Advice needed on laying down IKEA laminate flooring...Pictures Included...

blobert

Hello Folks,

I'm looking for advice on fitting laminate flooring into a newly built apartment.


We're planning to rent a van and to go up to Belfast to get all basic furniture etc from IKEA, was hoping to have a go at putting down laminate flooring myself.


As you can see in the pictures the floors already have an underlay/padding down, it's about 1cm thick:



What I'm wondering is whether it's fine to just lay down this laminate flooring on top of it:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20070011

They say "When laying floors, always use NIVÅ floor lining, sold separately."

This basically seems to be similar to what's laid there already so I'm guessing there's no need. Even if it is needed to help with soundproofing it's quite cheap:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00018076

They also say:

"When laying floors on concrete, complement with SPÄRRA plastic sheeting."

Now there are concrete floors underneath but the fact this is a 5th floor apartment means water is less likely to come though the concrete? Or do I still need it?:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00028264

If I did get it would I have to pull up what's there and put it underneath or could I put it on top?


I've done a bit of reading on technique for putting the floor down and it seems fairly straightforward.

Just to check, I'm guessing I'll need the flooring itself, a few of these kits:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/12622600

Will also need beading (assuming IKEA sell this though it is not on the website) as the skirting boards are already in place.

Is there anything else I need? I can get a loan of a mitre-saw to cut boards to length and to shape cut-outs around door-frames (I can get help doing this as I am inexperienced with this saw and want to keep my fingers).


Another question I have is this: We are getting a friend to come and tile the kitchen (he's a professional), I'm just wondering how we create a divide between where the wooden floor ends and the tiles begin? I want to do this where the padding changes colour in the picture below:




I believe the correct piece is called a Z-Bar attached in place with the flooring flush to one side and the tiles the other. Again I see nothing on the website, I assume IKEA would sell it though?



And one final thing, I'll be putting down the flooring throughout the living room, hall and bedrooms. When I come to the doorway separating the living room from the hallway is it best to stop there and separate the two rooms (again using some kind of divider) or should I run the flooring through all in one go:





Any advice you could give me would be much appreciated.


I haven't put down flooring before, as you can undoubtedly tell, but I'd like to give it a try and will have a much greater sense of satisfaction having done it myself.

We are doing the decorating on a very tight budget, so this means replacing skirting boards etc. is not an option (will have to live with the beading). Similarly paying someone to put down the flooring when we can do it ourselves (most of the advice on the internet suggests it is easy to do, if a little time consuming) is something I'd avoid doing. We're going with a very cheap floor, so I don't think it makes sense to pay someone a lot more than the flooring materials cost themselves to fit it.

And, in case you do think this is too hard a job to take on, what would I have to pay a fitter to fit about 70sqm?


Thanks in advance,
Robert

the GALL

Your apt looks cool
1 use the floor underlay
2 forget the plastic sheeting
3 buy the kit there's also one in atlantic which has ratchet straps included for pulling it all tight (saves a lot of bulling with the bar)
4 the bead can be the same as the floor(wood effect) or the same as the skirting (quadrant painted white) your choice
5 mitre saw? you may be better off with a jig saw and a relief profile for the arcatrave
6 dont cut your fingers off, you'll need them for the opening night beers
7 there are various diffeerrent types of bead which can be used you'll need to discuss this with the tyler and they can be bought in any hardware/diy. do this before both of youse start so youse are on the same wave lenght
8 run the floor through in one go
9 yea it can be a b!tch to do
make sure you take you time,
hoover all floors before you start
wear clean shoes (runners)
wear knee pads(most important)
comfortable pants
if you get stuck, stop, think about it and go at it again.
70sqm of handy floor would cost about €700-€800 all depends on how handy