This will be my first time in laying laminate flooring, I'm nervous and worried about getting it wrong but I want to try. I am starting in the small bathroom and I'm hopefully going to be laying 12mm moisture resistant click boards. Obviously I have underlay to put down first but I am not sure where to start laying the flooring. I have taken a picture of the bathroom and anyone who can give me advice on where to start laying would be great. Any other hints and tips would also be greatly appreciated.
Apologies, struggling with screenshot upload. Not a very good start to what I see as a brief DIY project.
As soon as I figure out how to upload a screenshot I will do of the laminate I'm hoping to lay, my confidence is not high as you probably can surmise.
Screenshot may be to briefly press power and either vol up or down. Come back to this thread, click upload file then choose "files" From here navigate to screenshot and choose correct file
Yes, I have taken the screenshots have followed the steps you posted but still not working. I am going to try another way. Already getting stressed which is just not good.
As the saying goes, if I were you I wouldnt start with that room. Would be easier if you could lift the toilet and cistern and install beneath that otherwise you have the faff of cutting around it. In any event I would start the run along the bath, across the existing boards. Would be better if you could whip the skirting off too and resit on top of the floating floor otherwise youll need beading all round. Im sure youll make agood job of it with a bit of care
I have taken the toilet out and put it back in as there was old flooring that needed taken out. So no problems regarding that. This is what I thought initially was to start at the the bath panel and work my way to the door. God knows, I've read and looked up all manner of hints, hacks, tips and tricks. If this goes well I'll be more confident to start a small L shaped hallway. Thank you for the advice....much appreciated.
My tip would be to make absolutely sure the edges are undamaged and clear of any debris before you close the joint
Will you be ‘undercutting’ the door frame and then sliding flooring under ? Read up on it / YouTube videos / (as you probably know) ! Saves the faff of cutting around frame and if using trim/bead at edges (?), always looks weird (to me) when trim stops and starts at door frames Much neater finish to undercut at frames Also work out layout and width of boards across floor so you don't end up with a sliver of board at one side - may be better to equally cut first and last boards for a symmetrical layout - just depends really how it works out Also staggered, random board length joints or using same spacing across the floor ? Random for me, looks more natural And pipe collars for radiator pipes - white or chrome - your choice ! Good luck with the project
Another wee tip is to buy one of the fitting kits. The block and hook for tapping the joints together is very useful. Also, don't tap it too hard when joining or you can chip the laminate or deform the joint - stop as soon as the joint closes. Apart from cutting around awkward shapes it is a fairly easy, and satisfying, DiY job.
If it was me I would lay the boards the same way as the floorboards - easier to fit in the doorway, easier to fit around the rad pipes. As others have said, lift the toilet and remove the skirtings. It's a horrible little room for a first go at laminate - all fiddling and fettling, so the devil is going to be in the detail. You definitely need a hook. When fitting around radiator pipes, you can use collars, but it is possible to make a neat job without - drill a hole in the board where the pipes will come through just slightly oversize - say 16mm for 15mm pipe, and then cut a wedge shape from the hole to the board edge, so you end up with a narrow cheese shape. This wedge will then push in tight to the wedge shaped hole closing up the saw cut width - you will need to trim the hole end very slightly as the wedge will push in further than it was cut - glue the wedge. you can make it almost invisible. The trickiest part is cutting the last piece into the doorway - you just have to work out the easiest way to get it in and not leave ugly gaps. Thresholds can cover some gaps. Also, what @stevie22 says - the boards won't click together properly if the slot has carp in it.