Door Jamb - expansion

[Castironproblems]

I had new laminate fitted that’s creaking and cracking when walked on and I’m trying to rule out all potential problems.

One issue I’ve noticed is that my flooring is really tight to the door jamb almost like it’s squeezed under with barely room for a sheet of paper. Can anyone provide any advice on what, if any, problems this would create?

 

[sxturbo]

The flooring needs to have a 5-10mm gap around the perimeter for expansion and contraction.

This gap is usually covered up by skirting or the edging strip's you can buy.

Sounds like it's been installed to tight. Or you have had a lot of moisture in the house and it's expanded quite a bit

 

[Castironproblems]

Thank you for the replay, Is the expansion true of height as well? I can’t see whether the flooring is touching wood inside the door jam but I can see that it’s tight on top.

 

[Diver Fred]

Has the laminate been laid on the appropriate underlay?
If not on underlay has the section s been glued together?
is the laminate fixed down? - a big no-no.s

as any of the above will cause problems.

 

[Castironproblems]

This is the flooring - https://www.berryalloc.com/global/en/Laminate/chateau

it was fitted on QA techniboard 5mm which has a compression strength of 80kpa. I’ve since found out that the minimum compression strength of the required underlay is 100kpa so the manufacturer are not interested in my fault. I think that it’s unlikely that the issue is the underlay given the small difference and it feels like a get out clause but I’d welcome any feedback.

I’m kind of stuck in a stand off as I’ve got the fitter coming back out but he blames the quality of the flooring. I asked the fitter about the underlay when I purchased it and he said it was fine.

I don’t really know where to turn as I’m stuck in the middle with an expensive floor that sounds and feels terrible.

 

[Diver Fred]

The instructions require the use of Berry Alloc Excellence underlay - supplied in rolls and is fleece backed. That allows the laminate to 'float' and have some movement. If the laminate has been glued together and the underlay is rigid then there is a probable source of your issue.
Good luck.

 

[Castironproblems]

Thanks a lot for the advice. I was recommended the underlay by the flooring retailer but I purchased elsewhere as it was cheaper.

I’m disappointed the fitter didn’t notify me of the issue when installing as it always made the noise but this is the first floor I’ve had installed so I assumed it was settling in.

The retailer provided me the Excellence plus underlay and some extra packs free of charge to help and I’m hopefully the installer and I can come to some arrangement. I do accept I should’ve done more independent research but if you use reputable companies I feel you should be able to rely on their advice.