Our Laminate Flooring Remodel project.

 

We decided to go with laminate flooring because it appeared to be relatively simple to install and we would have a nice look without the expense of having to hire out the labor for the installation.  For the most part we were correct in our expectation.  However, it did take a considerable amount of time to do this project.

 

We have a 1700sf house.  We basically decided to refloor the entire house with the exception of the bathrooms.   The flooring we chose is called Quick-Step and it is a tongue and groove design that snaps together.  We basically started in the dining room and laid the floor as one solid, floating piece through out the whole house.  The laminate sections are about 47in’s long by 7.5 in’s wide.  They have to be cut to length and cuts need to be made for around door jams and any other obstacles.  We used a table saw and a scroll saw to make these cuts.  An interesting result of this was that our sales man indicated we had around 2% wasted material which amazed him as usually there is much more than that.

 

Laying a line of flooring is pretty simple and fast, however there are slow times as well.  The manufacturer recommends staggering the flooring, which requires cutting sections of the 47 inch floor pieces, making the shorter.  For example, you start with a 15-inch piece, and then the next row will start with a 30-inch piece.  The next row would then have a full section.  This process is repeated through out the installation process.

 

One thing that I would warn you about are the actual installation tools.  The floor pieces are laid down and then taped together using a formed plastic block that is tapped with a hammer.  The design of the block is not well designed.  There isn’t enough space to allow you to hold the block securely against the flooring while tapping it with a hammer.  If the block isn’t held correctly, it can cause chips to the laminate flooring.  Of course if the flooring it chipped you have to through it out.  I was able to complete the job without damaging to many pieces of flooring, but the effort to avoid the problem was considerable.  If the block of plastic was twice as big as it was, providing more space for holding it against the laminate, it would have been a big help.

 

Overall I would recommend this product.  Be prepared for the time it takes to install the flooring and have the tools available to do the job.  Having power tools is much preferable