Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - First Laminate Install Question...

I am getting ready to order everything I need for my laminate install & had a few questions before I ordered & installed. First off I'm going to try & not use any transition pieces & make it run through my living room into the hallway on one side & through the living room into my bedroom on the other side. I don't think it will be a problem from what I've read on here but if there ever is I'll just add some transitions.

Anyways my questions are:

1) What type of trim will I need for the transition at the bedroom doors in the hallway where it goes from laminate to carpet? Is that T-Molding?

2) In front of my fire place in the living room it is tiled (you can see what I mean in the link to my picture below) what type of trim will I need to go around that?

After looking at this: http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/LivingRoomPre-Wood0042.jpg

can you tell me how hard it's going to be to install the laminate around that tiling? Would it be easier & better to just finish the tile all the way to the walls or something before laying laminate? I just feel like it would be so much more rewarding if I could finish it like it is, I think it would look good but having doubts about how hard it will be. Any comments or tips? Thanks!

1) No, it is not "T" molding. The carpet is too soft and the part lipped over it will break off with traffic. There is a carpet molding that has a blunt, flat surface on the carpet side and lips over the laminate on the other side. This is what you'll need.

2) Your tile looks like it's installed on a slab with no backer board. Your laminate and tile should end up roughly the same height. This is the place for the "T" mold. As to the degree of difficulty, that just depends on how talented you are. It's actually a fairly simple task. Put down the track for your transition. Butt the track to the tile and then cut the laminate so as to leave a 1/4 inch gap between the track and the edge of the laminate. When the laminate install is finished, snap the transition into the track.

Another thing I noticed from your picture is the base board. It looks as if it may be tough to pull the base. If at all feasible, you want to remove the base and re-install it over the laminate edge when the job is finished. If you can't, leave the required gap between the laminate and base and cover it with quarter round or base shoe.

Thanks a lot for your help Smokey, I see what you mean about cutting around that tile. That makes complete sense & I believe it will be WAY easier then I first imagined.

So I will need to use the quarter inch spacers around the tiling as well, correct? And then after I'm done laying the laminate pull them all out & snap in the transition pieces & nail the quarter round to the base boards if needed.

When I rip up all my carpet will there be a gap under my bedroom door frame that I can slide the laminate under or is that where I cut my own space? I was just thinking since you don't put trim around the bottom of the door frame to hide a 1/4" gap you have to be able to slide it under the framing a little.

Thanks again Smokey for your help.

In most instances, no, you won't find a gap at the bottom of the door jamb. Carpet doesn't need it so they seldom do that. You are correct in your belief of needing to undercut the door jamb and slide the material under to hide the expansion gap. If your joints in the flooring run with the door instead of through the door, you'll find that putting the material together is a challenge, Because it has to go under the door jamb, you can't lift it enough to snap the joint together. You'll have to carve the locking mechanism off the flooring so the two pieces can be pushed or pulled together. Put some glue in the joint, squeeze it together, and use some blue tape to hold it tight until the glue dries.

Okay thanks a lot for your advice Smokey, it's much appreciated. One more question & I should be set. As I said previosuly I'm wanting to try & make the flooring go all the way through the living room & extend through my bedroom & through the hallway. They way I'll be laying the planks the planks will be perpendicular to the doorway. How easy would it be, if at all possible, to lay the flooring as I said with no transitions from room to room? The only problems I see would be that when I got to the row that would extend into the doorway it would be in the middle of the bedroom, not flush against a wall or another plank. So I should probably just hang that idea up & just stop it at the doorway & do the bedroom seperate huh? Or is it easier than it looks?

It's been a long day and I'm old, so I'm not sure what you mean by perpendicular to the door way. In any case, the manufacturers normally require transitions at the doorways to the various rooms. Since you're installing it, you're the one who has to warranty it if it fails so it's your call. If you opt for no transitions, just make sure you do so with the knowledge you might be dealing with an issue at some later date. Then again, you might not. Up to you.

When I say perpendicular I mean the opposite of parallel, so instead of being ran like... | | its like |-- I may of just confused you more there, lol basically instead of the planks in the living room being ran toward the bedroom door they're coming from the back wall & will be ran sideways through the bedroom door & hallway on either side of the living room. I was planning on running them like this because I saw a video somewhere about the best way to lay the planks in a room is to find where the main natural light source (window) is coming from & run the planks parallel to that window or light source. Anyways in both rooms the windows are on the back walls so I just figured I should run the whole thing like that.

