Is it possible to "fill in" wood laminiate flooring?

We had a friend install laminate flooring for us, and instead of cutting down the door jambs and fitting it up underneath them, he just cut around it, so there is about a 1 inch gap between the flooring and the jambs. What can we do to fill in these gaps? The flooring is all laid, so ripping it up and redoing it is not an option. I thought about maybe cutting small pieces of flooring and fitting it into the gaps, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that, or if it would even look right. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Welcome to the forums

I'm hoping this isn't as bad as the idea forming in my head - can you post a some pictures?
http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html

 

I'll have to get them together after I get off work, and I'll definitely post them. It's pretty bad, and looks horrible.

 

It sounds horrible, I'm holding out hopes the pictures aren't as bad as I think they're going to be

 

Was this glued or snap-lock?

 

The kind we used is snap-lock.

 

So it is possible to remove and redo up to the point of the bad cuts. If your careful most pieces will be reusable.I wouldn't let the neighbor do it though.

While from what the web tell me most brands can be reused verify with some scrap pieces before starting removal.

 

Holey Moley. Mitch, I think your picture is coming through on my computer now Yep, it is as bad at I think it is.
Tkdgurl, when we get the real pictures we'll give more advice. Just get ready for a lot of work that could have been averted by proper installation. In the meantime, purchase a flat Japan saw or jamb saw, as you will need it to cut the jambs off before we get started. We'll wait on the pix.

 

I got the same picture. Tell your "friend" to stop doing flooring.

 

Sorry it's taken me so long to post a picture. It really is NOT an options to rip up the flooring. It's in the middle of 2 rooms that are connected with all the flooring. We would essentially have to re-floor the ENTIRE downstairs of my house. Definitely can't do that!

 

Do not try to fill it in. I suggest adding some molding such as quarter round or some flat stock. It will be time consuming to go around all the existing trim but will end up looking the best. With time and patience, I think this can be saved.

BTW - Your friend did install it correctly keeping 1/4" away from the walls (which needs quarter round as well). It is just normally run under the jambs and trimming them is tough as you will find out.

 

Agree on trim. No way to secure a filler. Any interior doors will need to be shortened to clear the molding. Maybe cove cut profile molding instead of shoe.

If there is no door in the opening a plan B might be to remove existing trim, replace with one bys of the same width add new jambs to cover the one bys edges and add back the removed trim cutting just enough off to clear the flooring. Might not be too noticeable if done well but the top trim would be to short so if you can't get an exact match to the original (unlikely) you would to have to go back with similar new trim all the way around.

Frankly I'd go with B if no door but it might be a challenge for a beginner. You might need to adjust the plan as you went along to compensate for the unexpected.

You may need to put smaller base on the existing base before the quarter round if the space is to wide for just quarter round.

Frankly for a new customer I'd refuse to do anything but redo the floor as needed. I'd be too worried the customer would be unhappy with the fix.

 

Here's another take. With your jamb saw or Japan saw, cut 3/4" off the case molding (WM356) and 3/4" off the face of the door frame. You may have to chisel out some of the door frame, or it may come right out. This will give you a rectangle of clearance from the edge of the case molding all the way around to the other side. Cut strips of oak or yellow pine 3/4"x3/4" and fasten around the opening. Your shoe molding from the wall will dead end into it on both sides, and in essence, you will have only framed out the opening. This will work only if there is no door.
The real picture is exactly like the one I imagined, only I can't believe it really happened

 

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to go buy some trim and go that route. It'll probably end up being the easiest and best looking. Fingers crossed it goes well!

 

The more I look at it the more I believe if this is the main problem it could be fixed by removing eight rows or less of flooring. But yes molding is simplest.

 

Does anyone have any ideas of what the best trim type (and affordable) would be to use? Along our walls there are some pretty big gaps, so it would have to be a pretty deep trim to cover the gap between the flooring and wall.

 

If I were repairing this, I would not use any molding around the door frame. As explained earlier in my post, I would use 3/4" stock. The remainder of your shoe molding won't matter, as it will blend in with this trim wood.