I bought some cheap laminate flooring to install at my wife's condo - which we are planning on cleaning up and selling. I have the flooring and install kits (padding, some trasitions, etc), but was hoping for advice on what tools I would need.

My guess:
1. Carpet Knife - to remove old carpet
2. Pry Bar and pliers - to remove nails, staples and base boards
3. Miter Saw - to trim laminate flooring length/cut new base boards and 1/4 round
4. table saw - to trim laminate flooring width
5. portable jig saw - to trim flooring around door jamb and other odd shapes
6. rubber mallet
7. nail gun/compresser - to install new baseboards and 1/4 round

I have 1, 2, 6, 7 and think I can borrow 5. I'm considering getting a 12" dubble bevel miter and a basic table saw. Am I missing anything major? Is anything overkill? Any other suggestions/advice? The project will likely start up next month after we get some of the other items out of the way.

TIA.

 

I'm assuming it's a floating floor, no gluing/nailing required.

List looks good. Floating floors are a breeze to install.

Don't forget a tape measure.

Just make sure you keep everthing square and make sure the planks snap together tight.

 

Both a miter saw and table saw are nice to have (and this may be the perfect excuse to buy each) but certainly aren't required to install a laminate floor. The cuts aren't critical since you want a 1/4" gap at the edges anyway, plus walls and corners are generally not straight/true enough to require any real precision. A jig/saber saw, a circular saw, and a straight edge are all you really need. BTW, you may not need to remove the baseboards. The baseboards on the two installs I've done were both high enough to slide the laminate underneath and the 1/4 round covers any gap. Also, if you do end up getting a table saw, don't go cheap or you'll end up regretting it. Get a good quality saw and pay special attention to the quality of the fence. Most miter saws are pretty darn accurate -- even the fairly cheap ones. The one feature I'd insist on if I were to buy one today would be a laser/LED illuminated cut line.

 

I have to disagree with DanL. A miter saw is critical for cutting laminate floooring. Well if you don't mind losing a few fingers, I guess you could use a circular saw. I would not recommend that. It's much too thin to be messing with a circular saw.

I've used a very sharp utility knife to cut laminate flooring as well. But the miter saw with a sharp laminate blade will work wonders. Look for something with around 80 teeth like the one below.

 

mitre saw is what you need to cut laminate flooring....i just installed laminate in two bedrooms and a kitchen/family room....

 

Humm. OK, so now that I think about it, you're right if the laminate planks are narrow which got me thinking of why I didn't use my miter saw and used a circular saw instead. Then it dawned on me ... my planks (Alloc brand) are 15" x 45". Way too wide for a standard miter saw. A circular saw works fine on that width but I can see where it would be a pain on a 6" or 8" wide plank.

 

Thanks for the input. It is a floating floor, so it shouldn't be too difficult. I will try and avoid removing any baseboards, but I was thinking of doing an upgrade at the same time. Depends on how long it takes to get things done. There's several other projects to tackle and we want to get soon because we're selling the place. So it just needs to look good, but not necessarily perfect

As for the saws, I definitely want to get a decent double bevel miter, but not sure about the LED/laser sight. It would be nice, but not sure it's worth the premium. My debate is whether or not to get a sliding miter. The table saw has to be small, so I doubt it will be anything of great quality or price. If it only lasts for this project, then so be it.

 

for the laminate flooring we did in our condo and my parent's basement, we just used a jig saw and 2 stands to prop up the laminate. It was quick is easy.

 

we did laminate in our house, 600 sq ft, used a table saw for the width which came in handy and pry bar helped out a lot with the carpet tack strip. make sure to leave about a 1/8 of a inch around the edge for room to expand since laminate is a floating floor. check your subflooring and mae sure your level all the way around, I have one area where between the kitchen and the family room it steps down a 16th of a inch but you can tell when you step the flooring feels like it is moving which it shouldnt but oh well, you can't tell it unless you are barefoot

you will also need the door jam covers for the laminate to the carpet if you haev carpet anywhere that you want to butt the flooring up next to so it is clean. what kind of flooring did you go with? email me joseph.j.giguere@erac.com, I have pictures of my progress almost like a DIY if you want. let me know I learned a lot, and I also did the full remodel of my kitchen as well, granite counters and all, all the parts, granite, wood flooring and underlayment i bought at a liqudation auction all for under 850 bucks

Joe

 

You can't put down a floating floor without removing the baseboard moulding. Unless you plan to add an additional moulding in front of the existing.

Floating floor means just that, it's not tacked or glued down to the subfloor. It floats above it and it's held in place by the base moulding.

 

The plan would be to just put some 1/4 round in front of the existing base boards to cover the needed gap.