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Stafford Blueprint
Hi Joe,
I’m finally ready to kick off our LVP install. I want to share up front that I’ve glanced at a few of the other threads here and while I absolutely absolutely absolutely appreciate your time and input, please do not feel the need to recap the videos you’ve already published. If it’s easier for you, fine – but I have watched all of the content, I have a decent memory, and I promise to ask questions if I have them.
A couple facts:
– I am installing Cali Bamboo LVP longboards. They are a massive 6 feet long and 9 inches wide.
– Another member on the site was thoughtful enough to share their experience installing Cali Bamboo.
– I am installing over QuietWalk LVP underlayment.
– We are in the Seattle area so do not need to worry about temp extremes.
– Houses in Seattle typically don’t have basements, just crawl space under the house.
– Our house was built in 2006 if that provides any hints about what we will run into.
– I have ~1050 sq ft to cover. I will be covering everything on the first floor that is not stairs, fireplace, or kitchen counters.
– I have weekends and some nights to work on the project, so forgive me if my responses are delayed (and I’ll offer you the same grace).
A few quick questions to get started, please feel free to point me to a video if it exists:
– I am assuming based on what I’ve seen that you would advise running the planks east/west, starting at the south a row or two out from the fireplace – but curious whether the long room north/south changes your opinion. Light flows mostly east/west in the house.
– When snapping lines, you talk about folding back the underlayment. Is there a reason not to snap lines on top of the underlayment?
– I am planning to use a foil tape that is waterproof and fire resistant to seal the underlayment together, thoughts? https://www.harborfreight.com/2-inch-x-50-yard-flame-retardant-aluminum-foil-tape-96372.html
– If I am only doing this one project, is it worth buying the pull bar and tapping block you recommend? We can afford it, but as you know we are frugal and we want to make sure we will get the value out of it.
– Most of the flooring is carpet, easy to remove. Laundry (marked utility in the image) is linoleum/vinyl. Kitchen, bathroom, and by the front door appear to be glued-down laminate. I have a floor scraper, any special tips on removing glue without damaging the subfloor?
– What do you recommend folks do with baseboard? I assume I should remove it carefully and try to reinstall it after the flooring is in if the baseboard can be reused. Do you recommend reinstalling as you go, or waiting until the project is done?
– Given that our house is somewhat modern, is it fair to assume the glued-down laminate does not run under our cupboards? If it does, fair to assume I just use the oscillating saw to cut it off even with the cupboards?
Thank you again, and look forward to your help on this project!
Mark
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17 Replies
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Thanks Joe! https://soapbox.wistia.com/videos/jBJ56p0mhg
– Used floorplanner.com for diagram and it is free + easy, just took a screenshot to send to you in high res
– As you discovered, north is on the diagram
– The space between the kitchen and bedroom is a walk-through, more in the video
– Based on your feedback it sounds like running plank east/west makes sense
– I’ll leave the trim off until the end and will mark it for easy replacement; this will also make it easier for me to paint
– If you think the better tools will save me 30 mins or 1-2 boards, I’ll buy them, otherwise I’ll buy something cheaper and give the difference to a cause we support (e.g. http://thekitaleproject.org)
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Here are the measurements for the hallway – the narrow part is 45″ and the wide part is an additional 46″ (91″ total). Cali longboards are 9″ wide. It seems like we will need to choose one of the following options, probably #2 but I’ll defer to your opinion. Before striking a line I will do the 10-board thing to verify board width, just assuming they are actually 9″ for now.
1. 5x full boards across narrow part of hallway. Pros: perfect fit in main hallway area, and the narrow board against the wall in the wide part would be hidden by a shelf so that area would look really good. Cons: requires some planing to leave room for expansion joint, requires a <1″ wide board west of the doorway to the utility room. Line: 18″ from north wall (2x board width, as mentioned would plane 1/4″ from north board for expansion joint).
2. 4x full boards, half boards on either side of narrow part of hallway. Pros: would still look balanced, all boards would have enough width to be solid, probably could even use the halves of the board on opposite sides of the hallway. Cons: wouldn’t look as good as 5x full boards, somewhat more work to install. Line: 22 1/2″ from north wall (since joint will be on center line).
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Thank you! I will at least get you a pic of the tongue/groove, my understanding is that it is hammer down but we’ll see. I’ll also do the math on the doorways, I suspect I’m going to have the problem with the laundry/utility room but here’s hoping!
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Also, I have 9 kids and my house is lived in! No worries on a mess my friend.
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(moved reply to thread above)
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Hi Joe, mostly updates with a couple questions – probably oversharing but feedback is ALWAYS appreciated.
Good news – I /think/ I can make the measurements work to fit all doorways. Pics attached. It will require me to offset the planks a small amount so the north/south sides of the hallway will not be exactly equal, but it seems like the best solution. Thank you for the nudge, I did see it in your videos but I probably would have focused more on hitting the north doorways and this fine-tuning will save me some grief later.
My main question is about the glued-down areas. When I was pulling out the glued-down laminate by the front door, the glue took some of the subfloor with it. Just the outer layer, not so much that I’m particularly alarmed but I wanted to check in before I move too far forward. I plan to put a level on it to see how things are looking. I can feel some glue still on the floor when I am barefoot but my flooring has attached pad and I have the QuietWalk to absorb some of the variance. I’ll make a nominal effort to smooth it out a bit more. What amount of variance would you say warrants additional effort to feather finish?
Also, the gaps between the subfloor tend to be 1/16″ – 1/8″. I believe this is not a problem but tell me if I’ve got that wrong.
What I hope to get done over the weekend:
– Finish removing carpet pad, nail strips, and trim
– Move all debris out of the way
– Sweep, then sweep again
– Measure 10 boards
– Finalize line location in hallway (aligned with doors vs. exact center of hallway) and snap line
– Use the orange construction line method to extend the line all the way east-west
– Lay first 3 rows of plank 1 row north of hearth on south wall
– Secure plank with screwed-down scraps
– Lay plank through great room and most of the hallDoes that sound right? Anything I’m missing? Final reminders/admonishments/exhortations? 🙂
I’ll need to find a video on cutting around HVAC as I don’t remember having seen that in the main part of the course and I have two floor vents to work around.
I’ll send a bunch of photos in a follow up post in the next few minutes to give you a feel for the space and boards but wanted to get the bulk of the update to you first.
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Thread for initial pics
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Walk-through room you inquired about on the floor plan. As you noted I will use these doorways to strike a line through kitchen/bedroom.
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Plank tongue & groove photos.
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Bathroom-to-laundry door measurements and plank layout. Note that in the vertical photo of the planks in the hallway the planks are closely aligned to the actual center of the hallway, but the seam between the middle boards needs to fall at 27″. The horizontal photo is probably how they will actually be laid out. Total width of planks needs to be a multiple of 9″ (asterisk, still haven’t measured the 10 planks yet), so the 99″ measurement appears to be the magic number.
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Photos of what the glued-down laminate pulled up. I think we’re talking ~1/16″ or so, really just appears to be the surface flakes of the subfloor.
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And some other photos of the space just for fun.
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here is that video – https://youtu.be/8ZmkxroZ11g
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Thanks for the advice! I will provide an update next week.
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