Upstairs Laminate - underlay & fitting advice please!

manic

I am looking to buy and fit some Quickstep perspective laminate for the upstairs of my house (3 bedrooms & a landing).

Underlay – As the Quickstep warranty is only valid with the use of Quickstep underlay, I was thinking of choosing Quickstep Transit Sound Ultra Underlay @ £2.25/square meter. Is there a better option?

Laying advice – I was going to treat each room individually. I had seen somewhere that you should lay the floor so that the long joints are facing the window, and that you should start in the doorway. The instructions on the quickstep website seem to suggest laying along the longest wall opposite a door & laying the last plank in the doorway, this would seem to me that you would be putting the door frame on afterwards, otherwise you would not be able to get the last plank in! What is the general consensus about start position and laying direction? Room 1 is rectangular (3.9m x 3.5m), window on short side, door opposite window wall. Room 2 is rectangular (2.9m x 2.6m), window on short side, door on long side. Room 3 is irregular, the longest wall is 3.8m with the windows in it, the door is opposite, but narrows into a gap 0.9m wide.

Thanks for looking.

manic

Also, would like some advice with what to do at the top of the stairs.

I could buy the quickstep stair profile, but is there an alternative?

ailuro2

I laid my laminate across the floorboards direction, so in line with the joists, of course if you have a modern floor this isn't a factor.

fwiw I'd not have laminate in an upper landing, too slippery near the top of the stairs for my liking. I'd carpet it the same as the stairs.

vansboy

I used the B&Q Aqualock laminate 3 times in different houses now & got on well with it.

The pics here are in upstairs rooms, but laid to give an 'all through' appearence. For levelling, the green fibreboards wer used, but also glass fibre insulation was layed between the joists, as new ceilings were put up downstairs. Noise intrusion isnt a problem, really.

As you'll see the boards were layed all in one direction, to paralell with longest walls.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii4/vansboyuk/IMG_2102.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii4/vansboyuk/IMG_1973.jpg



VB

manic

Anyone got any opinions on the underlay choice?