Hi,
OK I’m laying about 1600 sq ft of a pergo type laminate flooring. I forget the brand but a Lumber Liquidators deal. This stuff is 100% MDF with a paper thin photo layer. It’s a glueless product which locks together.
The hassle is when I go to add planks I have groove out and tilt in the plank. Then I have to lock in the short side. To get it to slide that 3/16″ takes a tremendous force, hammer blows! I use a pounding block and it takes a good 5-7 smack to lock it in. Being long planks (@ 48″) I can’t see if it’s locked in. Several times I over smacked andwould split either the installed plank or the one I’m driving.
So I’m being over careful and it’s taking forever! I’d only used a similar product in the past that was wood core and it easily slid a and locked. Not this stuff!
BTW it’s on a concrete floor with visqueen and a padded layer so I can’t use a pry bar without perforating the under layment.
I’m paid hourly so no big deal money wise but it’s getting old already! I’d rather be hanging doors!
Thanks,
10saw
Replies
Forget the instructions...
What has worked for me is to layout a whole row snapping the ends together first then moving that row a as a unit into the slot of the previous row and then snap it down. I have to use a rubber mallet while pulling it tight to the adjacent row with your free hand to get it to snap all the way but the butt joints are tight. It can be a real pain if you have long runs which will require a helper.
YMMV
Thanks for the tip,It ended up being easier to snap in the short side and tip the long edge in with a bit of a tap.Even better tip that works 100% easier: Hire a flooring expert! At least that's what the owner decided. I'm happy, back to trim work for me.Owner is sure to be disapointed: "experts" dad was in touting his expertise, kid shows up about noon stating we called just in time as it was "beer thirty". I got about 20% of the job done in 5 hours, he worked 6+ and managed to add about 2 boxes...on the straight side. Oh well at least he's expensive. I'd have done it for $1250, he's getting closer to $3k!Oh well...I'm in the clear...10saw