Ouch - Just Spent $3K on Pergo

[Paul Johnstone]

Paul,

I have installed a lot of this. My advice is to get a bandsaw blade and use it only for cutting pergo. The bandsaw blades will of course dull a little bit, but they last a lot longer than a circular saw blade will. I've done 5 rooms on one blade, and it still cuts pergo.. In contrast, when I used a miter saw, I couldn't even finish one room before I had to put serious muscle on the saw to cut through.

If you don't have a bandsaw, I'd consider using a circular saw (at least for the "cross cuts").. At least then, you are wearing out blades that are cheap enough to be disposable. The cut does not need to be perfect, as it gets covered with molding anyhow.

If you are doing an entire house, you are going to dull a lot of 10" or 12" blades if you are using a miter box/tablesaw.

oh yeah, don't buy the Pergo brand quarter molding. It is horrible.. basically cardboard .. Get solid wood quarter molding to cover the edges and room transitions.

[Paul Johnstone]

John,

I forgot about having to trim around the doorways. Do you recall what type of blade you used in the jigsaw? Fine finish wood blade maybe?

As for the direction to run it, there's a couple spots in particular I'm not sure about how to handle. The direction changes and how they affect the aesthetics are what concern me. I've heard it looks best going either in the same direction as the longest wall of the room or in the same direction the sunlight would shine through a window.

You leave the existing door molding up. Use a handsaw to cut part of the bottom of the casing and slide the pergo under it.

It really doesn't matter which way you run it.. either with the sunshine or perpendicular to it, you will see the "seams" no big deal. I think it looks best if the entire house has it laid in the same direction.

[James Stokes]

Paul here is your plan with the way I would run the laminate. I personelly use a table saw for cutting the laminate with a cheap 80 tooth blade from Harbor Freight. I have done so many I am very comfortable using the table saw for notching around the doors. About the only thing I use a jigsaw for is cutting a round whole. I use a medium tooth blade on that.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Paul here is your plan with the way I would run the laminate. I personelly use a table saw for cutting the laminate with a cheap 80 tooth blade from Harbor Freight. I have done so many I am very comfortable using the table saw for notching around the doors. About the only thing I use a jigsaw for is cutting a round whole. I use a medium tooth blade on that.

You da man James!

Other than the spots where laminate meets tile, I only see two spots where you say T-Molding is required and those are the only two spots I thought T-Molding wasn't required -- the linen closet at the end of the hall and the coat closet near the front door.

Why is that?

Paul

[Paul Fitzgerald]

One more question for you James.

You said remove the baseboards and reinstall on top of the laminate.

Do you also recommend using shoe molding or quarter round in addition to the baseboards? I think our baseboards are 7/16" thick. I can check when I get home if it matters.

Paul

[John Fricke]

I only used baseboard on mine. Only reason I know of that you would need additional was if you had gaps you needed to cover. I believe on mine they recommended 1/4" gap from walls for esxpansion........7/16" should cover fine.

[James Stokes]

There are 2 reasons for the t-molding in the closets. The first one is just to make it easier on you. Your Pergo is longer than the door is wide, You can use 2 pieces to get it under the jambs or make it easy and rip it to fit under the jambs and put the t-molding. The second reason is all of the laminate will be held to gather by a 2 foot join going in to the closets, you will get enough movement out of the laminate that that join will come loose over time. If you have T-molding there each side can move independently of each other and you will never have to worry about it.
As far as putting quarter round against the base I probably would, you are covering a large area and you will get a fair amount of movement out of the floor, 1/16 of an inch does not allow for much movement with out coming out from under the base. You could go with a 1/4 inch expansion around everything but in my experience for an area that large I prefer a wider expansion joint. There is less chance you will get binding from the movement of the floor. If you live in a humid area I have seen the laminate expand and shrink by around a 16th of an inch per plank so I prefer to leave a larger expansion joint around the perimeter.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Great info! Thanks again James,

Paul