Joining laminate floors at right angles
SwissCarpenter
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Question for you flooring guys out there:
I need to run laminate flooring in a number of rooms and the HO wants the “planks” to run one way in one room and then the opposite way in the ajoining rooms. Essentially there will be a bunch of joints in doorways where I’ll have to join the flooring at right angles. Its your typical snap and click, ie Pergo flooring. Whats the best way to make this sort of joint or are there kits/bits available from the manufacturer?
Replies
There are kits for transitions like laminate to carpet etc. To me they are the weakest part of the laminate system. They often look quite cheap. You might want to make your own thresholds out of matching wood stock, but go to a showroom and take a look at the Pergo ones. You may like them just fine.
Unlike regular flooring, you can't put your own t&g edge where they meet, and they're all the same length. So the perpendicular run will not have staggered seams.
Edited 5/2/2008 8:47 pm ET by peakbagger
Pergo and other laminate flooring manufacturers specify that floors must "float", that is they are not glued or nailed to the subfloor. They also require a certain amount of spacing from walls [usually 1/4"] to allow for expansion/contraction due to humidity changes. At doorways they specify a gap between flooring in one room and the other so that there will be no buckling due to expansion.
They all sell a "T" molding that overlaps both adjoining floors and allows them to move independently with expansion/contraction. As another poster suggested, you can install a threshold in the doorway, but it must not be glued or otherwise fastened to the laminate flooring of either room.
If it is all the same product line it may work out well depending on your room configuration. The end click will click into the side click receiver of anothe piece. This may work out if your hall way width is a multiple of the width of th eclick flooring.
Good luck
CLiffy
The stock moldings are narrow and can look cheap. I made my own threshold with oak and made it the same width as the jamb. When I laid the flooring, I went in only about 1/2 inch into the jamb. The threshold was rabbeted on a table saw to cover the flooring and the part that goes over the floor was cut to 1/4 inch thickness. This leaves a thin overlap so that the threshold does not look like a wall in the door. I did worry that this thin layer would warp or split but over the 5 years so far, no problem. Nail the threshold into subfloor only. I did this for bathroom transition as well and the threshold is even with the bath floor. Good luck.
Make or buy door way thresholds (aka door saddles).