier over the slab, and cut bottom of door
trim to clear the laminate flooring.

If the masonry nails from the tack strips leave any small holes/pits in
the concrete, do I need to patch them first?

Any other advice and/or suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
JerryAs mentioned elsewhere, use a carbide tipped blade to cut the pieces. Had
a brand new high tooth count steel blade laying around. Figured I'd use
it. It was literally making smoke after 10 cuts. Switched to carbide and
it lasted the rest of the three floors. Many laminate surfaces contain
aluminum oxide for wear resistance. Aluminum oxide is the same stuff used
in automotive sandpaper for sanding metal.

There is a minimum width recommendation for the long edges against a
wall. You need to calculate it out before laying the first board. You can
measure one board but I found it to be very accurate (aka, came out
exactly as calculated) to take like 10 planks, snap them together,
measure total and divide by 10. Use this to do your calculations.