laminate installation

A little update on the updates to our 1960s ranch house. When we first moved in, we ripped up the nasty teal green carpet and found water damage and nasty linoleum. After replacing a section of subfloor, we decided to paint the linoleum to at least seal the nastiness until we could put proper flooring down. We picked up a few gallons from Sears, and they tinted it Smurf blue.

After promising ourselves for months on end we’d put the floor down “really soon”, and then getting married, going through pregnancy, and having L, we got off our butts and took care of it. E’s sister and her husband J were gracious enough to lend a big hand.

The obvious quick choice was laminate, for cost and ease of installation.

Installing the laminate with two people made all the difference in the world. With J and I alternating tasks between cutting and positioning, we got the whole room done in half a day, with a break for sandwiches halfway through.

I can’t say emphatically enough that I was so glad we a) spent the $20-$30 and bought a good laminate installation kit (tapping block, metal L tap pull, and spacers) and b) asked at Lowe’s for the correct blade for the mitre saw that’s used to cut laminate. It made the job 900% more mistake-free.

We were sad to see the Smurf blue floor go, but are very pleased with the finished product. If we could do it again, we would have bought the thickest underlayment we could afford, to eliminate some of the classic laminate tap tapping noise you hear while walking across the floor.

The next steps to finish this room are to replace the trim and baseboards with something more flat, give the walls some paint, and install a few can lights.