I'm fitting laminate flooring in a hallway with numerous doors.

Around the skirting board edges I can put in cork expansion strips
and cover with beading. However, the doorways are recessed and I'm
not sure how best to handle those. Here's a photo to illustrate:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/joe.tully/doorway.jpg

It's quite a large gap and I'm not sure how best to fill it in so
that it doesn't look conspicuous.

I would guess that leaving exposed cork is not a good idea, as it will
wear quickly.

Joe T wrote:
I'm fitting laminate flooring in a hallway with numerous doors.

Around the skirting board edges I can put in cork expansion strips
and cover with beading. However, the doorways are recessed and I'm
not sure how best to handle those. Here's a photo to illustrate:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/joe.tully/doorway.jpg

It's quite a large gap and I'm not sure how best to fill it in so
that it doesn't look conspicuous.

I would guess that leaving exposed cork is not a good idea, as it will
wear quickly.

My approach (which I'm sure will be rejected here later) would be...

Another sheet of laminate, the length of the door.
Profile gauge - to transfer the profile of the architrave onto laminate.
Remove existing wooden floor-plate / interface / whatever - the mahogany
stained item.
Using router, or similar, remove a lip from the edge that is exposed to
new laminate - to allow laminate to slid UNDER.
A prayer - to assist the replacement of floor-plate and last laminate
piece "simultaneously" - or a 2lb lump hammer (hey, they always find a use)

Just to annoy you, it'd probably have been easier in the long run to
remove the skirting board and cut a 10mm slot in the bottom of the
architrave to allow the laminate to butt-up to the entrance to the room
behind, in hind-sight.

Mike

Mike Dodd wrote:

My approach (which I'm sure will be rejected here later) would be...

Another sheet of laminate, the length of the door.
Profile gauge - to transfer the profile of the architrave onto laminate.
Remove existing wooden floor-plate / interface / whatever - the mahogany
stained item.
Using router, or similar, remove a lip from the edge that is exposed to
new laminate - to allow laminate to slid UNDER.
A prayer - to assist the replacement of floor-plate and last laminate
piece "simultaneously" - or a 2lb lump hammer (hey, they always find a use)

Just to annoy you, it'd probably have been easier in the long run to
remove the skirting board and cut a 10mm slot in the bottom of the
architrave to allow the laminate to butt-up to the entrance to the room
behind, in hind-sight.

Mike

Thanks Mike, I haven't actually started laying the floor yet - I was just
thinking ahead to any possible problems, in case I decide to abandon the
project and go for carpet instead!

I'm being a bit of a wimp and looking for the easiest way to do the job!
I would imagine that removing the skirting board would be a fairly major
job and result in damage, requiring replacement.

The wooden floorplate has four wooden plugs, which if drilled out, I
assume will reveal screws. I would guess that it will then easily slide
out. Then to re-fit I would have to find replacement wooden plugs. I don't
know if these come in standard sizes and are easy find replacements for.

In the end, I'll still have the contoured door frame, which won't allow
part of the expansion area to be covered up.

In my quest to find the easiest route, I had thought of getting some
cork tiles and cutting these to shape to fit the gap. But I don't know
how this would look when finished.

Joe

Joe T wrote:
Mike Dodd wrote:

My approach (which I'm sure will be rejected here later) would be...

Another sheet of laminate, the length of the door.
Profile gauge - to transfer the profile of the architrave onto laminate.
Remove existing wooden floor-plate / interface / whatever - the
mahogany stained item.
Using router, or similar, remove a lip from the edge that is exposed
to new laminate - to allow laminate to slid UNDER.
A prayer - to assist the replacement of floor-plate and last laminate
piece "simultaneously" - or a 2lb lump hammer (hey, they always find a
use)

Just to annoy you, it'd probably have been easier in the long run to
remove the skirting board and cut a 10mm slot in the bottom of the
architrave to allow the laminate to butt-up to the entrance to the
room behind, in hind-sight.

Mike


Thanks Mike, I haven't actually started laying the floor yet - I was just
thinking ahead to any possible problems, in case I decide to abandon the
project and go for carpet instead!

I'm being a bit of a wimp and looking for the easiest way to do the job!
I would imagine that removing the skirting board would be a fairly major
job and result in damage, requiring replacement.

The wooden floorplate has four wooden plugs, which if drilled out, I
assume will reveal screws. I would guess that it will then easily slide
out. Then to re-fit I would have to find replacement wooden plugs. I don't
know if these come in standard sizes and are easy find replacements for.

In the end, I'll still have the contoured door frame, which won't allow
part of the expansion area to be covered up.

In my quest to find the easiest route, I had thought of getting some
cork tiles and cutting these to shape to fit the gap. But I don't know
how this would look when finished.


The contoured door frame is precisely why I suggest removing 10mm from
the bottom - to allow a more "triangular" cut to be made in the laminate
that slides under the edge, leaving the expansion gap / differences in
contour hidden underneath the door frame.

Re. the wooden plugs - if you can't find the same size, drill an
over-sized hole to the diameter of a plug that you can find. Or wood
filler (bah)

Skirting board?, depends if you can find a matching replacement, in
which case removal is probably a lot easier that you might think. A lot
would depend on the condition of the wall, however (e.g. plasterwork)
and whether the skirting had been nailed, or no-more-nailed to the wall
in the first place. Personally, next time I laminate the whole skirting
is coming off and being replaced with new.

Mike Dodd wrote:
Skirting board?, depends if you can find a matching replacement, in
which case removal is probably a lot easier that you might think. A lot
would depend on the condition of the wall, however (e.g. plasterwork)
and whether the skirting had been nailed, or no-more-nailed to the wall
in the first place. Personally, next time I laminate the whole skirting
is coming off and being replaced with new.


Joe,
Have you bought the beading and actually tried it in place yet? The
cork strip I bought was too wide to cope with both the irregular wall
and narrow beading. I had to lift it and cut it's width a bit!

I'm with Mike! When I went on to do a bedroom and the bathroom I pulled
off the skirting board, and tucked the laminate under it. Even then
some walls were too out of true to completely hide the laminate under
the skirting, so some "shaving" of the laminate edge might be necessary.

Yes some damage is caused, and it's suprising (in a 40 year old house)
how far back you need to go to get purchase when screwing it back on. I
had to fill some plasterwork in also where pulling the skirting off took
the plaster too. But it was a much neater and more satisfying job.

Regards,
Richard
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