Today we began laying laminate flooring in a tiny hall (4x4) and bedroom (12x12). I wanted to run the planks from the hall into the bedroom. We were able to get around the door jamb, but every time we try to join the planks they separate somewhere else.
We pulled up what we had done and started from scratch in the bedroom corner, it showed the obvious bow along that wall.
I had a suggestion to lay a good line and keep on laying, then hammer in toward the room from that wall later, after there is some stability on the floor. The more we do the worse it looks (but then again my husband keeps tapping toward that wall).
We previously laid the floor in another bedroom and did not have this kind of problems. Any suggestions are appreciated!
Posts: 23 | Location: SC | Registered: Jan 28, 2005
Sounds as if you are not keeping plumb from the hallway into the other room. You need to establish a straight plane from the hallway to the bedroom. You cannot come off of each wall as most likely they are not true and square. It is not a good idea to use laminate through a doorway. There is no room for expansion. They make a transition that will allow movement. If all else fails lay the two rooms seperately and get a transition to go in the doorway.
Posts: 685 | Location: Applachain | Registered: Feb 13, 2007
Our laminate layer left space around the perimeter of the room for expansion. The quarter-round covers it. We do not have a transition piece going from the kitchen to the hall and to the laundry room. Are you leaving space around the perimeter (walls) of the room and the perimeter (walls) of the hall for expansion?
There is an expansion gap all the way around that will later be covered with a quarter round.
The wall is bowed. We picked up the 3 or 4 rows we had laid down and tried to start over just in the bedroom. It was as bad as running it through the hall.
Posts: 23 | Location: SC | Registered: Jan 28, 2005
It is likely that most homes have a wall that is not square. Start by making a sqaure line someplace in room that is going to be obvious when you first walk in. Then move that line to whatever wall you want to start with. On the first wall you will have to trim the pieces so they match the line you have drawn and the still leave an equal (or almost equal) space for expansion (that will be under the quarter round. It will be an uneven cut but you will not notice when it is done,
If it were me, I would square everything up to the door jamb and then transfer those lines to the far wall and start there.
If boards are coming apart further away from where you are working I would suspect they are too tight to the wall or they did not properly click together. They could be shifting and filling the expansion joint unless you have a temp. spacer in there. They could also be too tight under the door jamb and you can not see it.
Posts: 5965 | Location: North MN & Northern AR | Registered: Oct 01, 2002
Could there be a bad batch of boards? I had 7 boxes. The first few boards I put down are HORRIBLE. By trying to get one joint to seat (longitudinally, by hammering in towards the center of the room) it pulls another joint (end) out ½ inch.
We decided to keep going and deal with it later. After about the fourth row it looks great, but while installing, every once in a while we would get a board that would not click in along the entire length of the previous board. We started tossing those aside and the new one (maybe from a different pile) would lock right in. I have a ton of extra boards. Can the floor in the “starting” corner be removed and relayed or should we cut at the threshold and lay the hall separately? All of the “play” ended up there. The first board cut tight around the door jamb is now almost an inch away from the jamb and ½ an inch from the second board.
Posts: 23 | Location: SC | Registered: Jan 28, 2005
Did you just mis-speak here? Nothing is to be tight. You should have undercut the frame to hide the edge and then leave the expansion joint under the door frame.
Posts: 5965 | Location: North MN & Northern AR | Registered: Oct 01, 2002
