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Starting my floor – single level
Hello, thanks for all the great information you have. I will be attaching the floor plain and pictures. The pictures will be labeled in the drawing to help get a mental image. My wife has decided on a specific color, which is why we picked the brand. I have not purchased the laminate yet. I will be buying it soon for home delivery. I am going to be doing the entire firs floor which includes an entryway (EW), Living Room (LR), and Kitchen.
The type of laminate I am going to be using Home Decorators at Home Depot. The planks 12mm thick, 4.76 wide and 47.72 long.
I was thinking of running it from West to east, starting in the NW corner in the LR. I was going to snap one line that goes from LR all the way into kitchen and base my install off of that line, assuming I don’t get super small pieces. I haven’t measured that yet. This would require me to work backwards in the kitchen. The plank would come to the stairs at a 40 degree angle.
Let me know your thoughts or if you have a better idea. I am not set on this way. I think running the plank West to East will make the place look bigger, but I am not a pro.
Questions I currently have:
Stairs will remain carpeted. I am kind of confused about those transitions. I believe going downstairs, I just get a stair nose and use that. Tack strip the carpet on the riser ending at the nose. Going up stairs, I would tack strip the carpet on the riser coming down to the floor. How will I hide that spot, since the laminate will all be angled coming up next to the riser. FYI, I have all the tools required to make jigs, etc to keep it all precise. I have a table saw, jig saw, and compound miter saw. The only tool I bought for this job was the oscillating tool and the guillotine looking tool to cut the plank without dust.
How do I get the plank around the gas shutoff valve? Use a hole saw or something?
My exterior doors need a lot of work with the threshold trim. I am not sure how to make this look nice.
Please see floor plan and pictures. I can take more pictures if you need them. I will order the laminate today. If it can’t be delivered this week, then I will order it when I get back from a work trip on April 16th. I want to have the whole project completed by May.
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26 Replies
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More PIcs
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Here you go Scott-http://somup.com/crfhIsbJ2r
Here is a link to the video I told you about (look at 21:40)-https://youtu.be/DoeMwcnBpXw
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Watch these videos too-http://somup.com/crfh2VbJoZ
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Thank you for you response. I was forming a reply while watching your videos and lost the reply. So, I will start again.
Please see attached floor plan. I use sketch up 2017. It is free and you can do much much more with it. I could actually design my whole house with layers and show 2×4’s in internal walls if I wanted to do that. I used it to design a simple 8×8 shed with a lean-to roof, but I haven’t actually built the shed yet. HOA part is hard to get around. I need permits, and approval from HOA with proper drainage drawings.
Anyway, back to the floor. I have seen probably 80% or more of all of your videos on youtube. I think I got the stairs now, but will ask more when I get to the install. For now, I am going to order the laminate and plan on some dates to get in here and knock it all out.
I still think it will be easier starting in the Living Room. My diagram does not show the fireplace. It is located at the bottom of the picture to the left of the doorway. If I started in the kitchen, I would have to do the fireplace and one angle backwards. If I start in the living room, I will only need to do 2 angles backwards in the kitchen. But if you still think it is easier in the kitchen start, I will do that. You said it was a toss up, so I am thinking living room, but I will definitely follow your guide.
That totally makes sense on the gas valve. I knew I was going to need to use a hole saw, but didn’t think about putting the seam there. That will make that much easier.
I do not want to use any quarter round. I am doing all new baseboards. I probably won’t contact you until I am finally into the project. It will be a couple of weeks. Thanks again for you help. I am sure I will run into more stuff I will need some help on.
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I actually have some more questions. I am ordering the parts to complete this project. I am ordering it all from Home Depot. I am not sure what I will need to use at the Fireplace tile. Should I use T-Molding or a Reducer put in backwards? Or can I just do the measurements very good and put nothing? Is that an option?
Sorry, I will try and be more to the point:
Exterior doors – What do I need for the threshold. My doors look horrible.
Fire Place – use nothing, reducer, or T-molding? Currently the subfloor is 3/4″ below tile. When I add quiet pad and laminate that is 3mm + 12mm =15 mm which is 1.5cm and 1.5/2.54 therefore = 0.6 inches or 9/16 inch lower than tile.
Do I need seam tape for the pads? I see some videos where it already has it.
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Headed home from work trip to pick up my plank and pad. How long does it need to sit in my house to acclimate to temps. It is currently cold and snowing in Denver. I have read 48 hours. Do I really need to go that long. It is laminate.
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Maybe I missed your response, but I am not sure how to make the exterior door look good. There are pics in my earlier post.
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you need to put a piece of plank next to it and share a pic for me to give the best answer. I would wait at least 1 day. Bring it in the house and start opening boxes.
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also, watch this video-https://laminateuniversity.sothatshowyoudothat.com/how-to-install-plank-to-an-exterior-door/
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Thank you. I will send pics as soon as I get laminate. What should I do with these metal bands? Install over then?
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Well I bought a norske 13″ laminate cutter. It doesn’t seem to difficult, but cuts my plank horribly. I paid $129.00 for it, and I believe it is junk. I didn’t want to have all the dust. I guess I will be using my chop saw, table saw, and jig saw. Please look at these pics and let me know if I am doing something wrong. Or did I get too cheap of laminate? I got home decorators from home depot. If it is too cheap, I guess I will be doing it again in a few years.
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Another thing, Joe, my toe kicks in kitchen has this plastic stuff glued to the toe kick and floor. When they built the home they put linoleum down, then installed cabinets, dishwasher, and stove. I know I said I wanted it to be perfect, but I will be leaving cabinets, dishwasher, and stove in place and install laminate just barely under cabinets. This means I will need to rip out and replace toe kicks unless you have another plan. I don’t want quarter round and that plastic looks horrible. Please see pics.
Project is getting bigger the further I go. At first it was just laminate in living room. Then it was laminate and baseboards, then kitchen and now toe kicks
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I am glad I got a membership. I am running into more issues. I am sure it is easy. My thoughts are to cut drywall around the room with oscillating tool and cut these nails with bolt cutters or sawzall.
What is your expert advice? My drywall goes almost to subfloor in a lot of the room. These nails are toenails from most likely exterior load bearing wall. It looks like they got carried away on some of them and they are in my way. My baseboard will not cover the expansion gap with these nails in the way. Please see pics. I do not want to use quarter round. I will be putting all new baseboards in after floor is installed. I could slot the laminate around the nails too and hope baseboards would cover it up. Probably easier to cut nails.
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Im really having issues in what to put at exterior doors. I originally didn’t want to use any quarter round in this installation. Eventually I might replace the threshold with new one. But for now, what should I do here? Reducer? For now I will be running quarter inch from this unless you have other idea. I won’t get to it today, I don’t think…
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I have been working left to right and tongue into groove. Now I will be working my kitchen backwards. Can I work right to left? I would be switching my direction entirely. It seems easier to start on the wall and work towards the cabinets. If I continue in the same direction, I would be starting under the cabinets and ending at the wall, but still back filling.
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