Laminate Flooring

[stealth]

I am thinking of putting laminate flooring in my living room. Now, is it worth hiring someone?

I hear it is an easy weekend job? Any insight or tips?

[B20EF]

I found it very easy. Do you have a basic knowledge of how to use tools like a mitre saw, jig saw, tape measure, hammer and wedge - lol. Prep is important, you have to make sure your floor is perfectly flat without dips or rises otherwise you'll have to lay cement to even it out.
All in all it took me a week of working on it after work and on the weekend in my condo.

[stealth]

Yea I know how to use tools. I think my floor should be level. It is on the second floor, so all that is underneath is wood.

[masoncgy]

It's very easy, but you need to have a ton of patience and stick by the rule of 'measure twice, cut once.'

As mentioned, you have to ensure the subfloor is flat and fill in any spots that are low so the floor is nice and smooth.

It pays to have a helper around to hand you boards and to also apply weight when tapping in certain sections.

Wear knee pads, trust me! I have installed enough of this stuff over the years.

[B20EF]

I'm sure there's proper tools to check if it's level but I used a string from one corner of the room to the other and made sure it was touching even all the way across.
I felt like a hack but I bought a 'how to' dvd for laminate flooring to get me started and it pretty much gave me what i needed to know to get it done.

[atgilchrist]

If you get the click-lock type flooring, installation is a snap, as the seams pulls themselves nice and tight. And you'll feel like a hero when the finished product looks pro.

[quazimoto]

Just buy the install kit at home depot. Just contains a plastic block and a metal hook that let you gently tap the pieces in to place. I'd suggest using glue to make sure the edges don't come apart.

[legendboy]

don't do it in yor living room, spring for hardwood. Rock it in your basement.

[frozenrice]

Originally posted by quazimoto
Just buy the install kit at home depot. Just contains a plastic block and a metal hook that let you gently tap the pieces in to place. I'd suggest using glue to make sure the edges don't come apart.

Glue is good in theory, but if you ever have to replace a board it'll make for a big headache. The newer click systems are much better for this. Less mess too.

[stealth]

Originally posted by legendboy
don't do it in yor living room, spring for hardwood. Rock it in your basement.

If it was my primary residence I would.

[EM1FTW]

Its super easy.
My dad and I did a fairly large room in an afternoon/evening

[Kloubek]

Yeah, with ANY kind of do-it-yourselfness ability, you shouldn't have any trouble. Buy kneepads though - the $5 will be money well spent.

[quazimoto]

People knock laminate way too much. There are some really nice single plank laminate floors you can buy now that look extremely nice and not so cheezy as wood panel floors. I'm doing it in my moms house just to resell it. Granted we are pretty certain a property developer will buy her house to rent it out so laminate floors make sense.

In a nice new 2000 sq foot house I would do hardwood or engineered wood.

[anhsicun]

bumping an old thread, my mom got some laminated floor done in her basement. wen they finish i walked on it and it feels very soft mushy. i ask teh installer why it liek that, and he said insted of gluing it to the floor he use these bubble foam sheets then put teh laminated floor ontop. by doing that he said it would be warmer durring the winter times. anyone here herad of this process? it kinda sounds bs to me and he did this to cut corners insted of gluing it.

[-TOFU-]

The bubble foam sheets is actually the underlay for the laminate flooring, the laminate flooring is not suppose to be glued onto the floor as it is a floating floor, but some have put glue in the joints of the piecesso so they wont come apart or leave little cracks due to moving of furniture or what not. Sounds to me that your basement floor is not leveled or he did 2 layers of the underlay.

[masoncgy]

^ Exactly. A laminate floor will only be soft in areas where the subfloor is uneven. Even with doubled up underlay, it would not feel noticeably squishy in areas unless there was space for the laminate to flex.

Was just a rushed job... no worries... it happens... contractors suck.

Oh wait... lol. Well, some do!

[Mixalot27]

I'm wondering if there are any special precautions or considerations in installing Laminate on floors that have radiant in floor heating?

Also assuming I hire someone to do the install, does $1.75 per sq/ft sound like a reasonable price?