Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - laminate flooring questions

I am about to install my first laminate floor. The floor will be installed in a hallway that is currently carpeted. The carpeting extends into an adjacent room. I will be cutting the carpeting at that point so I can remove the carpeting fromt the hallway and leave it in the adjacent room. Where should I cut the carpeting? Should I leave just enough in the doorway so that the door covers the carpeting when the door closes? Do I need to install a tack strip under the carpet in the door way or can it be secured some other way? Here is a photo:

http://rich-smith.smugmug.com/photos/36190894-M.jpg

Another doorway in the same hall leads to the garage. The transition at that doorway is quite a bit higher than the carpeting. There is also very little room between the start of the transition and a metal strip that is screwed down. How should that transition be handled? Here is a photo:

http://rich-smith.smugmug.com/photos/36190896-M.jpg

Do I need to use silicone caulk along the doorway to the garage? Is that an area where moisture could be a problem?

Any other installation tips for an entrance hallway that I should be concerned about?

thanks in advance.

Rich

Cut the carpet long in the doorways going into the rooms. Meaning cut on the hall side of the doorjambs. Better to be long then short at this point of the installation. The carpet endcap transition molding should sit under the door when it is closed. Then tackstrip no more then 3/8" away from the endcap molding, while leaving a space for the carpet to tuck into. Then stretch the carpet up on the tackstrip with a stretcher, and trim off the excess, and tuck into the gully. Don't cut it short!!


The garage door... What is that darker plate/board or ???? under the metal threshold?????

I'd cut that off flush with the aluminum top threshold and use an endcap molding there, too or take it out and run the laminate under the aluminum threshold.

Cut the carpet long in the doorways going into the rooms. Meaning cut on the hall side of the doorjambs. Better to be long then short at this point of the installation. The carpet endcap transition molding should sit under the door when it is closed. Then tackstrip no more then 3/8" away from the endcap molding, while leaving a space for the carpet to tuck into. Then stretch the carpet up on the tackstrip with a stretcher, and trim off the excess, and tuck into the gully. Don't cut it short!!

I'm planning on running the planks parallel to the door that is shown in the first photo. I was also planning to leave the base board moulding in place and use white quarter round to finish. To complicate matters, that is also along the wall that I was planning to use as the starting wall. If I start to the left of that doorway, the planks will run in front of that opening just barely under the door moulding. Are there any tricks for extending the flooring into the doorway enough to meet up with the carpet end cap?

I am planning to use a style of flooring that comes in individual planks of 3 inches wide by several feet long. Should I just insert an extra piece in the doorway as I get to that point along the first wall? I'm thinking that I could undercut the door jams and trim and slide a piece underneath. Then the piece that crosses from the wall into the front of the doorway would just snap into place. If I measure it properly, I could make sure that the first piece that crosses into the doorway stops half way across and the final piece would run from there to the wall on the right. Does that seem like it would work?

There are several other rooms in the house where the doorway thresholds are thick finished oak boards with carpet butted up on either side. Would that type of application work here? I could leave the gap between the floating floor and the oak threshold and cover with either a T moulding or reducer. Thoughts?

Cut a board for it to go across the undercut doojambs, or if you just can't hold your mouth right to get it under as one board, have an endjoint somewhere in there. You may have to cut the lock lip off and glue those joints.


Undercut all doorjambs!!! don't use trim around a doorjamb. Now a cased opening is different, unless it is trimmed out like a doorjamb and not just baseboard wraping around the opening.

Cut a board for it to go across the undercut doojambs, or if you just can't hold your mouth right to get it under as one board, have an endjoint somewhere in there. You may have to cut the lock lip off and glue those joints.


Undercut all doorjambs!!! don't use trim around a doorjamb. Now a cased opening is different, unless it is trimmed out like a doorjamb and not just baseboard wraping around the opening.

I have removed the carpeting and discovered that the floor underneath is lineolum tiles glued to concrete. Some of the tiles have come loose. Should I remove all of the tiles or glue down the loose tiles?

How do I fasten the strips for transitions to the concrete?

I have another question about installation around doors. Do I undercut the casings as well as the mouldling and door jam? I've looked all over for photos of this part of the installation. I can't find anything. How do I ensure that I have left enough of a gap under the casing?

Thanks alot for your help.

The tiles are not that big of deal, because they are fairly thin and fit the 1/8" in 6 feet spec. You can remove them and it will be OK or leave them and it will be oK. Your call.


Drill and molly so a screw will hold the transition track down. I install or mark those before I ever start the installation, so I know where to end the laminate and still have expansion space.


Undercut the jambs casings and a little bit back into the baseboards so you have room to work without leaving a hole right where the basrboards meet the case trim.

The casings is where it usually gets locked in if it is going to get locked in.

The tiles are not that big of deal, because they are fairly thin and fit the 1/8" in 6 feet spec. You can remove them and it will be OK or leave them and it will be oK. Your call.

Would it be a problem to just remove the loose tiles? Will that cause the boards to wobble or flex? I should point out that the product I am planning to use has the foam backing pre-installed.

Drill and molly so a screw will hold the transition track down. I install or mark those before I ever start the installation, so I know where to end the laminate and still have expansion space.

Thanks for the tip. That makes perfect sense.

Undercut the jambs casings and a little bit back into the baseboards so you have room to work without leaving a hole right where the basrboards meet the case trim.

The casings is where it usually gets locked in if it is going to get locked in.

Thanks again.

Remove the tiles.

Remove the tiles.

I took the tiles out last night. They came off quite easily. There are 10 or so small (no bigger than a dime), shallow (maybe 1/16th of an inch) holes from the removal of the tackless strip for the carpet around the perimeter. Do these need to be repaired? If so, how?

thanks

I am planning to install the floor tomorrow but I have a few more questions:

1. I undercut one of the door jams to test out how to place the flooring. I'm having difficulty getting the pieces placed so that there is a sufficient expansion gap underneath the jam and door casing and not have a gap showing right at the corner of the door casing and door jam. Am I not under cutting enough? How far under the jam do I cut before hitting the wall stud?

I think the problem is caused by the fact that I am leaving the baseboards on. The expansion gap causes the door casing to not cover much of the plank that runs parallel to the door opening. In the spot where the door casing is rounded, a small gap appears. Do i have to trim the planks in the shape of the door casing to get a proper fit? Here is a drawing of what I am talking about:

http://rich-smith.smugmug.com/photos/37189534-M.jpg

and a photo of one of the doorways:

http://rich-smith.smugmug.com/photos/36190894-M.jpg

2. In general, is it easier to deal with doorways when the planking is running parallel to the door or perpendicular? I have 6 doors to deal with. 2 are running in one direction and 4 in the other. This may be the determining factor for the direction of the flooring.

3. The hallway has two bifold doors (one for a closet and one leading to the basement). I believe these were used bcause of limited space for door swings. Is it possible to use bifold doors with a laminate floor or should I replace with regular doors?

4. The hallway is roughly T-shaped. I am using a style of flooring that comes in 3 inch wide, 33 inch long planks. The hallway is 54 inches wide in the area where I plan to run the planks perpendicularly. Is there a reasonable way to get variation in the plank placement without and excessive amount of waste?

thank you for any advice.

-Rich