B&Q laminate flooring, top is peeling/chipping, and they don't want to know

iamana1ias

sjrsaj wrote: »

Well when the carpet was taken up, the floor is just concrete, so we used a waterproof membrane and then 3mm combilay. The surface should be level if it's a concrete floor? There is a gap between the wall and where the wood stops, the new skirting board sits on top of the new flooring.

The inspector could see the skirting boards as half have not been put back on. The skirting boards which were fitted were put back on after the peeling had started. We stopped fixing them after I decided I wanted B&Q to look at the flooring, but with them taking so long, some skirting boards were fitted. I have a two year old daughter and don't want her poking about!

I would take pictures but this site won't let me upload them as I'm a fairly new user?

you keep changing your story!

Not all concrete floors are level, no. In fact i've never found one that is, and have had to use either self levelling compound or the thicker underlay boards before laying laminate.

sjrsaj

I don't think I changed my story...I didn't lay the flooring, so I naturally assumed he had laid it to the edges of the walls, but having pulled the skirting board back after your comments, they were not 'pressed' against the wall as you had intimated. The boards all laid flat after installation but I guess with cold days something has gone wrong, I should have gone with Pergo anyway...

ajtrader100

neilmcl wrote: »

Its laminate, not wood. There's no need to treat laminate flooring the same way.

It needs to be treated in exactly the same way.

Most laminates need acclimatising for a minimum of 48 hours before installation. It expands and contracts in a similar way to solid or engineered wood, as it is made mostly from timber based products.

pendulum

Neilmcl should ask himself the question, if laminate isn't really wood and doesn't expand or contract with changing climate, why is it necessary to leave an expansion gap then! And you DO need to leave an expansion gap, every single guide or instructions that come with the flooring will say that!

You do need to let laminate flooring acclimatise. 48 - 72 hours depending where you look!

neilmcl

The expansion gap is required because, like all floating floors, there can be movement, however it doesn't "expand or contract" in the same way a real wood floor would do. Please tell me what part of a laminate floor can be classed as real wood, and don't say the wood-chip composite base.

ajtrader100

neilmcl wrote: »

The expansion gap is required because, like all floating floors, there can be movement, however it doesn't "expand or contract" in the same way a real wood floor would do. Please tell me what part of a laminate floor can be classed as real wood, and don't say the wood-chip composite base.

The HDF core material (or wood composite base as you call it) does expand and contract in a similar (not identical) way to wood.

Solid woods expand and contract in all directions, however laminates tend to expand and contract in mainly four directions.

The laminate surface itself also expands and contracts, but less so than the HDF core, which is why is is more stable than real wood.

ajtrader100

neilmcl wrote: »

The expansion gap is required because, like all floating floors, there can be movement, however it doesn't "expand or contract" in the same way a real wood floor would do. Please tell me what part of a laminate floor can be classed as real wood, and don't say the wood-chip composite base.

Just in case you need written evidence please see the link to PERGO's installation guide, which clearly explains how the laminate flooring expands and contracts.

http://www.pergo.com/Documents/pdf/Installation/General%20info.pdf