Lessons learned of Laminate

Well, I has originally hoped to be done the flooring by the end of yesterday... Obviously that was a somewhat unrealistic goal. Although laminate flooring gets laid down quickly, when you don't REALLY know what you are doing, there is a lot of figuring out that has to happen. And of course, there are always stumbling blocks along the way.

Underlay: went out Saturday to get some blue stuff with little dimples on it that I saw at Rona a few weeks ago, and of course they didn't have it. Checked for other material at a variety of other stores, and wasn't satisfied with any of it. Lesson learned: do your research before going to 15 stores trying to figure out what you want.

This is what I ended up with. It has little styrofoam balls stuck to the bottom, and acts as a vapour barrier as well. I bought four rolls, and once I rolled out the first roll I quickly realized that that would not nearly be enough. Lesson learned: calculate how much you need before buying it.

Putting down the first row was tough, and tricky. First, it was deciding which direction the planks would run. (We decided lengthwise down the hall) Next, it was deciding where to start. (Electrical closet) Then, it was ripping the tongue off the first row, as the tongue edge goes against the wall. Not soon enough, I realized the first problem: what do do next to the door jamb. Simple solution: cut a u-shape to fit!

As it turns out, that was not so simple. How to cut it... With a jigsaw, of course. Which I don't actually have, for some reason. Well, then a keyhole saw should work. Which I also don't have. How about a rotary tool? Burned out a bit (it was a drywall bit, whoops) and the wood bit wasn't sharp enough. Plus, it's really hard to keep a straight line with a rotary tool. Lesson learned: use the proper tools: not only is it easier, it does a better job. Off to the store again (for the third time in the same day) to purchase a jigsaw.

Speaking of proper tools, I have to give a shout out to Trevor here: I had originally intended to use a chop saw for most of my board cuts, but he loaned me a table saw and cross-cut jig. He was right. Turns out, I am finding that I need to rip several lengths of board (imagine trying to do that with a chop saw, or hand saw?)

And finally, here are the results of about an hour of actual work, once I got going.

A couple of hours' work after the kids went to bed got me to the doorway, and more figuring out using brain power at the end of the day just wasn't happening, so I called it quits.

 

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