Learning laminate Learning laminate (April 30, 2004)

Do-it-yourself floor gives great satisfaction
by Teresa C. Brown

I'm not a handy-woman. I wield a novice hammer and saw. Having carpenters in the family, I'd seen it all in practice time and again, but that didn't make it easier when I tackled my first significant do-it-yourself project: installing a laminate floor in my kitchen.

With the help of my 20-year-old son, I got my new floor and gleaned a few nuggets of knowledge that I am offering up in this newspaper for a laugh, as helpful hints or for lining the bird cage.

Laminate flooring, also known as a "floating floor," is installed directly over a level existing floor (or subfloor) with a quarter-inch gap left around the perimeter to allow room for the laminate to expand and contract. The laminate itself is not secured to the floor; instead the perimeter trim is secured to the walls, holding the floor in place, thus earning it the name floating floor.

Laminate is a surprisingly durable and attractive floor, making it a good alternative in high traffic areas, including kitchens and bathrooms. Laminate has three basic layers: the pattern or design layer, the core, and the paper or plastic layer called the backing.

These floors have several benefits. Unlike hardwood, laminate is resistance to dents, scratches and warping. It is also colorfast and fade-resistant, plus maintenance is as easy as a dust or damp mop. Manufacturers also sell a product-specific spray cleaner.

While individual manufacturer instructions may vary, generally speaking, installing the floor can be summed up in basic four steps: choices, mathematics, elbow grease - and next year's Christmas gift.

Choices is what you'll face once you decide to use laminate. The first choice is a brand.

There are a number of brands, such as Pergo, Wilsonart and Armstrong. The planks are installed in a tongue-and-groove fashion, with some types requiring gluing the joints. I chose a brand called Alloc specifically because of my lack of carpentry skills. Alloc touts an easy-to-install, no-glue, snap-in-place floor.

Next you'll have to choose a color and style. The laminate comes ready to install in planks, about 8 inches by 48 inches, and is available in a large array of designs and colors, from wood designs to stone and tile. Generally speaking, light colors make small areas brighter, while dark colors make large spaces more intimate.

Pull out the calculator for the math step. There is an old carpenter's adage: measure twice, cut once. That advice holds true and applies to determining how much flooring to order. While measuring, I also allowed for my novice skills and ordered an additional 10 percent for mistakes and for waste.

No doubt someone with more skill than I could have shaved the order size; I still have two full boxes of laminate left over, more than enough to replace any planks that may become damaged in the future.

For trim, I used a matching baseboard in the breakfast area and quarter-round trim for the toe kick, the recessed space beneath the cabinets. Both were extremely easy to cut and the angled-fitted corners were a snap using a miter saw.

After the materials arrive, it's time for the elbow grease. Invest in the laminate installation tools: a tapping block and spacers. Spacers help keep the required perimeter gap, and the block is used to tighten the joint seams - both are well worth the nominal cost.

Determine which way you want the planks to be laid in the room, either widthwise or lengthwise. As a general rule, the plank seam lines should be parallel with the wall in long, narrow spaces such as in a hallway. In rooms, the seams should be horizontal to the main window or light source.

Begin laying out several rows of planks to use as a base size and to calculate the even distribution of the cuts for the first and last rows. Without advance layout planning, you may end up with the last row needing planks 1-inch wide. Also, remember to stagger each successive row by about 12 inches to vary the joint positions.

When cutting the planks, you can use masking tape on the design side along the cut line to help prevent the material from splitting.

Our installation was slower than expected. In addition to our inexperience, my son preferred to cut the planks using a hand saw. While accurate, this meant that, because each row required a cut, it was time-consuming. Also, cutting around cabinets slowed our progress. On the other hand, laying the planks and snapping them to each other was everything I read and hoped for: easy, easy, easy.

Likewise, installing the trim was an ego boost; it was nearly effortless. We did run into a snag installing the transition piece that covers the laminate as it butts into the dining room carpet. There are several different transitions to choose from, but none of them worked for our needs. I finally ended up buying a generic transition from a local home improvement store that was easily installed in minutes.

The satisfaction of completing our flooring project was fulfilling, and our kitchen was transformed from ordinary and stale to warm and inviting. We proudly put our first notch on our hammer, bringing us to the last step in the process: putting power tools on our Christmas list. We are anxious to work on our next do-it-yourself home improvement project.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.