Laminate flooring installation.

[DrPizza]

My concern would be moisture, period. Not just freezing, but you're talking about a mold issue. I'd talk with someone at Home Depot, Lowes or Ace and get their opinion (if you can find the "area" expert.) There should be a putty you can use to fill those divots in, if not a sealer.

You have a heck of a lot more faith in the "experts" at the box stores than I do. I went from "it can't be done" by one of their experts (some plumbing fittings) to a person at a mom&pop hardware store grabbing 3 fittings off the shelf that I needed in less than 30 seconds.

I just have to ask the "hole fillers" what exactly they are protecting against? Most modern basements are going to have expansion joints cut into them that will collect water too. Are you going to fill them in? Most floors will also have low spots that very few people (and even contractors) will fix that will pool far more water than a couple nail holes ever would.

The most moisture you are going to get is condensation on the slab if it's not enviromentally controlled as humidity and temperatures fluctuate through the seasons. If this is a concern then no hole filling is going to fix it and laminate or carpet should be avoided.

Since carpet was used before thats probably not the case as is other water concerns.

If you get enough water in there to fill those holes you have a lot more to worry about.

Just my thoughts anyway....

I've agreed 100% with everything vi edit said in this thread, except the direction that the flooring runs above joists. In that case, it sometimes depends on the underlayment. In some old houses, the underlayment is perpendicular to the joists (when they used planks, rather than plywood), which causes the flooring to be parallel to the joists.

 

[edro]

I installed laminate in my old house and it required the entire row be assembled, end to end, before connecting it to the previous row.
If you go with option B, you will definitely need 2-3 people to help hold it at 45° and them connect it to the previous row.

Different models connect differently though. You might be ok with either option.

 

[vi edit]

I installed laminate in my old house and it required the entire row be assembled, end to end, before connecting it to the previous row.
If you go with option B, you will definitely need 2-3 people to help hold it at 45° and them connect it to the previous row.

Different models connect differently though. You might be ok with either option.

Gah! What brand is that so we can all avoid it. That's horrible. My wife actually did all of our laminate flooring by herself...and those rooms were 200 sq/ft to 300 sq/ft each.

Also - check into a laminate cutter instead of a mitre saw. It's quiet, doesn't leave cardboard like sawdust every where, and won't destroy blades on your mitre saw.

It's like a big paper cutter looking thing except it's got a blunt blade instead of a sharp one.

 

[edro]

You have a heck of a lot more faith in the "experts" at the box stores than I do.

I agree.

I have been to Home Depot, Lowes and True Value ~50 times in the last 6 months. I do not trust ANYTHING anyone says.
They work in a retail store... they are not experts.
They usually have zero experience applying the products they sell. They make assumptions based on previous customer discussions and on best guesses.

It's nice of them to try to help you, but unless they know for sure, they shouldn't answer.

I have been burned numerous times and heard even more bad advice that I didn't take, because I knew it was dead wrong.

Your best bet on home improvement is a forum dedicated to the subject matter. Search for numerous opinions from real professionals.

Tile: http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.php
Electrical: http://forums.mikeholt.com/
Plumbing and General Remodel: http://www.terrylove.com/forums/

Be advised though, they generally answer with "best possible solution" and not with "what will work 90% of the time".

 

[CPA]

I agree.

I have been to Home Depot, Lowes and True Value ~50 times in the last 6 months. I do not trust ANYTHING anyone says.
They work in a retail store... they are not experts.
They usually have zero experience applying the products they sell. They make assumptions based on previous customer discussions and on best guesses.

It's nice of them to try to help you, but unless they know for sure, they shouldn't answer.

I have been burned numerous times and heard even more bad advice that I didn't take, because I knew it was dead wrong.

Your best bet on home improvement is a forum dedicated to the subject matter. Search for numerous opinions from real professionals.

Tile: http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.php
Electrical: http://forums.mikeholt.com/
Plumbing and General Remodel: http://www.terrylove.com/forums/

Be advised though, they generally answer with "best possible solution" and not with "what will work 90% of the time".

I know they sell overstock, but I have always had great success at Lumber Liquidators and they generally know what they are talking about.

 

[Drako]

I know they sell overstock, but I have always had great success at Lumber Liquidators and they generally know what they are talking about.

I had good luck with iFloor.com when I installed hardwood in our house. As with any of these, make sure you get samples before you buy.

