Laminate Floor Expansion Gap

[roberta1000]

Right forum? If not I'm sure someone will move it.

I'm laying B&Q TileLok laminate flooring in my kitchen and utility room. The instructions call for a 12mm gap at the walls and a 20mm gap between rooms. This seems like a pretty huge amount of expansion for a floor which is only about 2 metres wide especially when 1 side of it can slide under the units and it would mean a bit of an unsightly trim along the skirting board. Can I get away with less (a LOT less!)?

 

[chrisz]

you might get a better answer in the flooring section which deals with laminate.

 

[chrisz]

I'm no expert, but if you take the kickboards off the kitchen units, then start the laminate from underneath there, it makes that side irrelivent.

As for the skirting side, you could remove the skirting, lay the laminate, then replace skirting on top. If not you will have to have an expansion gap, which will need to be covered by quadrant/beading/laminate trim stuff anyway.

I may be wrong though

 

[roberta1000]

you might get a better answer in the flooring section which deals with laminate.

Oops! Thanks - didn't see that one. I'll ask over there instead.