laminate trim

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A few things I need to concrete in my mind. I'm due to fit a new laminate floor and wanted to know :

1) how best to cut and where to make cuts for the scotia trim. Given that it will be solid oak and not painted. I cannot find lengths in more than 2.4metres. Joints better under or away from radiators?

2) What type of joints to use to join the trim, and the neatest way to cut it. I normally do scribe for internal and mitre for external joints. Same as skirting. But I am not very good at making them neat.

3) start fitting the floor furthest away or closest to the door?

4) any handy tips on fitting laminate around radiators


Thanks for any info
 
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if you have painted skirting just use mdf/wood trim and paint the skirting colour
 
Using oak trim so need to be a little more careful? Not painting it
 
do you have wooden skirting or painted ??
join lengths at 45 degrees with open end pointing away from main veiwing direction
 
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Painted skirting, white eggshell, do you think it will look odd against a oak trim?
 
If you've got painted skirting boards, and an oak trim, then yes, it'll look odd as the trim will stand out. If you cut your trims at 45 degrees with a mitre saw, and then you can glue them together before fitting them; that'll give you a neater finish.

And start the laminate away from the door, and work towards it.
 
If you've got painted skirting boards, and an oak trim, then yes, it'll look odd as the trim will stand out. If you cut your trims at 45 degrees with a mitre saw, and then you can glue them together before fitting them; that'll give you a neater finish.

And start the laminate away from the door, and work towards it.

Thanks Doggs. Glue together with mitre bound? Would that work better than PVA? Thanks for your suggestions, I was going to buy the solid oak, and will now go with a primed softwood or mdf as big all suggests.

What's the easiest way to paint the trim without ruining the laminate? Frog tape? I've done it before and it became surprisingly messy and irritating as most of what goes on seems to want to get on the laminate
 
And I was just typing that when Foxole beat me to it. So I changed to this. But yes, frog tape and be careful for the bits you do need to paint.

You've learnt most things Hawkeye, so you'll get the hang of this soon as well.
 
Pics to come. Is the threshold bar fitted on top of underlay or without the underlay?
 
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I did scribe joints on the internal corners because I find they are a little more forgiving when lining up. The externals are mitres. Followed the advice and ran the mitres on long walls away from the eye, there was only two to do for the whole room.

Not sure if I did the threshold in the right place. It's not screwed down yet as you can see in the photos, but I can't extend the floor to the door stop if it's wrong, it's too late. It made sense at the time to run the threshold where the door shuts and not between the stops. If it's wrong it's wrong I just have to learn for next time.

Trim is loosely fitted down because I'll be lifting it at a later date to paint, didn't have time yesterday would have caused too much delay, and stuff needed to go back into the room.
 
You've got a carpet threshold at the door, but it should be a laminate trim that'll allow the laminate to slide underneath it. Other than that, the jobs fine. The join should be under the door itself, not between the door stops, but as laminate trims can be a little high, then fitting them between the stops rather than under the door can work well.
 
You've got a carpet threshold at the door, but it should be a laminate trim that'll allow the laminate to slide underneath it. Other than that, the jobs fine. The join should be under the door itself, not between the door stops, but as laminate trims can be a little high, then fitting them between the stops rather than under the door can work well.

Thanks, as usual. What's your preference on the space around the outside of the laminate? Wickes recommends 15mm (which I went with), but then by the end you end up having to buy a 18mm scotia trim or equivalent, which is what is in the photo. Is this to get people to buy larger trims which obviously cost more?

In another room I may be using the same floor but would like a smaller 15mm trim, this would mean leaving a smaller gap around the outside, say 12mm. Would a smaller gap around the perimeter give the floor enough space to move? What is the absolute minimum?

http://www.wickes.co.uk/how-to-guides/tiling-flooring/fit-laminate-flooring

Also, I used parcel tape to join the underlay, it works, but it barely sticks at all, do you have a preference? I used this:

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p82213?table=no
 
For most rooms of about 4m square, I tend to leave a 10mm gap, and drop the cork strips in to stop expansion creep, but it's a judgement call really, because if you fit laminate on a cold day, in the winter, you may well need to leave a 15mm gap, and if you fit it on hot summers day, it may shrink out below the scotia or skirting board in the midst of winter.

As to jointing the underlay boards, because I always use fibre boards, nothing seems to stick to them, but I've learnt to wipe the joints with a damp cloth, and then use duct tape; I'll give your suggestion a go next time though.
 

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