Hi,
I want to replace carpet with laminate in the lounge room. Concrete slab and brick walls. Will need waterproof sheet and underlay.
Because of the way the skirting boards are nailed into plugs in the brick walls, I suspect it would be a big effort to remove/repair/replace them.
So I'd like to install the laminate while leaving the skirting in place, but have been unable to google any advice on this.
First problem is raising the floor.
The vertical gap between concrete and boards is about 13mm. - 7mm of edge boards around corrugated foam underlay, plus carpet.
I was looking at Ikea Tundra boards (HDF, I think? cheap) which are 7mm.
Should I try using a double layer of the standard Ikea 3mm underlay to lift the boards to the skirting level? That would also make it level with the tiling in adjacent room.
Or is 2 layers bad, and I need a single layer of 5-6mm underlay?
I don't suppose it would be a good idea to reuse the carpet underlay?
Or I could pour 3mm of levelling compound on the floor - about 50L . I expect the 2nd layer of underlay is cheaper and easier.
Are there any other problems with installing laminate under existing skirting?
Obviously positioning the planks with correct expansion gap will be trickier, as spacer cannot be used. Hopefully some heavy weights will hold the first row in place?
And the last plank of each row will need to be tapped in horizontally.
I don't see any way around removing the skirting on the side of the last row, to put the final planks in. But I will make that the side with the double doors. Just two short skirting boards, and less visible.
This little project is just a warm-up. I will soon be moving into an old house that needs work, and then either extend or build a new house behind it.
So first post (essay!), but you might see a lot more of me here.