This post is part of our job journal, where our company, NorthWestern Contractors records completed jobs for public viewing. In this post we discuss a job laminate flooring job we completed in Kelso, WA. This was a full flooring/carpet tear out and re-floor. We used engineered hard wood which is similar to laminate, however the top layer is a thin hard wood veneer. This project took approximately three days with a crew size of two The total square footage was 700. The flooring was purchased from Lumber Liquidators.
Tools Used
- Tapping block kit
- Miter saw
- Table saw
- Jigsaw
- Speed square
- Tape Measure
- Level
- Pencils/markers
- Utility knife
- Masking tape
- Tongue & groove adhesive
Steps to completion
We started this project by tearing out the existing laminate through out the home. The two bedrooms were carpeted and that was disposed of as well. We performed a thorough floor scraping with a floor scraper, making sure to remove all small nails and staples from the removed carpeting. After the scraping, we vacuumed the sub-floor and removed all debris. Sweeping is not enough, when installing new, the sub floor must be vacuumed with a high suction shop-vac. Our main challenge on this job, was leveling the sub floor in order to remove the dips. It is common for old homes to have dips and humps due to settling.
After correcting the dips and humps in the sub floor, we had a nice smooth surface to install laminate flooring on to. The manufacturer of this flooring required a vapor barrier padding (underlayment) to be installed under the laminate flooring so we installed that first. Once the underlayment was completed, we installed the laminate.
Conclusion
We enjoyed installing this laminate flooring and found it interesting. that the planks came in different lengths. It is standard for laminate flooring planks to be all one length, however this laminate had three different lengths. This allowed us to mix and match different sized pieces, which gave a more natural look. Please take a look at our homepage if you would like new flooring installed in your home!