qucik laminate question

Doglover88

a lad from work says that laying laminate over large floor areas is not recommended as it could lift in the middle due to lack of weight, i know about leaving a gap round the edge to allow for expansion but he seems sure a large square area of flooring should be real wood, as the weight will prevent lifting or bowing in the middle of the room?
Has anyone heard of this before?
Thanks in adavnce
Glen

robowen

Not heard this before

Are you planning on having an empty room with no furniture ??

rob

weekendwarrior

Perhaps your friend has fit laminate before and not left the expansion gap!

I have seen that before!

Done some quite big rooms myself and never had any problems with it lifting, but I have seen it on a warm day where people have not left a sufficient gap!

You should not have a problem with it.

Doglover88

I'm hoping to use Quick Step Quadra 800 ceramic tile laminate and by the looks of it it comes not in strip/plank form but in tile form do you know if this is correct?
And whats the recommended gap to be left? I've been told 101 different things!!
Thanks again
Glen

weekendwarrior

Hi Glenbat

There is a installation guide here-

http://www.fastfloors.com/li_16723,0,104223/Quick-Step-Laminate-Flooring/_/Quadra-Natural-Tiles-8mm/installation.htm

follow this and you should be fine, all the laminate I have fit I have left 10mm all the way around the room, covers easily with beading!

Good luck

scheming_gypsy

glenbat wrote:

And whats the recommended gap to be left? I've been told 101 different things!!
Thanks again
Glen

one thing to remember when leaving the gap is that your beading has to cover it, so not too big

Hunnymonster

glenbat wrote:

I'm hoping to use Quick Step Quadra 800 ceramic tile laminate and by the looks of it it comes not in strip/plank form but in tile form do you know if this is correct?
And whats the recommended gap to be left? I've been told 101 different things!!
Thanks again
Glen

I left 7-8mm all around in my kitchen diner with that exact laminate (room is 3.5 x 7m) - if my kitchen is going to vary in temperature enough for that 15-16mm, I have more things to worry about than the floor shrinking

flang

If its a large room you may need to leave a expansion gap in the middle, failure to do so would result in the foor lifting.
I believe this is only applys if the room is like in a hall so prob doesnt apply for any houses (only of course you have a big one)

gardnt1

Large rooms will be ok as previous posts have said as long as expansion gap is left. With Quickstep, being a quality laminate board you should have no problems leaving a 6 - 8 mm gap. If laying in large rooms for example, through diners , manufacturers will recommend that the room is divided with a profile strip at certain intervals due to room tempertaure perhaps being different and therefore expansion occuring at different rates. They only (IMO) tend to do this to cover their backs re warranties etc as having a profile strip doesnt look as good as having the flooring all the way through without breaks. As said, sticking with a floor such as quickstep you will have no worries and excellent results if not afraid of fitting !

Doglover88

cheers guys
What underlay would you recommend? Its going on 1st floor, with someone else living underneath in a flat who is renowned for his moaning..
It'll be going on top of old marley tiles, will i need a damp proof membrane or an 'all in one' underlay?

Hunnymonster

I went for an all-in-one from Floors-2-Go after talking to a couple of the fitters there. I bought the laminate there too and got a decent price, after I'd been to a few local retailers pricing it up (tip: get prices in writing from each place, on a compliments slip or similar - pretend to be a bit absent-minded so they write it down ) and without mentioning I'd been elsewhere the guy in Floors2Go offered to beat any written quote by 10% and deliver free anywhere in the county (I talked him into free delivery 1 mile outside the county - again without mentioning it was 1 mile outside on the longest possible axis from his shop)...... saved me a tidy sum on the 60sq m of laminate I laid