Laminate Flooring project of doom!

Home Depot actually takes it back?!?! I guess customer service is #1, but I can't believe people actually bring back paint. I always get about 6 or 7 of those little paint sample things. My walls look crazy for a bit with all the paint colors on the wall but at least i narrow it down to one color.

Berh premium paint and primer flat is the bomb.com.

 

Next time you are at your local store check out the "oops" paint.
Returned custom colors...
Rules of retail:
#1 the customer is always right.
#2 when the customer is wrong, refer to rule #1.

 

i started a paint war over in the TW Live Thread. all because you asked me what color paint i had on the wall.

 

No paint war. I was insulted by another member and placed him on my "ignore" list. Never did that before but I suppose there is a first time for everything.
I've been lurking in your thread here since you started. I've don a TON of laminate installs myself.

Props for a job well done!

 

The Harbor Freight saw I have been using actually has worked rather well. Once I got used to the laser being an 1/8th inch off I was able to make some pretty good cuts with it. Hopefully it works as well with the molding and quarter round. We have to go back to Sams tomorrow and get one more box of flooring. I am a row and a half away from reaching the stove and then I am going to make a flooring square under the stove to keep it level. So close! It should all be down tomorrow night so I will get some new pictures up. The fireplace was an exercise in Geometry and patience but it is done for now. It is amazing what that did for the look in your entryway. I really am looking forward to what my house will look like put back together.

 

Yes it is. We used it in the bedroom and bathroom last summer. Worked great, plus got $40 worth of HD prepaid visa cards later it in the mail.

Had to bring one back, I think they mixed ours up with someone else's. we ended up with a BRIGHT purple in the "oops" can...lol

will check it out shortly. (EDIT: All I can say is wow....)

 

I have a couple questions before I start stockpiling flooring for my project:

When you get to the last row:
1. how difficult is it to get the board in place and under the trim/doorjambs/whatever? I've heard it was kinda tricky getting the last boards down.
2. when you get to the last row, is it a complete PITA if you need to rip the boards to under 1/4 or their normal width?

When transitioning rooms is it easier to use a thresh hold to separate the rooms and possibly get back to square again?

I'm looking to do a hallway, living room and dining room and (typical ranch style home) everything kinda transitions together, my reason for asking...

 

By the time you get to the last piece you will be more comfortable with the cutting and it actually goes in. Odds are you will have to rip the piece anyway when you get to the last row, plus when you are putting a piece up to the wall, you have to rip off the edge anyway so the part that snaps together isn't on it anymore. That was done easily with a table saw. It was one of the few parts of the job that I actually liked. But you really can not do this without a table saw.

Door jams were a bit of a pain in the ass. After I trimmed them, I would either have to put the piece in off to the side and tap it over into place to slide it under, or a couple of them I just detached the trim from the wall, put it into place, and re-attached the trim.

The transitions we not bad, I just had to make sure the ends of the flooring pieces lined up within a quarter inch of each other. Just measure first before you start cutting, make sure that if you cut away your old carpeting or flooring that it will be covered by the door, mark things like crazy, mock up when possible, and be prepared to do things twice.

 

Questions in blue

 

Didn't see it mentioned. Plan your beginning and ending boards. Nothing says you have to start with a full board.

Measure your room. Say for example the room was 61 inchs wide and you had 5 inch boards. If you start with a full board your last board will be 1 inch wide.

Instead consider making the first one 3 inchs and the last one three inchs. Or maybe the end wall will have all the visual focus and you want it to be the wider board.

 

I just laid in the last piece of laminate under the stove tonight!

 

Congrats, looks great!

 

I'll upload some new pictures tomorrow night, including some of the table saw cuts that probably make the Canadians cry. I am so glad to have made it this far.

 

Heres my project today pre finished tigerwood

 

Very nice!!!

 

As promised...



The hallway view as you come out of the main bedroom. Rocky the Labrador wanted in on this picture.



The entryway into the house, this was where I started. My stagger didn't start that great, but we have plans to put a rug down here.



One of the cuts for the vents I made entirely with a table saw. I told my wife this was one of those situations where she best didn't know what I was doing or how I was doing it. She did not agree...



The kitchen, with the stove soon to be replaced I hope. The gap by the dishwasher wasn't as close as I wanted it to be. The toekick on that that thing doesn't stick out at all. As for the stove, you can't tell it but the flooring runs all the way to the back wall. I think I am going to skip the molding back there.



One of the kitchen cupboards that I ran the flooring on into. It was not easy to do, but I think this makes it look much more complete.



This was all we had left. I'm not sure if that means I am very wasteful or very precise. It felt like I threw a lot of scraps away though.



The main living area. It all looks so much larger now. Say hello Rocky...



Transitions into the bedrooms we kept the carpet in.



The fireplace. That corner piece took a couple tries. I think I am going to try surrounding it with quarter round that matches the floor color to give it more of a finished look. We will see what happens.

So there you have it. All that is left is the detail and cleanup work. And moving back in of course. We are about to head out of town for the week so I may be hit or miss with the updates after tonight. Thanks everyone for your help. Once I get back home and continue working on it, the rants and raves will continue.

 

Great job!!! hi Rocky

You might want to get another box of flooring in case you ever need to replace boards later on. Different lot might not match or if they quit making that specific color.

 

Looks awesome man! I just finished the floor me and my buddy did today, its rough work.

 

I'm glad you posted your finished work, it's giving me more motivation to give it a go. Nice job BTW.

I'm really glad you posted this picture, it was one of my specific questions having never played with this stuff:


OK, I understand how to lock in the starting side of the hallway, but how do you attach it on the opposite side you started on, meaning the door jambs? Put them in first and then slide your board into it connecting it to the rest of the hallway?

Seriously, for some reason this has me completely stumped...