Either way my problem ISNT whether to do it, instead, how to do it in my situation. I'm wondering if I need to start the living room, bedroom & hallway & stop at the doorways coming into the living room & then proceed to lay them straight through the doorways or what!? Seems like a whole lot of measurements would have to work out PERFECT for this to go together without transitions unless there's a trick to it. If you're still having problems understanding what I mean let me know & I'll be sure to get a pic this evening after work to help you understand my situation a little better.

Thanks again man, your help is much appreciated.

OK, that helped. Does the hall tie in to all the other areas to be done? In other words, could you pop a line down the hall and through any of the other areas? For instance, if you can draw a line down the center of the hall and through the living room, that would be the place to start. Determine layout in the hall so your joint in each doorway falls in the doorway somewhere, mark where the control line needs to be, and then pop the line so it goes across both marks and extends through the living room. This will insure the doorway joints are as square as the squareness of the structure will allow and the rest of the install will radiate out from this starting point. Install the hall and the equal width of the hall in the living room as a base from which to work and then finish the living room in both directions from this base. Not knowing the exact layout of your project, I'm making some assumptions here, but this should give you some ideas.

Okay Smokey, sorry for not writing back sooner, I've been real tied up with a baby coming & all this stuff getting done & rooms being painted, it's a mess. Anyways I finally got some pictures that may help you understand the layout. I took pictures of the Hallway, the doorway going from the hallway to the living room & some picture from inside the bedroom showing you behind the door & one to help you get an idea of how far back the bedroom goes in relation to the living room.

**Small Hallway Rear -**
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Living%20Room%20Pre%20Wood/LivingRoomPre-Wood2005.jpg

**Small Hallway Front -**
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Living%20Room%20Pre%20Wood/LivingRoomPre-Wood2011.jpg

**Living Room Back Wall Between Hallway (to the right) & bedroom (to the left)-**
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Living%20Room%20Pre%20Wood/LivingRoomPre-Wood2006.jpg

**Toward Bedroom Doorway through living room-**
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Living%20Room%20Pre%20Wood/LivingRoomPre-Wood2010.jpg

**Bedroom Doorway from Living Room -**
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Living%20Room%20Pre%20Wood/LivingRoomPre-Wood2007.jpg

**Inside Bedroom looking through living room at hallway-**
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Living%20Room%20Pre%20Wood/LivingRoomPre-Wood2008.jpg

**Inside Bedroom looking toward side wall-**
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Living%20Room%20Pre%20Wood/LivingRoomPre-Wood2009.jpg


So seeing those pictures would you still suggest what you previously said? If so could you explain it one more time in laymen terms?! lol I'm sorry it's just that I'm pretty sure I understand what you mean but I'd rather go in being positive about what you mean vs. pretty sure.

The pictures show something much different than I had envisioned. It looks to me as if you can pop a line that goes through all three areas. As you're standing in the bedroom, looking through the living room and into the hall, it looks like all the areas will line up. If this is the case, you have a pretty workable situation, either way you decide to run the planks. As you're standing in the bedroom, looking into the living room, are the walls in the two rooms common walls? In other words, if you measure from the left door jamb to the left living room wall, and then measure from the left door jamb to the left bedroom wall, are the two measurements the same? If not, can you do the same thing to the right and get equal measurements? If the two rooms have a common wall on one side or the other, you can measure off this common wall to a point past the wall to the hall and make a mark on the floor. Measure off the common bedroom wall the same amount and make another mark. Then pop a line connecting the two marks to give you a control line that is common to all three areas. You can work off this control line and all three areas will line up nicely. The drawback with this is, the planks will run through the door ways instead of with them. That makes the planks on each side of the doorway a little tougher to deal with, but it's still doable. If you want the planks to run with the doorways, I'd start in the living room/bedroom doorway and work out from there. I'd square off the wall common to both rooms, working on the living room side of the wall, and get the living room done first. Measure from this doorway to the hall doorway, divide this measurement by the width of the finished surface of your planks, and determine if you can place the beginning doorway joint in such a way as to insure the hall doorway joint will fall somewhere in that doorway. It doesn't absolutely have to, but it makes life easier if it will. Once the living room is done, all the bedroom stuff can go on the new floor so you can do the bedroom. Hopefully, this makes some sense to you and is some help. If not, we'll just keep working on it until it does.

