Laminate flooring

Blanchy90

Hey,

I need to get around 75 square meters of laminate flooring down in a new build. I have got quotes around €800 to do this.

I'm thinking diy is the way to go, I'm very handy so thats not the issue I just wondering roughly how long it would take to lay 75 meters.

Cheers

com1

Probably no more than a day. Getting started can be a bit slow but once you get into the swing of it, it gets quicker. A jig saw with laminate blades will come in useful too


Make sure the floor is level and seal it. Be really scrupulous about cleaning the floor before laying. I got my builder to lay my floor as part of a renovation and it was a disaster - builder didn't clean the floor properly or seal it, now the floor squeaks like 100 year old timber floating floor and the dust is unbelievable.


He ran the floor under the skirting (which makes it look very neat) so I am waiting until we redecorate to fix his mess. Though its like finger nails on a blackboard every time I walk on the floor *^%^&$%

Blanchy90

Thanks for that, a day wouldn't be too bad at all.

Im going for acoustic underlay so hopefully I wont have any squeeks

the_pen_turner

it depends on the room. is it all one room or several smaller rooms. is there a lot of aloves and funny shaped bits. its these that take the time.
a big open space is way faster

uck51js9zml2yt

I got the compressed boards for use of old flooring. Made it level really easily

wexie

the_pen_turner wrote: »

it depends on the room. is it all one room or several smaller rooms. is there a lot of aloves and funny shaped bits. its these that take the time.
a big open space is way faster

+1

If it's anything other than a nice square room you'll find it'll quickly take more than a day.

I'd recommend buying a decent and flexible handsaw, if there's many door frames you'll likely end up having to cut notches etc to get in under them. Least that's how I do it, looks a lot neater that way.

Blanchy90

Its 3 bedrooms, not too many tricky bits.

Downstairs I want to run it through the hall, sitting room and kitchen/dining without any joints in the doorways. I know I'll need to leave room for expansion so I'll see what I can do.

The floor "should" be level, downstairs is concrete and upstairs is some kind of chipboard, if its not level it'll hopefully get picked up in the snag.

Blanchy90

wexie wrote: »

+1

If it's anything other than a nice square room you'll find it'll quickly take more than a day.

I'd recommend buying a decent and flexible handsaw, if there's many door frames you'll likely end up having to cut notches etc to get in under them. Least that's how I do it, looks a lot neater that way.

Thanks for that I'd say downstairs will be tricky enough , I'll start in the bedrooms to get used to it first.

Is the handsaw a better option than the jig saw?

I'll have my miter saw to cut the boards to the correct length anyway.

wexie

Just at the odd chance you haven't already thought of it, couple of rolls of decent tape and a good scissors will make putting down the underlay a lot easier and will insure it stays where it should when you're putting the laminate down.

Realistically though if you're handy with the tools and take your time it shouldn't be a hard job and 800 easily saved.

wexie

Blanchy90 wrote: »

Is the handsaw a better option than the jig saw?.

No, ideally I'd use both, the jigsaw for cutting the boards in corners and around doorframes etc.

The handsaw is for getting the little bits off the doorframes so you can slip a board (partway) under.

once the underlay is down, get an offcut of the laminate and hold it up against the doorframe where it should go and with a flexible saw you'll be able to notch the doorframe easily.

Another option is with a decent chisel. I tend to start with the saw and then tidy up with the chisel if needs be.

Blanchy90

Cheers I think I'll just go for it myself, sure worst case scenario I can do the bedrooms and get someone in to do the downstairs

goz83

Chop saw. Makes it much quicker and easier. Jigsaw for the fiddly bits.

Tigger

com1 wrote: »

Probably no more than a day. Getting started can be a bit slow but once you get into the swing of it, it gets quicker. A jig saw with laminate blades will come in useful too


Make sure the floor is level and seal it. Be really scrupulous about cleaning the floor before laying. I got my builder to lay my floor as part of a renovation and it was a disaster - builder didn't clean the floor properly or seal it, now the floor squeaks like 100 year old timber floating floor and the dust is unbelievable.


He ran the floor under the skirting (which makes it look very neat) so I am waiting until we redecorate to fix his mess. Though its like finger nails on a blackboard every time I walk on the floor *^%^&$%

75 m a day ? You’ll be lucky to do 30

the_pen_turner

goz83 wrote: »

Chop saw. Makes it much quicker and easier. Jigsaw for the fiddly bits.

jig saw is much faster. you can bring the jigsaw around with out , the chopsaw has to be set up somewhere. also blades for a chopsaw are very dear compared to jigsaw blades. 1euro v 40euro both will be ruined after the job
a jigsaw gives a good enough finish for a covered over cut

dodzy

No way this will be done by a novice in one day to the level discussed. Notching out multiple frames, (skirting coming off possibly), etc. not a chance.

uck51js9zml2yt

I got a sitting room and 2 bedroom done by 2 fitters. It took them 4 hours.

Taking this was 2 guys who knew what they were doing, not a hope of getting it done in a day by a novice

Dr_Colossus

It's not a race, take your time and do it right. For the installation cost of €800 the OP has to effectively earn €1600 gross to cover that so unless he's in a high paying job and can earn that in a few days which he would have otherwise spent laying laminate then DIY.

Plan out the floor and where you're going to lay the boards so as not to leave tiny strips and pieces. That might mean having to cut a percentage of your first row of boards so as to leave an an equivalent size on the final row at the adjacent wall. Also you might want to stagger the boards every third rather than second board depending on the size of the room and again so as not to leave small pieces at the end of the line.
The first board is the slowest to lay but once you get started it's a rewarding process.