Finished my first floating floor solo in Austin last month

I was working a small bedroom job near South Congress and totally messed up the first two rows of laminate. Had to pull it all apart and start over with a pull bar instead of my tapping block. How do you guys handle tight spots near door frames without damaging the boards?

3 comments

3 Comments

fionat5518d ago

Pull bar is the right move for sure. Another trick is to cut the tongue off the row you're sliding in and just glue that side. Saves you from having to angle and tap in tight spots where you can't get a swing. Pre-cutting the underlayment a good half inch away from the walls also helps keep things flat when you're working the boards in. You can always trim the overhang later with a utility knife.

zarat3718d ago

Cutting the tongue is a hack, not a standard fix.

drews5518d ago

Haha yeah cutting the tongue off is a lifesaver, I've done that plenty of times. But man, @zarat37 is right that it's not the ideal fix every time - sometimes you just gotta break out the pull bar and get real aggressive with it, lol. For door frames, I'll use a scrap piece of the same laminate as a tapping block and just whack it carefully with a hammer from the side, but you gotta be gentle or you'll chip the edge. Pre-cutting the underlayment is smart too, I usually just run a knife along the wall before I even lay the first row so I don't trip over it later. Either way, pulling up those first two rows is the worst feeling ever, makes you question if you even saw the tutorial right haha.