 

[dabuddha]

Thanks again for the help folks! I hauled all the boxes of laminate to my basement last night (instructions said to let it acclimate for at least 48 hours). Also read the instructions and it said I should install the boards so the seams are parallel to the main light source. This would mean Option B which goes side to side since the bottom left of the drawing is where my sliding glass door is. Means more cuts but at least they're short cuts (not lengthwise cuts)

 

[Zargon]

I know they sell overstock, but I have always had great success at Lumber Liquidators and they generally know what they are talking about.

i have 580 sq ft of red oak from LL in my basement right now.

come july I am likely going to regret it!

 

[dabuddha]

Another side note. I realized this morning on my train ride in to work, I should probably lay down speaker wire now while I have the floor bare and the wall trim removed. I was planning on moving my 5.1 system to my basement. Question is, can I run the speaker wire straight across the floor (probably a bad idea even if it's under the underlayment?) or can I at run it along the edges of the room (kinda tucked alongside the wall) then up behind the wall to a wall plate similar to this:

http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Banana...4686342&sr=8-2

Something like this behind where my receiver will be:
http://www.amazon.com/PHIW71-Theater...4686342&sr=8-1

 

[Trianon]

Gah! What brand is that so we can all avoid it. That's horrible. My wife actually did all of our laminate flooring by herself...and those rooms were 200 sq/ft to 300 sq/ft each.

Also - check into a laminate cutter instead of a mitre saw. It's quiet, doesn't leave cardboard like sawdust every where, and won't destroy blades on your mitre saw.

It's like a big paper cutter looking thing except it's got a blunt blade instead of a sharp one.

Damn it, I wish I knew about those things 2 weeks ago, still cleaning up after installing 500sq. f

Note for future 4 sure, thanks, VI!

 

[vi edit]

Another side note. I realized this morning on my train ride in to work, I should probably lay down speaker wire now while I have the floor bare and the wall trim removed. I was planning on moving my 5.1 system to my basement. Question is, can I run the speaker wire straight across the floor (probably a bad idea even if it's under the underlayment?) or can I at run it along the edges of the room (kinda tucked alongside the wall) then up behind the wall to a wall plate similar to this:

http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Banana...4686342&sr=8-2

Something like this behind where my receiver will be:
http://www.amazon.com/PHIW71-Theater...4686342&sr=8-1

What I have done in the past is run it along the bottom edge of the drywall. There should be a 1/2" or so gap between where the drywall meets the floor. Use that for your channel. Then when you want to run it up the wall drill a small hole at the bottom of the drywall and tuck it in there. Snake it up to where your mount your low voltage box and binding plate. Then you put your baseboard back on and it hides the hole you drilled.

At least that's the easiest way to do it in my experience. You'll use up a lot more wire going all the way around, but it's worth it having it hidden and not making a lump under your floor.

 

[Zargon]

Another side note. I realized this morning on my train ride in to work, I should probably lay down speaker wire now while I have the floor bare and the wall trim removed. I was planning on moving my 5.1 system to my basement. Question is, can I run the speaker wire straight across the floor (probably a bad idea even if it's under the underlayment?) or can I at run it along the edges of the room (kinda tucked alongside the wall) then up behind the wall to a wall plate similar to this:

http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Banana...4686342&sr=8-2

Something like this behind where my receiver will be:
http://www.amazon.com/PHIW71-Theater...4686342&sr=8-1

are you doing a separate moisture barrier and underlayment? if so, I would do it under the underlayment(but over the moisture barrier).

 

[dabuddha]

What I have done in the past is run it along the bottom edge of the drywall. There should be a 1/2" or so gap between where the drywall meets the floor. Use that for your channel. Then when you want to run it up the wall drill a small hole at the bottom of the drywall and tuck it in there. Snake it up to where your mount your low voltage box and binding plate. Then you put your baseboard back on and it hides the hole you drilled.

At least that's the easiest way to do it in my experience. You'll use up a lot more wire going all the way around, but it's worth it having it hidden and not making a lump under your floor.

I'll go with that then. As for cutting the laminate, I saw someone above mentioned the laminate cutter as an alternative to a saw (less messy). I'm assuming this is the one?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053

If so, does it work well with lenghtwise cuts as well? I hate cleanup duty and just realized that theres going to be a lot of sawdust lol

 

[vi edit]

This is more like what I used:
http://www.amazon.com/QEP-10-35-Lami...4687901&sr=8-1

It's used to shorten boards (cross cut). It's not meant to make them narrower (rip cut). You'll want a circular saw, table saw, or jig saw for that.

