Door frames or floor first?

johneym

Folks,.

among other things Im replacing floors an doors an frames in a 30 year old house. 12 mm laminate over 6mm fiberboard. I was about to put in the door frames first but a pro told me that the floor goes in first?

In the rooms,should the laminate run parallel with the corridor or at a right angle to it? And in the hall? Directly running in a straight line from the front door? this would mean it will be 90 degrees to the corridor though.

Advice appreciated,

John

tonydude

Well, im a carpenter and would fit in this order frame/floor/doors. Fit the frame on a piece of the laminate flooring to get the spacing right and fit the flooring in the longest run of the room. Start on the most difficult side and finish on the easy. Laying a floor first is very prone to scratchs and marks. Dont forgot the expansion joint by the walls, and make sure youve the flooring climatized to the room its being fitted to.
Flooring in a hall way with many doors can be difficult i hope you know what your doing, the door frame must not obstruct the floor from any movement that might occur, otherwise it'll rise

Kingchip

Floors in first and then frames on top. If I'm putting down a floor I run the boards parallel with the longest wall in the room. If it's 90 degrees to a hallway you can use a jointing bar under the door between room/hall.

johneym

thanks a lot fella for the replies.

2 conflicting ideas though.

the hall runs into the corridor which is 90 degrees off it. so would it be best i run the laminate parallel with the hall or the coridor?

How much of a gap should there be between floor and frame?

Tks

Kingchip

johneym wrote: »

thanks a lot fella for the replies.

2 conflicting ideas though.

the hall runs into the corridor which is 90 degrees off it. so would it be best i run the laminate parallel with the hall or the coridor?

How much of a gap should there be between floor and frame?

Tks

The reason I'd put the floor down first is with laminate floors you have a clicklock system, the boards click into 1 another at an angle so you won't be able to slide the board under the door frame ( you can slide boards under with a tongue and groove system).

I wouldn't leave any gap between door frame and floor, although if your floor is off level you may end up with a gap on 1 side when you level the head of the frame.

I'd parallel the floor with the hall as it'll look better when you come in the front door.

johneym

what if, i put the frame in first but then i start the floor from the door? Could this work?

Kingchip

Ye can't see why that wouldn't work

Tom Slick

If it's click-lock stuff put the floor in first (specially in a hall/corridor).
Try it out on a "dry run" & you'll soon get the idea.
Would only recommend this kind of flooring for nice square rooms but at least you have the choice of what goes in first.
You'll have to be v.careful about causing damage later though.

tonydude

It would,i always click lock a full line together, so depending on floor length i could be fitting 5 or 6 at a time. Always found doing one at a time a balls, putting too much pressure on an already weak joint. The core is only made of mdf like. Pay extra attention that no piece of the joint breaks and goes into the joint. That little piece would prevent a clean and tight joint.

As ^^^ said laminate isnt hard waring and is hard to keep, for a floor with high traffic semi solid or solid is a better option

YouTookMyName

You could put the frames in first, then the floor and cut a saddle for the bottom of the frame?

johneym

many tks for the replies lads, fair play to ye.

It would suit me mech better to put the frames in first. I have them here already and dont have the floors. The doors came in pre hung frames but u can take the door off. Also there is still a bit of painting and filling to be done in the rooms so they are not really ready for the floors. They doors and frames are very bulky and how i would fit 150 sq met of laminate in here too would be tight. And, i am living here too while the missus an kids wait for me finish this so they can move in. I have an issue also with the plumber not going deep enough and leaving the insulation slighty protruding above floor level. I have just made a post about it in heating an plumbing.

Tks a gain

John