Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - laminate flooring tools

I have been told that there is a tool which can be used to cut a rebate in baseboards (while still in place) to allow laminate flooring to be laid without removing boards.
Can anyone tell me about this?

OK here is the beef...


Undercutting the baseboards for laminate, use to be a good idea until the laminate went glueless and the T&G must be rotated to engage. I guess you could cut the lock off the tongue and glue that last plank in. Your going to have a fight with the last row.

Then comes tapping. How are you going to get under the baseboard to use the slap bar on the end of rows and that last row? Then how are you going to control the expansion space with the first board place in each row, with the nd under the baseboard and the tapping of the other boards in the row push it tight against the wall plate behind the baseboard, leaving you with zero expansion space?????????

If do not wish to remove baseboards, the use of ¼ round molding to cover expansion space is standard.

You still going to need an undercut saw for any doorjambs. The laminate does slide under them, because cutting around them looks hacked in.

What is an undercut saw and how does it work?

For undercutting door jambs, a cheap saw commonly sold in those big-name hardware stores looks a bit like this one:

http://www.tiletool.net/336.jpg

You can find them in the laminate/hardwood sections with all the tapping blocks, spacers and other goodies.

The flooring instructions should explain how to undercut the door, but typically it goes like this:

Take a scrap piece of flooring or a good piece flipped upside-down and place at the door jamb, drawing a line at the height of the floor along the door jamb. (The actual depth and location of the cuts should be dependent on the installation, moldings used, etc.)

Place the saw atop the floor piece and cut along the line to the necessary depth. This is not fun. You might need to use a hammer, screwdriver and chisel to cut out some of the wood/drywall inside that the saw can't get to.

Expect to have some slip-ups that result in needing to do some slight wood-filling or touch-up painting on the door jamb after installation. But it looks so much better to bring the floor underneath the door jambs than to cheese it.

-John

My wife and I are going to replace all the carpet in our house (1,500 sq ft) in Jan. Our plan is to start in our bedroom and work our way out to the living room and finally do the Kitchen. I have several questions about installation.

First as I understand it the best practice is to remove the base board and undercutt all the door jams.

Secondly we start at one side of the room and place the laminate under the jams that I have undercut and then work my way across and down the room.

But when you get to the other side how do you rotate the piece under the door jams?

Our bedroom has a small walk-in closet should we float it as a monolithic floor.

Thanks in advace for your help and sorry for the long post

Hi Bfarrar, -I can only help with a small but important part of your project. -the baseboards. You seem worried about removing them, don't be - it's easy and worth it. I fit and replace lots, - first score a line where each meets the wall with a sharp craftknife to separate from the wallboard and paint or wallpaper. Now use a small flat prybar at one end and work your way down to other end. often they'll spring loose by halfway down. If you're going to re-use that's fine, mark on back where they fit, now carefully remove nails by tapping them to outside then pull with rough pliers. Sand and paint BEFORE you refit. When ready to refit, do yourself a favor and buy a small cheap compressor/bradnailer set, and 1 1/2 nails. They're all over the place for about $130-140. Believe me you DON"T want to hammer an entire house set . You'll have carpal tunnel by the end - and it'll probably look like ****.
good luck with it :cool:

Rotating under door jambs can be a real pain. It is often not possible to rotate that piece in. Typically, those pieces have to be tapped in.

We did not remove the baseboards, but put up quarterround. This is a style decision, not a functional one, so do what you like best.

For a walk in closet you should be able to float it. I had one area like that and we floated it, seperated by a T-molding for the narrow opening.

-Matt

Hi Bfarrar, -I can only help with a small but important part of your project. -the baseboards. You seem worried about removing them, don't be - it's easy and worth it. I fit and replace lots, - first score a line where each meets the wall with a sharp craftknife to separate from the wallboard and paint or wallpaper. Now use a small flat prybar at one end and work your way down to other end. often they'll spring loose by halfway down. If you're going to re-use that's fine, mark on back where they fit, now carefully remove nails by tapping them to outside then pull with rough pliers. Sand and paint BEFORE you refit. When ready to refit, do yourself a favor and buy a small cheap compressor/bradnailer set, and 1 1/2 nails. They're all over the place for about $130-140. Believe me you DON"T want to hammer an entire house set . You'll have carpal tunnel by the end - and it'll probably look like ****.
good luck with it :cool:

We are not really worried about the baseboard infact my desire is to replace! But not realy shure if we can afford to replace all the baseboard but that is a whole new thread http://forum.doityourself.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=685469#
Roll Eyes (Sarcastic). What I am concerned and I guess I am ignorant as to how you really install this stuff. when I come to a door where do I stop when I install into a door way. Do I just rip the laminate at the width to leave me my 1/4" away from the wall and just put the 'T' strip at the entrance to the door.

What do you do when you want to float the floor through a doorway to a closet. When you layout the lam and have a joint in the middle of the doorway then I can see tapping the first one in but the second half cannot be tapped in.

Maybe I am just making this harder than it really is. I just cannot get my arms around how to install around doorways.

TIA and again sorry for the long posts

Sometimes assembling several rows and installing them as one by tapping, to get it under the jambs, and sometimes cutting the lock click off and gluing and strapping the planks together. Sometime you have to hold your mouth just right.

Planning and preassembly to see where it is going to come out at goes a long way.

I am usually thinking 10 steps ahead when installing, and planning every step of the way, well ahead of time. Surprises scare the heck out of me!

If you want to reuse the baseboards at all, do not tap the nails to the outside to remove them. This will more than likely split out the wood. The better way is to get a pair of end nippers (I have a pair of the big ones from Chanellock) grab the nail as close s you can th the piece of trim from the backside and just lever the nail out of the back of the piece of trim. Works slick and doesn't chip ou the fron of the piece of trim.