Laminate floor won't stay together...
#1
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Laminate floor won't stay together...
Hi there.
My wife and I are in the process of installing laminate flooring in our living areas. Today is our first day and already I'm taking a break instead of doing something drastic. We can't seem to keep the pieces from coming apart as we knock the new pieces into place. For example, I'll get a piece set up and start tapping the last eighth of an inch, and the other pieces will separate in the other 2 rows. I haven't been able to get further than my third row without this happening. Do I need to use cleats to keep them from separating? What would keep the floors from coming apart after the installation is complete, assuming I get that far...
Any help would be appreciated.
My wife and I are in the process of installing laminate flooring in our living areas. Today is our first day and already I'm taking a break instead of doing something drastic. We can't seem to keep the pieces from coming apart as we knock the new pieces into place. For example, I'll get a piece set up and start tapping the last eighth of an inch, and the other pieces will separate in the other 2 rows. I haven't been able to get further than my third row without this happening. Do I need to use cleats to keep them from separating? What would keep the floors from coming apart after the installation is complete, assuming I get that far...
Any help would be appreciated.
#2
drift boater, welcome to the DIY forums.
For my 2 cents...
Laminate wood right?
Trying laying a box of laminate wood on the row you are working with. This should be heavy enough to keep it from coming apart.
Just experienced...no pro...
Have fun and hang in there. Once you get going , you'll be smiling
For my 2 cents...
Laminate wood right?
Trying laying a box of laminate wood on the row you are working with. This should be heavy enough to keep it from coming apart.
Just experienced...no pro...
Have fun and hang in there. Once you get going , you'll be smiling
#3
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Wood flooring, right, sorry. I was wondering if maybe we were trying to far a run without not enough rows, 2 columns about 30 feet long and only 2 rows. We were advised by a friend to start in the hallway since it's basically the center of the house. That way the flooring would be straighter than if we started in a corner. I think it may just be easier to start in a corner and build blocks instead of the long rows we had going.
Thanks for your reply.,
Thanks for your reply.,
Last edited by drift boater; 11-01-06 at 08:44 PM.
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Where you start should be determined by what part of the area to be covered will allow the longest straight line to use as a base line. If the hall goes to the other areas you're doing, make sure you start with a good straight line that is square with the longest wall in the area to be done and pop the line with a chalk box so it goes through the hall and any room the hall goes into. If the rooms all come off the hall through doorways and not at the end of the hall, make sure your base line is square with the wall. Pick an end to start on, make sure you're a quarter inch from the wall with your material, and start installing. Go three boards on the first row and then start a new row. Go two boards on the second row, add a board to the first row, and then start a third row. Go one board on the third row, add a board to the second and first rows. This will create a stair step arrangement. The stair step arrangement helps lock the boards together and helps keep them that way. Don't run any one or two board wide rows too far ahead or they tend not to stay together because they don't have much around them to lock into. Once you have your stair step established, keep adding to the existing rows and then starting a new row until you have four or five rows going. At this point you should be able to continue them on up the hall to establish a base that the rest of the install will come off of. Long narrow strips normally tend not to stay together well. Once you have the install going well, stack the material to be used on the part you've already done to put some weight on it so it doesn't shift around. Another cause of what you're running into could be a floor that shouldn't have laminate in the first place. Laminate needs a pretty flat floor because it is not flex friendly. If there is too much deflection to the existing floor, it causes the joints to work and I've seen them actually disintegrate from it. That isn't what it sounds like you've got going on, but check the flatness of the floor just in case.
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kind of late with my reply, but I thought I would share my experience for any others with the same problem.
We had the exact same problem, with the planks seperating...What we did is for every plank layed, we put a bunch of littly pieces of Good Ole duct tape along the seams. I know it seems a little over kill, but we did this for every seem, vertical and horizontal throughout the entire room. It was like a few hundred extra little hands holding the pieces together until we were complete.
once complete we pulled the duct tape to show a perfect floor....
just one more use for the duct tape.... hope this helps
We had the exact same problem, with the planks seperating...What we did is for every plank layed, we put a bunch of littly pieces of Good Ole duct tape along the seams. I know it seems a little over kill, but we did this for every seem, vertical and horizontal throughout the entire room. It was like a few hundred extra little hands holding the pieces together until we were complete.
once complete we pulled the duct tape to show a perfect floor....
just one more use for the duct tape.... hope this helps
#7
What I'm visioning is a rotating lock glueless laminate, being installed as a tap together floor. If you tap in a rotating lock, you will split the core and damage the lock, which it will separate later as traffic gets on it.