"As you're standing in the bedroom, looking through the living room and into the hall, it looks like all the areas will line up."

---The doorways do appear to line up perfectly with each other, not sure if the measurements are exactly the same, which I highly doubt, but just for explaining purposes I could basically roll a ball straight from my bedroom & go through the living room & through the hallway doorway, it's pretty much a straight shot.

"As you're standing in the bedroom, looking into the living room, are the walls in the two rooms common walls? In other words, if you measure from the left door jamb to the left living room wall, and then measure from the left door jamb to the left bedroom wall, are the two measurements the same?"

---I'm not copletely sure about that, when I get home this evening I can measure & let you know. Are you basically asking if the width from the bedroom door to the bedroom wall is the same as the bedroom door to the living room wall? I drew out an example of the layout from an overhead view in MSPaint. Obviously you wont be able to tell measurements from this but you can get an idea of the walls & how far to what walls. I think your thinking my living room goes the same depth as my bedroom, am I right!? If I'm right in this assumption then the answer is no. The back porch covers the rest of that depth. The illustrarion should help a pretty good deal as far as the layout.
Here it is...
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Living%20Room%20Pre%20Wood/Floorlayout.jpg


"Then pop a line connecting the two marks to give you a control line that is common to all three areas. You can work off this control line and all three areas will line up nicely."

---Okay when you pop your chalk line how do you go about "working off" this control line? Do you mean start laying planks ON this line (I doubt that's what you mean) or do you mean just use it as a refrence point of some kind? And if a refrence point a refrence of/for what?

Sorry for all the questions & thanks for helping me with all of them I still have one more week to get it right. Haha Hopefully the illustration above will help you get an even better idea.

Ask all the questions you need to. I prefer to help rather than steer folks wrong so we need to be sure all is understood.

The diagram answered all my questions. No common walls. Of course not, that would be too easy. Looking at the diagram, however, tells me you can still run the planks either way and it should work. I think the easiest for you would be to run it from the wall common with the living room and back porch to the fireplace. I'd measure the distance from the bedroom door to the hall door or opening, divide this measurement by the width of the finished surface of your planks, and see if the joints will fall in both doorways. If not, you may need a transition in the bedroom door. You can do it without the joint being in the doorway, but it's a bit more tricky.

In a layout such as yours, if I were going to pop a control line through all three areas and work off it, (instead of running the planks the other way), I would nail down a board along my line to act as a fake wall and butt up to the board with my planks. I'd work from there until I reached a wall or a good stopping point, then pull up the board and finish the rest the other way. With the layout you have, all the areas being covered are staggered from each other so it would be tough to use the line as a reference point, work to it, and have everything work out. If you work off it, it gives you a base to work from that is common to all the areas being done and each area radiates off the same point. Consequently, they all tie together nicely.

Ah ha, that makes complete sense now about working off the line. Glad the illustration helped cause I wasn't too sure about the common walls.
Honestly it's no big deal if I have to put a transition into the bedroom doorway as much as it is for the hallway opening. I'd rather not have them at all but if I do it'd be better if they were in a doorway rather than an opening with no door in my opinion. I also was thinking the back porch/living room wall would be the best wall to start from but how doable would it be to start it out from that wall which is 26-3/4" from the hallway opening & it still work out with other side of the wall in the hallway being 13" from the opening? I did another illustration to help you see what I mean...

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g108/ZoeyL/Illustrarion-Measurement.jpg

You think it would be easier to just lay the bedrooms planks separate with a transition & make the living room & hallway both tie together?! If so how would you suggest doing this?

A few basic questions:

1) When I ordered my flooring I forgot to get my transition pieces & was wondering when I go back & order them do they usually come with the tracks for the pieces to snap into or do you have to buy that separately?

2) And do all transition pieces (t-molding, reducers, etc.) use this track?

