Is Laminate flooring easy to lay ?

[alan.evans2]

I've decided to use laminate flooring from Focus DIY in my through
Living/dining room,it is a very irregular in shape.Any tips on where to
start laying and is it a difficult job.I am reasonably capable at most DIY
projects.Any tips.

Thanks...Allan.

[Steve Houghton]

I am no expert but I found mine reasonably easy to lay and am still pleased
with it everytime I walk into the dining room!

Start in a left hand corner and assemble (without gluing) about 4 runs
across the room. When you are happy with these glue them up and then carry
on with the rest of the room. The first couple of runs are the worst, but
once you get these done the rest is easy!

Don't forget to leave the essential expansion gap. I removed the skirting
(because it was crap!) and fitted new skirting over the gap - perfect! If
you don't want to mess around with your skirting then buy the mouldings that
are made for just this job.

Good luck.

Steve

alan.evans2 <alan....@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:u32i5.1720$ei3....@news2-win.server.ntlworld.com...

[automa...@my-deja.com]

In article <u32i5.1720$ei3....@news2-win.server.ntlworld.com>,

"alan.evans2" <alan....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> I've decided to use laminate flooring from Focus DIY in my through
> Living/dining room,it is a very irregular in shape.Any tips on where
to
> start laying and is it a difficult job.I am reasonably capable at
most DIY
> projects.Any tips.
>
> Thanks...Allan.
>

Laying laminate flooring is an easy and enjoyable job. The irregularity
will mean you may have to do a lot of cutting around the edges. Use a
jigsaw and this will not be hard. Remember "measure twice, cut once"

Here are my tips.
1 Get all the materials you need. Thats the glue in a special
appliactor, the correct amount of flooring and underlay(get a little
extra flooring incase you make mistakes). The scotia or quadrant
beading to hide the expansion gap. Threshold strip for door ways.

2 Buy the special wacker blocks that they sell for hammering the
pieces together and the metal bar for pulling the corner pieces
together. This will also contain the plastic spacers you need to
maintain an exapnsion gap.

3. Lay the first few boards dry to make sure they are going straight.

4. Don't use too much glue or you'll find it hard to get the boards
together. You'll learn how much to use as you go, but it must be a
continuouse bead.

Good Luck

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[Direct Timber]

Laminate flooring is very easy to lay. As the other reply say's, just
remember to leave an expansion gap around the outside. If your skirtings are
white, just fill the gap with white silicon. The trickiest part is cutting
out the shapes around doorways etc., the rest is just like fitting a kids
jigsaw together.
Its also worth putting the polythene underlay down as it does make quite a
lot of difference to the "feel" when you walk on it.

Chris
www.directtimber.com

alan.evans2 <alan....@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
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[gregfrancis]

lay them with your longest wall so you dont have to do as much cutting as
laying them paralell with your shortest wall.
my only tip
greg

[John Vince]

I've just finished my lounge/dining room.

Make sure that you lay the planks perpendicular to the main windows - this
looks much better than laying them parallel to the windows.

You don't say what type of sub-floor you have. If concrete, start with a
polythene vapour barrier. If you have a wooden floor and it is even slightly
uneven use the thick underlay that comes in 24" by 18" tiles. This will even
out the floor and provide acoustic damping to stop the laminate sounding
like a drum.

I recommend Wickes for underlays, fitting kits, edge trims, thresholds, and
the flooring itself. Their Premier grade is much harder and crisper than any
that I found in Focus, Homebase or B&Q. Only the Burbidge range,
particularly the one that clicks together without glue can match it for
quality. If you can find it, this is worth checking out as in my experience
dry laying is fine and all the problems fitting planks come from the gluing
stage.

Whichever you use it isn't a difficult job and gives a lot of satisfaction
when finished. Have fun.

John

[Norah Brennan]

alan.evans2 <alan....@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:u32i5.1720$ei3....@news2-win.server.ntlworld.com...
> I've decided to use laminate flooring from Focus DIY in my through
> Living/dining room,it is a very irregular in shape.Any tips on where to
> start laying and is it a difficult job.I am reasonably capable at most DIY
> projects.Any tips.
>
> Thanks...Allan.
>

What ever you do don't buy the laminated wood planks from Wickes. We laid
them in the bathroom and they are already starting to bubble (very unsightly
as you sit on the throne). Ange (Whitton) has them in the kitchen and they
look a treat (not that I'm invited there much) and work well. Perhaps it
all depends on the workman!

We put the IKEA flooring in a bedroom and it's terrific but it's not
suitable for the kitchen and it's much more expensive (looks great though).

Yours NB
>