Gaps between Skirting and Laminate Flooring

Chief1975

Hi All,

In the summer we knocked the kitchen through into the living room to create a open plan living space. Both rooms where completely gutted & replastered. Now that we entering winter the room seems to get cold & takes a while warm up so i have been looking to see where I can reduce heat loss.

I fitted the skirting boards after I put down the laminate flooring & left gaps of between 3-5 mm, my thinking at the time was it would make removing the laminate flooring easier in the future. However when I put my hand over the gaps I can feel the cold air so I need to fill them with something.

I didn't really want to use any type of sealant as its messy, has anybody got any ideas for alternative methods? I have got some rolls of doorframe draughtproofing which I could try packing into the gaps?

ormus

use some flexible sealant with a cartridge gun. either brown or white. your preference.
mask the floor first, then the mess will be much reduced.
wipe off any excess quickly. (small scraper and or damp sponge).
leave the masking tape for a bit before removing.

sunshine54

the gap around a laminate floor is supposed to be around 10mm to allow for expansion. (otherwise the floor will buckle in the summer).
the gap is usually filled with a cork strip which will compress and allow the floor to move. don't fill the gap with anything than is solid.

wallbash

I think that the 10 mm gap is on the horizontal , the OP is worried about the gap left ( hight ) The skirting replaced after the installation was a 'bit' generous in ref to replacing!
An idea , small quadrant pinned on skirting closer to the laminate.

ormus

thats the gap at the rear edges of the laminate. the gap between the laminate and the skirting is not the same thing.
but you certainly dont want anything "fixed" in the gap. the floor must be free to slide.
hence use something flexible. dont use normal pollyfilla as it will crack.

ajtrader100

A gap of 1mm per linear metre is adequate for expansion and contraction!

Use a flexible sealant to stop a draft

andrewmoorcroft

you could try stuffing some similar colured felt in the gap that can be more easily removed that silicon ir required.
If you have floor boards and you can crawl underneath from a neighbouring room, you could silicon between the floor boards and brick work withou touching the inside of your room.

loracan1

Isn't there a flexible clear sealant available? I had to have the floor in my dining/kitchen replaced last year. The small expansion gap in front of the door is filled with a clear silicone, thought they'd just left it till I checked.

RE-reading your original post, I first got the impression you'd left a gap between the top of the laminate and the bottom of the skirting to make removal easier - not sure how that'd work? I put some down last Christmas but only left the gap wide enough to push card under when painting skirtings.

kazmc

I had the same problem and just bought beading in long strips in a matching colour (really cheap) and glued that on. Worked a treat.