3) What will I need to use to put the tracks for the transitions on the concrete slab? Liquid Nails?

4) I will also need to leave the 1/4" expansion gap around the transition tracks as well, right?

5) I'm assuming by what you've said previously about my baseboards being a pain to get up that you've dealt with some of the same kind before!? I tried prying on them a little because they appear to only have nails shot through the top of the base board but they're so tall I feel like I'll end up breaking something before it prys off. In your experience have you never been able to successfully remove these type base boards, or is there some kind of trick that's time consuming but doable? I'd just really like to avoid the quarter round as well if at all possible.

If you don't mind a transition in the bedroom doorway, that will simplify things dramatically. If you want the planks to run from the back porch wall to the fireplace, start at the wall common to the living room/hall, measure out from this wall the distance of three or four planks, plus half a plank, and pop a control line. Others may tell you to just start on the wall with a full plank and go both ways from there, into the living room and into the hall, but I always try to create a return so the joint falls in the doorway rather than right off a corner. This allows me to tailor the planks to whatever shape the corner is rather than run the risk of an open corner that won't cover, and I think it looks more balanced that way. If you want the planks to run from the hall to the bedroom, start on the living room/back porch wall and work toward the fire place wall. The biggest problem with this direction is, where the living room planks and bedroom planks meet the transition, you'll need to be certain the planks in each area line up and are straight off each other. You don't want the bedroom floor to look like it takes off at an angle or the planks to look like they "jump" part of a plank at the transition.

If you opt to work from the living room/hall wall, the measurement you have marked in red is immaterial. The one you have marked in green is part of the entire wall the hall doorway is in and should be common all the way to the fire place. Take your first measurement off the "green" section, your second measurement from the same wall, only down near the fire place, and connect the two. If you decide to go the other way, the measurement marked in red is still immaterial, in so far as layout is concerned.

1) most companies sell the transition and track as one, some do not. You'll have to inquire and order accordingly.

2) Again, some do, some don't. If they don't, the transition is usually glued down to the sub floor.

3) If you don't have heating pipes in the floor, there are three ways to attach the track to the concrete. a) Nail it down. If your supplier doesn't have the small concrete nails needed, buy a piece of concrete tack strip, rob the nails from it, and give the left over piece of strip to the neighborhood kids to play tag with. Use a punch and a heavy hammer to drive the nails into the concrete. b) Glue it down. I always use PL400 for this. It's a construction adhesive and works great. Put a bead on the floor, being certain the floor is very clean where the glue will go, and then work the transition down into it really good. A thin layer of adhesive will hold better than a thick bead. The glue will ooz up through the nail holes so you'll need to smooth these spots out so the glue doesn't form little bumps that interfere with installing the track later. Put a weight on the track until the glue dries so it doesn't float in the adhesive. c) nail it with wood nails into dowel pieces. Set the track on the floor in the desired position, mark the nail holes with a pen or something, remove the track, drill the nail hole marks out with a 1/4 inch masonry bit, fill the holes with wood dowel pieces, then nail the transition down by nailing into these pieces of wood.

4) correct.

5) I could be wrong here, but in looking at your pictures, it looks like the base has a neat little scallop on top of it. This is sometimes accomplished with a piece of small trim placed on top of the base to give it that look and is sometimes just part of the base board. In either case, I'm normally not very successful at pulling this kind of base without messing up that feature at the top. I will give the homeowner the option of using quarter round and not attempting the removal of the base, or trying to remove it without damaging it and running the risk of replacing the base. The quarter round seems less potentially expensive, so they normally go for that. If you can get it off without hurting it, that would certainly be the best way to go. Use a sharp knife and cut the paint and caulk loose from the wall at the top first, and then try to pry it loose. Who knows, it may not be tough at all. I agree with avoiding the quarter round at the bottom of the base. If you can pull the base, that will provide the best look. If you can get it off, a trick I use is to cut the sheet rock off half an inch up from the floor. Clean out the gap at the bottom of it that is left, all the way back to the wall plate. This gives you a place for the flooring to expand at least half an inch before contacting the base, which is twice as much as you need. I then install the flooring flush with the edge of the sheet rock rather than a quarter inch away from it. The purpose of the quarter inch is to leave room for the flooring to expand without contacting the wall and that space was provided with the gap under the sheet rock so the quarter inch is unnecessary. This allows the entire thickness of the base, normally at least half an inch, to cover the edge of the flooring which means quarter round should be unnecessary also. The expansion gap is also a contraction gap and I've seen this stuff shrink right out from under the base when the gap was cut too big. Doing it this way gives you a lot of room for error.

