Advice about which direction to lay laminates

[gokturkc]

Hi all,

I've recently found this website, and it is great, lots of good information! I've been reading about tips on how to lay the laminates, etc..

Before start laying the laminates for my new house, I wanted to get some advice from you. I am sending you the floorplan of my new house. I have rooms/halls going in both horizontal and vertical direction. I will lay laminate on all house except main bedroom, bathroom and toilet.

Which direction/directions would you lay the laminates in this house?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[gokturkc]

Sorry, I could not attach the picture in the first place.

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[WoodYouLike]

In de woonkamer zou ik van links naar rechts werken - langs de langste muur.
In de hal zou ik dezelfde kant als de kamer werken en dan kun je voor de slaapkamers kiezen (mijn voorkeur gaat uit voor alles in dezelfde richting - met drempels tussen alle kamers)

In the livingroom I would opt to go parallel the longest wall and the same in the hallway.
Then for the bedrooms you can select the same or the other direction. My preference would be to install all rooms in the same direction, as long as you place thresholds between all rooms.

 

[gokturkc]

Thanks for the reply. That is what I was planning as well: same in all house, from left to right (based on the photo)..

About the transition/threshold pieces, I could not see them in the store that I bought the laminates from.. I was thinking to get away without using those but still leaving expansion gaps. I have been reading people saying that it is okay as long as the total length/width is not more than 8-10 meters. What do you think?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Doesn't you house come with the standard - typical Dutch - wooden thresholds?

The problem is the width of a room crossing into the other room. For instance the hallway into the living. From narrow (door from hallway) it then goes rather wide. This can cause problems, especially if there is a different climate (colder) in the hallway.

Better safe than sorry.

 

[gokturkc]

No, it is not a typical one. It is a new apartment, with a concrete floor - same level in every room, and there is no threshold in any of the doors.. So then I would better find thresholds and install it to every room transition.. I saw one type of transition piece just now, but can I use it also for the hall to bedroom transition where I will have laminate to carpet transition?

 

[WoodYouLike]

There are special thresholds for this, try Gamma or Karwei?

 

[gokturkc]

Hmm, actually I bought the laminates from Gamma.. I'll try asking them..

 

[gokturkc]

I have another question.. I started laying the laminates. Before, I had seen so many videos about how to do it. But when I actually started doing it, I couldn't do it properly. There were always slight gaps in the edges, and if I tap with a block and hammer to close them, then they don't always close but I have other problems like all row moving together or some other edges start opening or even damaging the tongues.

The initial problem was that instruction manual that came with the laminates did not tell me much. I was trying methods I saw in the instruction videos. But, I later noticed that there are different types of locking system.

I am attaching a pic of the instruction manual of my laminate. Can you please give some advices? Is this an angle-angle type of locking? What is the best way to lock them in large rooms where I cant raise and push a whole row in..

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