Laminiate Flooring

[Michael_B]

Hello 2 all,
I am thinking about Laminate flooring in an older 14 x 70 singlewide. I am planning to do the living room, hall and maybe one bed room. which way should I run the flooring in the hall? Also there will be about a 7' transition between the kitchen/dining area and the living room. My wife is concerned about the threshold there being a trip hazzard from the kitchen to living room. The place we are looking at flooring has a matching wood threshold that is about 5/8" high. Is this normal, or is there a better soloution?
Thanks, Mike

[Greg]

Hi & welcome. I think it always looks best if you run the length of the home rather than the width. Is the height difference just from the laminate? If so you can buy or make a tapered transition strip. Greg

[Michael_B]

Thanks, I was thinking of running it the length but just wanted another opinion. I never have laid this type of flooring, but on the other hand I have never backed down from any project like this before. I installed the carpet myself in the early 1995 and after 2 kids and a lot of traffic it's time to up grade. And, yes the height difference is just from the laminate. However I just realized that once the carpet and padding is gone the new floor will probally be about the same difference it is now from carpet to the tile. My wife is just worried it would be a trip hazzard.
She wants to put laminate in the kitchen also, but someone told me that it's best not to install it in a kitchen or under a washer and dryer. Ant thoughts about this?
Mike

[Greg]

Mike, GOOD laminate is as close to a bullet proof floor as you will find. I first put Armstrong down (The old glue together type) and the instructions stated "For tough cleaning use acetone".

I took that up and put down A Pergo product, It has held up fine, Hallway, kitchen, back room with washer and bathroom.

Our daughter bought some cheap stuff from Lumber liquidators that is JUNK, Walk over it with wet shoes and you can almost see it swell.

Do your homework and find a quality product. It does go down fast. Don't use an expensive blade on your saw to cut it, the stuff will take the edge off of the blade in no time, why ruin a good blade?

As for the height difference, with a transition strip it should be fine. you can just lay the strips down next to each other down the hall to get a good idea of how it will look. Greg

[rookie35]

I installed some cheap stuff in my kitchen and laundry room and it made everything else look old and crappy so now I'm replacing cabinets,sinks,faucets,wall color etc..
btw,if you have a dishwasher installed already look at the clearance under your cabinet, it might not fit if you bring your floor up. I just installed it right to the front and installed baseboard in front. But it is under my fridge,stove,washer and dryer with no regrets here.
goodluck.

[rookie35]

oh yeah I forgot to mention that I agree with Greg it looks good running the length.

[Kimpossible]

I installed Lumber Liquidators laminate in every room except "wet" areas. Yes I did it myself. It isn't difficult to do but it IS labor intensive when you consider being on your hands and knees for a couple of days. LOL
I ran my the length of the home as well. It does not make the home look like a bowling alley as I had feared. And yes you will want transition strip between different floorings. Looks finished.
Good luck and happy flooring!

[Brenda (OH)]

Hi,

I just did two installations of laminate flooring. one low end product, one higher end product.

the more expensive product was easier to install, fewer chips and messed up click together strips.

most of the damaged strips could be used to install at the end of the run, the start of the one, or in the last row that we had to split boards.

buying the tapping block with the groove in it made it so much easier for us. I got a better tapping block by going to a carpet and flooring supply vendor. it was $13 and worth every cent.

I used left over thin laminate from a previous installation as shims. I could cut it to fit the spaces I needed. I taped the shims to the walls with blue painters tape... kept the shims in place much better.

I was told 27 feet was the maximum length to run the product without a break...

I connected the hallway to the kitchen, it was a pain in the backside to do it that way.

Laminate works ok in kitchens if you put another flooring in front of the sink cabinets. I use allure vinyl plank flooring by the sink, and I made about a 4 x4 foot section of the allure flooring by each exterior door... I put carpet transition metal strips over the edge. I have not tripped on them, and they tend to keep the dirt and water in that area, and not on the laminate

metal carpet transition strips and threseholds are cheaper and wear better than the expensive transition strips that match the laminate flooring.... an inbetween product is the wood pattern metal carpet strips.... they are more scrape resistant than the manufacturers strips, but less wear resistant than the metal ones...

3/4 inch quarter round molding is nice if you can afford it... I sand and prime 1 x2 furring strips. I have to go through the whole bin at home depot to get nice enough ones, but they are only $1.50 a piece, the nice lumber molding is much more expensive.

I hope that helps for your planning the job..... buy high quality knee pads, or you will be limping for a week... if you can get 2 people to work with you, you can take turns staying down on the floor, and walking to the saw to make the cuts.... it is the getting up and down action that will wear you out.....


Brenda (OH)

[Michael_B]

Thanks for all the advice. I plan to go with a quality flooring. We (actually my wife) are still trying to decide on a lighter or darker color. Also the manager at our local lumber co. has put me in touch with someone who has installed laminate in the kitchen of a mobile home, so we are going to look at there floor next week. Again thanks for all the tips and suggestions.
Mike in Mississippi

[Greg]

Take into consideration the window layout in your home. I was in a home that allowed bright sunlight in the front window that shined down the entire length of the home. it showed EVERY improper installation mistake, you could count the waves in the floor down the hall, through the dining room and kitchen. They used a light color, not sure if a darker would hide it better or not. The major problem is the long line of sight down the entire home. Greg