I believe I've covered your questions to this point. If not, ask some more.

Okay Smokey so if I'm wanting the planks to run from the back porch wall to the fireplace then what your saying to do is start at the wall common to the living room/hallway & being that the planks are 5" wide I would come off that wall say 22.5" (4.5 planks). I will need to do this in two different places on that same wall & then pop the control line.

Assuming that I'm correct I will nail down a board on my control line & begin laying planks towards the bedroom door side of the living room wall until finished then return to my board, pry it up & finish from that side towards the hallway right?

Now with these instructions will I still be able to run it into the hallway with no transition? Remember I don't mind having one in the bedroom just to make life easier but since there is no door to the hallway opening I'd prefer to have no transition in that opening if you know what I mean. Also if I was correct with my above assumptions, can I just use a 2x4 on the control line? If so how do I nail it into the slab?!

Oops, slab, I forgot you're on a slab. The board trick is sort of tough to pull off on a slab. As for popping the line and such, you've got the idea. When you get to the hall, just keep installing planks and cut around the wall, on into the hall. One thing I've done several times is take advantage of the "floating" aspect of these floors. I'll decide how wide my 4 1/2 planks are, pop my line in that place, snap the planks together without being too concerned about the line, and then slide the whole thing to the line and position it where I want it. I have wood strips I've made for spacers and use them instead of the little plastic ones and I'll slide this section of flooring up to them so I've got my spacing. Once I'm happy that everything is straight, follows the line nicely, and is where I want it, I load a lot of weight on it so it won't move and continue to march.

Yeah that's not too bad of an idea, my only problem would be I'd have to be right on my line since I'll be cutting angles on the end pieces of each row for probably 10/15 rows due to the tile in front of the fireplace. So I'd assume it would have to be right on & accurate to make those cuts fit right ya know?

What do you think starting flat against the wall common to the living room/bedroom & just start laying them all the way through & continue into the hallway? If this would cause a problem what would it be & is there anyway to make it easier?

Now if I started on that wall common to the bedroom & started from the left hand side of that wall then I would pretty much be starting against transition track because that's where the doorway from the foyer is. Would this be a problem or no?

If it would be a problem then is it okay to start from right to left?

By the way...is the piece I need for the transition from laminate to carpet called an end cap? That's what the dude from the place I ordered mine said but I just wanted to be sure. Look at this pic & let me know...

(http://www.ifloor.com/item_376158/trim-vents/versatrim/end-cap-/-square-nose/459-end-cap.html)

Got the baseboards coming up , there a little tough but as long as your patient they come up. They are one solid piece so I guess they're a little different from what you were talking about where it's 2 different pieces.

You need to be meticulous about that line in any case. Those first few rows can have a slight, unnoticed tweak or bow to them which will cause you fits as you get further into the install. The line will keep you out of trouble and you need to be snotty about staying true to it. Trust the line, not your eye.

The only problem with working off the wall, starting with a full plank, and working into the hall, is straitness. You're depending on the wall for a straight edge and that is rarely the case. Those first few rows set the tone for the rest of the job and will make or break you. Do as you please, just be prepared for the potential of some unpleasantness further into the project if you do that.

Foyer? I didn't notice a foyer in the pictures or diagram. In any case, it's OK to start where ever you want. It's just that some starting points are better suited than others.

Your end cap picture didn't work for me, but I believe we're talking about the same thing.

It's good that the base is coming off with out a lot of issues. That will make for a much cleaner looking install.

Oh believe me I want it to be straight, there's no question about that. Obviously your meaning straight as in perfectly parrallel to the walls, right? Point being that you don't get half a plank showing at one end of a wall & the full plank showing at the other, that is the point, right?

