Hi,

Currently our front room and dining room are joined (by a 1.5 m
archway) and have the same laminate flooring running through. We are
going to change the front room laminate to new laminate this weekend,
but leaving the dining room laminate in place. I have 2 questions about
this process.

1. Whats the best way to cut the laminate where the 2 rooms join. I was
thinking of just using a tenon saw to do a deep score and then snapping
the laminate (if i cant saw all the way through), but any other ideas
would be great. The subfloor is floorboards by the way. I suppose a
router could be used, but i dont have one.

2. Where the new laminate and the old laminate join we want to have as
seamless a joint as possible, but there has to be some kind of strip to
cover the join (as i assume i need an expansion gap here). We dont want
one of the metal ones, and thought maybe a bit of beading stained and
varnished would suffice. Is this going to be resistant enough to foot
traffic. Any other ideas as to a non-intrusive mechanism for joining
the new and old flooring (one is dark oak and one is light beech)

Many thanks

Mark

"Mark Trueman" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

Currently our front room and dining room are joined (by a 1.5 m
archway) and have the same laminate flooring running through. We are
going to change the front room laminate to new laminate this weekend,
but leaving the dining room laminate in place. I have 2 questions about
this process.

1. Whats the best way to cut the laminate where the 2 rooms join. I was
thinking of just using a tenon saw to do a deep score and then snapping
the laminate (if i cant saw all the way through), but any other ideas
would be great. The subfloor is floorboards by the way. I suppose a
router could be used, but i dont have one.

2. Where the new laminate and the old laminate join we want to have as
seamless a joint as possible, but there has to be some kind of strip to
cover the join (as i assume i need an expansion gap here). We dont want
one of the metal ones, and thought maybe a bit of beading stained and
varnished would suffice. Is this going to be resistant enough to foot
traffic. Any other ideas as to a non-intrusive mechanism for joining
the new and old flooring (one is dark oak and one is light beech)

Many thanks

Mark

You can get, from lamiinate floor suppliers, jointing strips in various
guises, carpet to laminate, laminate to laminate, laminate to lino, etc.
They come in colours to match the flooring, but in your case you would have
to decide which to match! If you are going to use one of these strips then
the cut doesn't have to be that good as there is quite a big 'overhang' on
the laminate surface. If I was doing it I would try to avoid snapping it as
this may damage the flooring you wish to leave down. If the floor is a
'clic' type can you not lift it, cut to suit and relay the piece? Otherwise
I think it would have to be a carefull pproach with a suitable tool, tenon
saw, stanley knife, etc. (you decide). If possble put a straight edge on
the florr to use as a guide and also act as protection for the floor to be
left down.

HTH

John

P.S. To see a jointing strip go to
http://www.quick-step.com/accessoires.aspx?ID=1 and click QS Incizo under
Profiles. I have used this before and it worked a treat although not
particularly cheap. There is a dealer locator on there aswell. Also look at
http://www.birbek.com/mall/WoodFloor...duct-27441.stm for
a cheaper alternative.

Mark Trueman wrote:
Hi,

Currently our front room and dining room are joined (by a 1.5 m
archway) and have the same laminate flooring running through. We are
going to change the front room laminate to new laminate this weekend,
but leaving the dining room laminate in place. I have 2 questions
about this process.

1. Whats the best way to cut the laminate where the 2 rooms join. I
was thinking of just using a tenon saw to do a deep score and then
snapping the laminate (if i cant saw all the way through), but any
other ideas would be great. The subfloor is floorboards by the way. I
suppose a router could be used, but i dont have one.

2. Where the new laminate and the old laminate join we want to have as
seamless a joint as possible, but there has to be some kind of strip
to cover the join (as i assume i need an expansion gap here). We dont
want one of the metal ones, and thought maybe a bit of beading
stained and varnished would suffice. Is this going to be resistant
enough to foot traffic. Any other ideas as to a non-intrusive
mechanism for joining the new and old flooring (one is dark oak and
one is light beech)

Many thanks

Mark

The problem you have to wach is...when traffic is going from room to room
because of the membrane underneath you get flexing at both ends of the cut
and whatever you use will have to be screwed down.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

"The3rd Earl Of Derby" wrote in message
k...
Mark Trueman wrote:
Hi,

Currently our front room and dining room are joined (by a 1.5 m
archway) and have the same laminate flooring running through. We are
going to change the front room laminate to new laminate this weekend,
but leaving the dining room laminate in place. I have 2 questions
about this process.

1. Whats the best way to cut the laminate where the 2 rooms join. I
was thinking of just using a tenon saw to do a deep score and then
snapping the laminate (if i cant saw all the way through), but any
other ideas would be great. The subfloor is floorboards by the way. I
suppose a router could be used, but i dont have one.

2. Where the new laminate and the old laminate join we want to have as
seamless a joint as possible, but there has to be some kind of strip
to cover the join (as i assume i need an expansion gap here). We dont
want one of the metal ones, and thought maybe a bit of beading
stained and varnished would suffice. Is this going to be resistant
enough to foot traffic. Any other ideas as to a non-intrusive
mechanism for joining the new and old flooring (one is dark oak and
one is light beech)

I know you don't have a router but I expect you could hire one and this is
how I managed to join my two floors together. Forget about scoring and
snapping, you'll have to score almost all the way through and even then
it'll leave a very ragged edge. Use a router like I did with a straight
cutting bit and run it against a straight-edge. You could always try a
circular saw with a fine blade run against a straight-edge but you might
find that it chips the surface. Use a good quality double sided tape to fix
the straight-edge in position, you'll want it fixed along its entire length
or it's likely to flex, you should get good adhesion to the laminate anyway,
you don't want it to move once you start. Both options will probably require
a manual cut at either end to finish. Next you want to join the new to the
old, I used a biscuit joiner to do the business although setting the height
was a bit of a fiddle to get right. Real chuffed with the outcome and the
floor is level with no thresholds or any other protrusions to marr the
effect.

Grumble

"Grumble" wrote in message
...

Next you want to join the new to the old, I used a biscuit joiner to do
the business although setting the height was a bit of a fiddle to get
right. Real chuffed with the outcome and the floor is level with no
thresholds or any other protrusions to marr the effect.

I don't care how good you are (or think you are) you cannot use a biscuit
joiner to join laminate flooring! The stuff is only 7 or 8mm thick and a
biscuit is at least 3 to 4mm thick and that is without it swelling with the
glue!! If it CAN be done I would be willing to pay good money to see it
(after it has been done a while of course)!


John

On Wed, 1 Feb 2006 19:45:57 +0000 (UTC), "Grumble"
wrote:

Use a router like I did with a straight
cutting bit and run it against a straight-edge. You could always try a
circular saw with a fine blade run against a straight-edge but you might
find that it chips the surface. Use a good quality double sided tape to fix
the straight-edge in position, you'll want it fixed along its entire length
or it's likely to flex, you should get good adhesion to the laminate anyway,
you don't want it to move once you start. Both options will probably require
a manual cut at either end to finish. Next you want to join the new to the
old, I used a biscuit joiner to do the business although setting the height
was a bit of a fiddle to get right. Real chuffed with the outcome and the
floor is level with no thresholds or any other protrusions to marr the
effect.

You could also use a biscuit joiner and run it along a straightedge to cut the
laminate. Set the depth properly, and move the jointer so that the blade doesn't
pull the machine into the material.

Thomas Prufer