And yes, it worked great with my 9mm laminate. If you have some heavy duty 12mm stuff I don't know how easy it would be to operate. But on our stuff it cut it cleanly, and with very little mess. Nice thing is that it's fairly quiet so you can work at night if the kids are sleeping.

 

[dabuddha]

are you doing a separate moisture barrier and underlayment? if so, I would do it under the underlayment(but over the moisture barrier).

It's an all in one thing (moisture barrier + underlayment. I'll go with Vi's method as far as running the wires (along the baseboard). Since there's a gap between the drywall and the floor, I can slip it under there and fish tape it up

 

[dabuddha]

This is more like what I used:
http://www.amazon.com/QEP-10-35-Lami...4687901&sr=8-1

It's used to shorten boards (cross cut). It's not meant to make them narrower (rip cut). You'll want a circular saw, table saw, or jig saw for that.

And yes, it worked great with my 9mm laminate. If you have some heavy duty 12mm stuff I don't know how easy it would be to operate. But on our stuff it cut it cleanly, and with very little mess. Nice thing is that it's fairly quiet so you can work at night if the kids are sleeping.

Mines 6 or 7mm ( went with the cheap stuff since it's my basement lol). I found this @ homedepot

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053

Looks similar to what you used. I guess I'll keep my table saw for the lengthwise cuts then. I'll just use my miter saw for the cross cuts (since I already own one). Just need a blade. 60+ teeth carbide blade should be good enough I think?

 

[Zargon]

I'll go with that then.

yeah vi edits method is good.

 

[dabuddha]

I'd need something like this to go with those wall plates right?

http://www.amazon.com/Carlon-SC100RR.../dp/B000W09PQI

 

[vi edit]

I'd need something like this to go with those wall plates right?

http://www.amazon.com/Carlon-SC100RR.../dp/B000W09PQI

Perfect!

:thumbsup:

 

[dabuddha]

Man I have to say, I'm real excited about doing this. I'll post some after pics. I'll take before pics but the before pics aren't real before pics (before I removed all the old flooring and painted the walls).

 

[vi edit]

With your laminate did you buy the install kit with the pull bar, tapping block and spacers?

That pull bar is very handy as you get close to walls.

 

[dabuddha]

Yep picked it up last night!

 

[dabuddha]

Forgot to mention, I'll be putting down about 20 square feet of tile by my sliding door. This way if someone comes in from the outside, they'll be able to wipe their feet on a rug on the tile floor. Plus if they come in and it's pouring rain outside, only the tile should get wet.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Technically, if this was a main/2nd floor that would be over floor joists you would run perpendicular to the joists. Since it's a slab you can go either direction.

Personally I would rather have the planks running parallel to the short wall. If you are off square at all it'll be much harder to tell and you won't have a running bond going the length of the long wall.

But that's just me.

Joist direction has no bearing on floating laminate floors. Am I wrong to assume this is Pergo-like flooring? There is no structural element to the flooring and it does not get nailed down anywhere, so the subfloor has to support all the weight, making it the only thing you would worry about in relation to the framing. All moot points in this conversation.

The best way to make the room appear larger is to run the planks 45 degrees. This is no harder than running them parallel to the walls.

I also assume there will be baseboard/shoe to cover the edge gaps.

I would straight up AVOID laminate floor in a basement in any 4 season climate. Ceramic tile is by far the better option, and will provide a terrific moisture barrier. I wouldn't even float a dimensional wood floor in a basement. You know your basement better than I do, just saying.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Another side note. I realized this morning on my train ride in to work, I should probably lay down speaker wire now while I have the floor bare and the wall trim removed. I was planning on moving my 5.1 system to my basement. Question is, can I run the speaker wire straight across the floor (probably a bad idea even if it's under the underlayment?) or can I at run it along the edges of the room (kinda tucked alongside the wall) then up behind the wall to a wall plate similar to this:

http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Banana...4686342&sr=8-2

Something like this behind where my receiver will be:
http://www.amazon.com/PHIW71-Theater...4686342&sr=8-1

You can run it around the perimeter after you install the floor. Leave yourself a 1/2" gap; it will get covered by baseboard. Where the wires terminate, you can easily run the last few feet up the wall and house the ends in nice boxes with banana plug female connections (heh, that sounds kid of dirty).