What do you think about measuring off the bedroom/living room wall the width of say 4.5 or 5.5 planks, like you originally said to do on the opposite wall & then just putting together enough rows (without worrying about the line) to make a finished section large enough to place something heavy on. Line the section I have done so far up to the line & put the heavy thing on it & keep going. When I'm done on that side, move to the wall that I measured 4.5 or so planks from & finish those few rows?

I know it sounds much like your original plan just on a different wall because I'm pretty sure it'd be a headache starting from the other wall with the tile around the fireplace plus having to keep it on that line.

Also when I finish the side with the majority of the planks how do I lock the other sides together? I thought you had to angle the tounge end to get it in the groove. So how will I angle it the right way from the opposite side? If you get what I'm saying! Haha

Can I just use a tapping block to force it or would that screw something up?

Do not force the side joints together. They aren't designed to work that way and you'll damage the locking mechanism that keeps them together.

I'm a bit confused as to the plan you're proposing. It sounds as if you want to start on both sides and work toward the middle and, since that makes no sense, I doubt that's what you're actually saying.

Your assessment of what I mean by "straight" is correct in one respect, but that actually means square or parallel with the wall. That is also very critical to a correctly installed floor, but is not entirely what I'm referring to. With those first few rows, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to click them together and think they are all in a nice straight row when they are actually a bit bowed, tweaked, or somewhat "snakey". The joints of the material fit tightly, but still have a minute amount of play that can allow them to move some, independent of each other. The purpose of the line is to give you a very true edge to work from in the beginning. This beginning set will establish the tone for the rest of the job and anything out of true here will telegraph into the rest of the install and have you talking to your tools in short order.

Your right, I wasn't meaning work from both sides & meet in the middle, haha. That would be pretty stupid.

So what your saying is the line is mainly to make sure that the planks you have laid are all falling on that line & not vering off at one end or something?! So lets say I wanted to start on the other side of the room, the wall common to the bedroom & living room, then work my way to the otherside & continue through into the hallway. I will basically measure off the wall about 4.5 planks so once I get those rows done I will be able to see if it's all straight or not. Once I ensure the planks are running on the line I just keep laying them & finish it off, right?

What's the process to make sure you dont end the flooring with a small plank of laminate? You know so it's pretty much even at start & finish. It seems like it would be even harder considering I'm running it through a doorway & into the hallway.

Also, how do I go about putting spacers underneath the sheetrock as well as door jambs & then remove them when it's all done? Do I have to cut the sheetrock up to allow room to pull them out after the floors complete or is there some trick to it? And if I end up having to lay a single plank in the middle of the entrance way to the hallway do I just grind down the tounge & add some glue so I can slide it under there or what?

Thanks for being so patient with me man, you've been a big help.

I imagine this answers one of my previous questions, is this the correct way?

Instructions:

"Use the following technique to avoid having a narrow strip of flooring in the last row, (a minimum 2.5" wide piece is recommended):

Butt a piece of flooring against the wall, where you intend to start laying the floor. Tightly butt pieces of flooring together across the room. In most cases, there will be a space between the wall and the last piece of flooring. Measure that space.

Double the expansion gap (the space that must be left between the flooring and all walls). Subtract the doubled expansion gap from that space. Add that to the width of a piece of flooring. Divide the sum in half to determine the width you need to cut the first rows of flooring.

Example: The expansion gap is 3/8", the space between the last board and the wall is 3", and the flooring is 7.60" wide.

2 x 3/8" = 3/4" or .75"
3" - .75"= 2.25"
2.25" + 7.60"= 9.85"
9.85" / 2 = 4.925" "
________________________________________________


By the way I was reading about establishing a "baseline" which I'm assuming is what you were explaining previously. Is there any advantages to doing it the way listed below or is measuring off the walls as you said fine?!

Instructions:

Establish a baseline to make up for slight imperfections in the room. Mark the center of each wall, and snap chalk lines between the opposing marks. The point where the lines intersect is the center of the room. The line running parallel to the flooring is the base line.

Measure from the center point to the wall where you intend to start the flooring. Subtract the expansion gap from this distance.

Example: The distance from the center point to the wall is 106 1/2", and the expansion gap is 3/8".

106 1/2 - 3/8"= 106 1/8"
Measure from each end of the base line toward the wall 106 1/8" and snap a chalk line between the marks. The new line is the guideline.