I just bought a house and have about 800 SF of wood laminate flooring I want laid on the 1st floor. The house sits on a slab and the tack boards are still attached (I'll remove). As well as tile in the Kitchen which I will remove

The laying of it won't be too difficult for me in the middle of the floor(its pretty much like playing legos)

Its just the door jams, around the stairs, and spaces that need special measure for cuts that I will need someone with more experience. I also lack the special tools for cutting the boards as well.

As opposed to calling a contractor and quoting me an outrageous price I'd rather have someone who has done their own house and has experience. I probably just need someone to do the aforementioned problems and me and one of my roommates will work on the rest.

PM me if your interested in coming out to give me a ball park on what it will take. Also be prepared to send some picture of your work that you have done

 

lemme know if you got any tools your looking for and i may be able to get them for you cheap. i work at the lowes in chesapeake in the tool dept. and when stuff goes non stock it get it for real cheap.

 

That's what you'll need for under the doorjams and the like. It's called an undercut saw.

You can rent a table saw or something of that sort to cut the boards from Lowes or Home Depot.

I'm assuming you'll be using the pieces that lock together and not the type you glue down. If not, I'd advise it. It's much easier for a rookie, such as you or I. I've seen some wood laminate done before and the key to making it appear to be better quality than what it is is staggering the boards in length. But I'm sure thats included in whatever manual or instructions one may give you. Hope this helps.

 

Man trust me on this, hire someone. Yeah it looks easy and all but the tools and skills is where its at. Ive seen alot of DIY floors and there is usually alot of problems. I can get you a deal on the install. Just remember you have no warranty on the material if its installed incorrectly. Kind of like a new car warranty.
Did you buy any cushion and if you dont mind what was the sq.ft price on that laminate.
As if you cant tell im in the business and my prices are far from outrageous, you just need to remember how much the big stores like Lowes have to pay out in overhead and in return, charge you. $.99 a sq.ft sounds cheap but it isnt.

 

if your laying it down on a slab dont forget about the vapor barror like a 2 mil poly (plastic) before yo lay the padding down .

 

I have laid 3 floors like this this year totaling about 5-6k sq.ft. I do home repairs/remodleing as a side business. If you would like a quote just let me know.

 

I too work for Lowe's.. I just finished my lam. in my home and it was a snap. Make sure you get a under cut saw. We have them in the flooring dept. Glue the lock around wet areas (sink, tub,ect). Make danm sure you leave a 1/8-1/4 inch gap around your waall cause itll buckle. if your on a slab its alil harder, but we carry the 5 in 1 molding (they are your transitions) they work great. I have seen alot of sucess storys form DYIers. you can do it, just take your time.. if you get into trouble dont give up work thru it and you'll be really happy with the end result. If you have any questions feel free to call one of my stores and ask the question you may have. most all the stores have very knowledgable staff and should be able to help.

tools that I used
miter saw
undetcut saw
tapping block
hammer
nail set OR air trim nailer (trim)
razor blade

 

hey guys Steve is right , Lowes has everything you need . Im an installer for Lowes and they sell the under cut saw pictured above , the tapping blocks , The (6 mil) vapor barrier , glue if needed .a table saw is also a great help . If you run into any questions , try calling Lowes , but it will probably be easier to go up there and go over it face to face .

Good luck

 

Hasn't been mentioned yet, and am sure you've done it already, but make sure you take off the baseboards. Get some latex caulk that is white in color to help hide miter gaps in the corners and consider using 1/2" quarter round moulding in addition to standard baseboards -- this will give you nearly a full inch of spacing between the walls' edge and flooring if working around tight corners.

Under the vapor barrier (paint cloth aisle) sprinkle cinnamon near the edges. Ants won't be tempted to crawl under. Don't forget to carefully tape the edges and any tears. You mentioned a slab floor. If there are any bumps, consider smoothing them out with stuff from the tile masonry section.

Look into purchasing a cheap 10" miter saw. Looks like a circular saw with an angled arm on a stationary platform. Very easy to make precision angled cuts. The laser guide is well worth it. Can probably find them for about $90 for the cheap ones or rent one at Home Depot.

Use a plastic head mallet for tapping those blocks -- don't use a rubber hammer as it'll bounce back too much. Harbor Freight carries them for cheap.

 

they have a tool to tap in the wood.. use the rubber just because youve never put in floors and dont wanna fuck your wood up. remember that the wood spreads or swells up after its installed so if its too tight it will buckle up.


if im down that way next weekend ill help out. its easy