Seeking advice about laminate flooring

hibby

I'd like to ask for advice from the knowledgeable people here.

We're getting new laminate flooring in our kitchen (as part of a kitchen makeover) and we've chosen the product we want (Swiss Krono 14mm Grand Selection). I have three questions:

1) Is there the option of laying it directly on top of the existing ceramic tiles? Or do we have to remove the tiles and grouting? Note that the tiles don't go all the way to the walls under the existing units and I want the laminate flooring to be wall to wall.

2) We were quoted for a basic underlay (3 mm PE foam). I'm prepared to pay more for a good underlay if it means better thermal insulation properties. Sound insulation isn't an issue because it's a ground floor installation on 10-inch thick solid concrete foundation. What underlay would you recommend we use?

3) The new kitchen design will have an "island" and I want to have a 13A electrical socket on the island (no water or drainage). Obviously I want to run the cable or conduit before the wood flooring goes down as I can't see how we could do it afterwards. What's the best approach to doing this? Should I just put a length of the grey 1.5 mm2 twin-and-earth cable from the edge of the floor to a hole in the floor where the island will be? Is there enough room for PVC conduit? Should it sit on top of the underlay?

Note that I'm not proposing to do any electrical work myself, just to leave it ready for the electrician to terminate at each end.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Dara

kev1.3s

Not a timber floor expert but a ceramic tiler, you will need to fill in the areas not covered by tiles to achieve a level surface for you're flooring. You can do this by either putting in some tiles or some high build floor leveller. For the cable you'll need a diamond grinder to cut the channel for the cable.