Laminate floors

mossie

Hi.

I am moving to a newly built house in 4 to 6 weeks. I have purchased high quality laminate flooring (10mm and 12 mm) for some of the rooms and will be laying this myself. There are a few questions I hope someone with experience can help me with.

1. The underfloor heating was switched on before xmas on 22/12. The floors (concrete) were laid in August. How long should I have the heat on for before beginning to lay the flooring?

2. Should I switch off the heat before laying the wood, and if so how long before?

3. The wood is in the house, in each room, still in the wrapping. Should I unwrap it to acclimatise to the room?

4. When laying the wood how much expansion room should I allow at the edges?

Many thanks.
Mossie

tunner

Hi mssie. Im not an expert in this but have laid flooring in my house over the past few years. both hardwood and laminate. I dont think laminate works the same as normal wood o you probably dont have to acclimatise it to the room but if you were i would probably take most of it out of the wrapping and leave afew over in case you dont use them and you can bring them back. Wrapped. I usually use a spacer for around the walls on both sides. It would only swell width wise if you get me and not length wise but if you dont have a spacer use your finger as a general rule.

Tunner

slimjimmc

There are conflicting theories on whether the packs should be opened or unopened when acclimatising. Have you checked the instructions in the pack for advice specific to your product?

You'll need to lay a damp proof membrane (usually 1000 gauge polythene sheet) to protect your laminate against damp. Lay the sheet across the entire floor area and a few cm up the walls/fireplace to protect the edges of the boards. Any joints in the sheet should be overlapped by 300mm, seal all joints with waterproof tape. Check carefully for tears and holes no matter how small and seal them with tape.

You don't usually need to switch off the heating before laying unless the manufacturer says otherwise.

Expansion gap is usually 12-15mm around walls, fireplace and door frames. Door frames will need to be undercut to allow the boards tuck neatly under.

DublinDilbert

slimjimmc wrote: »

Door frames will need to be undercut to allow the boards tuck neatly under.

I normally just use an off cut of laminate (to get the height right) and a hand saw to cut away a tiny bit of the architrave and door jam...

Also becareful how you join the laminate at the door threshold, door sadle. If its a door saddle get the joiner bar that screws down. This is the bit of the floor that will become damaged if not protected, also its the bit everyone sees

mossie

Guys,

Thanks for the info. I will put it to good use.

Mossie

osnoyl

dont use any polythene sheet under your floor when there is under floor heating. it stops some of the heat coming trough . there is special underlay for underfloor heating