Yikes, we missed another important aspect of
preparation. There's nothing worse than looking at a
good DIY
installation only to find they cut around all the
door casings and caulked them. We've seen this with
so called professionals too who obviously should
have
stuck with the carpet trade. There are two ways
to cut door casings. The easiest is with the use of
an electric jamb saw that can be rented in some
locations.
Power jamb saws (seen on the right) insure a very
clean cut under door casings. It is recommended to
cut slowly as chances are good you may hit some trim
nails that tend to blow out. These types of saws run
around $180-$230 and are adjustable for any
thickness of flooring. Another option is to cut them
with a sharp hand saw. To do so, place a scrap piece
on the floor with the foam underlayment. Place the
blade of the saw directly on top of the scrap and
begin cutting with consistent strokes. There's
nothing worse than finding you haven't cut enough
off. Check for fit before you cut all the way
through.
Handy Tip
Here's
a handy tip for those that may have fireplace
hearths. With our recommended 3/8" expansion area,
it
would be necessary to install trim in the area,
unless you have a diamond cutting blade (image
right) that can be attached to the jamb saw.
Personally we suggest avoiding any trim in these
areas as much as possible; looks very tacky.
Diamond blades can cut through rock, granite, brick,
you name it. They are much faster and cleaner
opposed to using a masonry blade that comes with
most new jamb saws. Using this technique will set
any job apart of the others. Keep in mind we still
need that expansion area under the hearth. If you
should happen to butt against anything, efforts are
meaningless and the installation is likely to buckle
given the right conditions.
The
Pull Bar
Floating floors are next to impossible to install
without a pull bar (also called last board puller).
They come in a variety of shapes with the most
common shown to the right. These types work on
thinner products but will not be very effective on
other
thicker tightly milled products that require a heavy
duty pull bar. A better pull bar will work on the
toughest installations.
Pull bars are useful when that last board has to fit
into place along a perpendicular wall line. Lay the
cut piece into the area, engage the tool in the
expansion area and tap the toe section. Be careful,
using too much force can break open other joints
already installed. Go slow with it, finding your
comfort zone. Once you have the desired fit, check
for any end joints that may have opened up down the
line.
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