Laminate flooring - gaps, quadrant & scotia!

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I think I have exhausted the thread "Laying Laminate planks - which direction?" so have started fresh in this one.

Perimeter expansion gaps - I understand that laminate floor needs an expansion gap of around 10mm? What do you usually allow and can it be less, eg. 8mm?
The room is 3.0m x 2.30m.

Scotia / quadrant - This is the only bit I find bad about laminate, the scotia / quadrant around the perimeter, unless you have the luxury of no skirting - new build, or the old ones easily come off. A really good floor can end up looking cheap due to the final 'teatray' look.
Matching it to the skirting is best I think, but I don't like the concave scotia quadrant, hence asking if the gap can be minimal and therefore the quadrant to cover it can be smaller?

My skirting boards are in a 90 year old house with original skirting held by brad nails or, for the newer ones they are screwed in, screws hidden somewhere under paint.


I understand there is a tall narrow but small skirting-type profile that is fixed to the main skirting over the gap, it is supposed to blend in as part of a modified skirting profile.
- is that something anyone has heard of?


Thanks, all advice much appreciated.
 
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I have parquet and after sanding it back the guy recommended concave mdf scotia in a bulk. Pack (white)
Elsewhere I have convex to match a bedroom floor
 
I have parquet and after sanding it back the guy recommended concave mdf scotia in a bulk. Pack (white)
Elsewhere I have convex to match a bedroom floor
Thanks, I too have had similar fitted, but if it is the usual scotia, it is the part that I feel can cheapen the whole job. Lovely parquet, real wood or quality laminate - and then this beading around the edge that either extends the skirting onto the floor (white) in a quadrant/cupped profile, or effectively takes the floor up the skirting. That's if there is an exact match scotia beading to the floor. Otherwise it introduces yet another material and colour and makes it stand out even more.
Of the two approaches I find trying to match the skirting the least offensive.

Scotia / quadrant - This is the only bit I find bad about laminate, the scotia / quadrant around the perimeter, unless you have the luxury of no skirting, and putting it on later-.
To avoid the 'teatray' look, there is a taller, narrower profile that a local flooring company had, no longer sadly - it was almost another skirting but smaller and attached to the main skirting. Instead of looking like a bit of beading added on, it looked like part of a more detailed skirting profile.
That approach does a better job of blending in and becoming part of the modified skirting. You then just paint over the lot and it becomes a single skirting profile.
>>Q - Does anyone know of such an item?

Any suggestions please other than the usual quadrant that I could pick up at any DIY store. There seems to be no other choice.
Thanks

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way to go if you dont want to go underthe skirting.but prepaint the mouling before final fitting to skirting.
 
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way to go if you don't want to go under the skirting.but pre-paint the moulding before final fitting to skirting.

Thanks, that reminds me, Quickstep guidelines speak of a 3rd option,
1- remove and refit skirting over laminate,
2-fit scotia/quadrant over laminate or ....

3rd option
is to cut away the skirting using a multi tool, reciprocating saw blade, to just above the new laminate level. Then slide laminate under it on 2 or 3 walls. The 4th wall though will need quadrant, I think? Unless anyone has a novel way of getting all 4 sides covered by skirting without removing it?

>> Q - Any ideas anyone?
>> Q - Likewise has anyone used or seen a similar moulding to the one I showed in the sketch section above?

Thanks
 

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