Laminate flooring DIY - Advice needed

Hi All,

I am going to be laying down laminate flooring in my main bedroom and WIR in the upcoming weeks.

I have a few questions which I was hoping you guys could assist me with.

1: What would be the best direction and starting place to lay down the flooring? See attached floor plan
2: What tools are needed when starting a job like this?
3: Is it better to remove the skirting before putting down the laminate flooring?

With regards to question 3, I have old ugly, brown skirting (see attached), which I’m looking at sanding down and painting. Considering the effort involved in sanding the old skirting, would it make sense to just replace it with new skirting? There is only about 20 meters of skirting needed.

Thanking you in advance!

Cheers,
Robbie

Images attached

1) Work out your coverage of the boards to see where you will need to cut the last one down in width. Usually you start at the door and work across to the back wall but that will depend on how much the return is from the bathroom wall to halfway under the door.
2) Usual hand tools plus a jigsaw and/or power saw
3) Remove the skirting and replace with new. Much easier. Also allow for 5 - 10mm clearance at all walls for expansion etc which is covered by the skirting.
After you remove the skirting and carpet have a good look at the floor. Punch down any nails and if there are any squeaky boards put a few extra nails in. Any high points in the existing flooring, sand these off with a belt sander.

Stewie

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated!

Regarding the skirting.. the guy at the flooring shop suggested that I leave the skirting on and rather using beading to cover the expansion gap because the walls might get damaged when removing the skirting.

I guess as long as I’m careful when removing the skirting there shouldn’t be any issues.

That's how they normally do it only because it is easier for them. Beading/scotia trim/quad looks like crap on a timber floor in my opinion.
Just be careful as you say.

Stewie

Another two questions I have..

4: Do you undercut cavity sliding door frames the same as you would normal door frames? The reason I ask is because the cavity sliding door jambs seems to have a metal casing. All of the DIY YouTube videos show the undercutting as a few simple cuts and the undercut pieces just popping out easily, so was wondering if it was the sames for all types of frames.

5: What sort of gap should I leave at between the slate tiles in the hallway and the new laminate floor in the main room? I’m guess the height of the existing slate is about the same and the new laminate flooring.

4: Yes but just the timber part of the jamb. Don't even think about trimming the metal frame!
5: 10mm should be more than enough if the slate is even and the jamb is plumb.

Stewie