villa interior design augusta ga
hello! and welcome to our show. if you're watching this tape! it's a safe bet that you're interested inarmstrong’s swiftlock laminate flooring maybe you've already boughtyour new flooring at lowe's if you have! terrific choice. armstrong swiftlock laminate flooringis designed exclusively for lowe's and it's tailored to your needs it's a great product from aname you know you can trust. but before we get more familiar withlaminate flooring and how to install it.
we better orient you to this tape we've tried to make iteasy for you to find your way through this tape, bybreaking it into segments each segment has a number colour codedgeometric shape so you can find it easily. and there's a visible time referencein the corner to guide you. you can scan through tocheck out just those installation steps you're interested in, or review those that may haveleft you a little uncertain. in any event it's all here.
everything you need to know toinstall your new laminate floor. and won't it be nice to be ableto say you did it yourself! you really did make a great choicein armstrong swiftlock flooring the rich authentic wood visualsand the warm tile looks, add a comfortable wonderful feeling to just about any room. but it doesn't just look good this floor performs that’s because of theunique way its constructed.
1st: on top is the tough wear layer which protects the floor because of this layer, your floor won'tstain or fade from exposure to sunlight and it won't wear through. 2nd: under the wear layeris the image layer wood grain or tile patterns, so authentic they look like they're freshfrom the forest or quarry. but they were recreated by ahigh quality printing process. 3rd: under the image is a highdensity green fiberboard core
that provides moisture resistance, dimensional stability and helpsresists gouging and indentation. and 4th: is the backing. a balancing layer that resist moisture andkeeps the armstrong laminate flooring flat. armstrong’s swiftlock laminate flooring will stand up to the everydaydisasters your family dishes out and keep its rich appearancefor years and years. is installed with what'scalled a floating floor system it is never attached tothe sub-floor in any way.
the reason it floats is to allowit to expand and contract with seasonal changes intemperature and humidity. its perfectly natural, butto allow the flooring to expand, you'll need toleave a 1/4" gap around the entire perimeter of the room. you'll make that gapdisappear with coordinated moulding pieces for a beautiful finish. this floating good looking adorable floor is surprisingly easy to install.
and you can do it withbasic woodworking tools. lets take a look. you'll want to haveeverything you need before you begin installing your new floor by all means bring home ad-i-y (do it yourself) laminate floor installation kit. this kit contains a pull bar, and interlocking spacers. and an instruction manual
we recommend you use the instruction manual in conjunction with this video tape besides the installation kit you'll need some common hand tools; a tape measure, hammer, saw, a square a drill, utility knife, a pencil a laminate flooring touchup kit or wood filler polyethylene tape and a pry bar if you have existing quarter round or othermouldings that have to be removed
you should also wear safety glasses and a niosh design dust mask. if you're installingyour swiftlock flooring in a bathroom or other high moisture areas such as under a dishwasheror a refrigerator with an ice machine, you'llneed laminate floor glue. laminate floor glue isspecifically designed to make the installation easy,and provide a strong durable water resistant bond between
the pieces of flooring. a pre drilled hole on the tip ensures just the right amount of glue. we recommend applying a 3/32" bead. here's what a 3/32" bead looks like with a 3/32" drill bit for reference. if the glue bottle getsclogged at any point during your installation we recommend you puncturethe clogged tip with
a 3/32" bit, rather thanclip the tip of the nozzle. if you're gluing your floor togetheryou'll also need a plastic scraper a bucket of warm waterand clean cotton rags. for bathrooms you'll alsoneed 100% silicone caulk you'll also need underlayment toput under your new laminate floor armstrong’s quiet comfortpremium underlayment and 2 in 1 advanced underlayment provide a cushion, help absorbssound, provide a thermal barrier and compensate for slight subfloor imperfections over any sub floor.
armstrong’s moisturebarrier sheeting should be used instead of quiet comfort or 2 in 1. when installing laminate that alreadyhas an attached foam underlayment all three (3) armstrong’s underlayments provide a moisture barrier when installing over concrete sub floors. over concrete, seal againstmigrating moisture by taping the seams of the underlayment with polyethylene tape.
lowe's provides a line ofcoordinated transition pieces and mouldings todress up your installation. there's quarter roundto transition from base moulding to the flooring. reducer strips to makethe transition from your armstrong’s laminate flooringto another type of flooring. baby threshold for use against carpet and around sliding glass doors. tops or toe kicks.
t-mouldings for use indoorways or entry ways. or when your room is longer than 40' or wider than 26' overlaps step nose mouldingsfor landings or step downs and flush stair nose for landings step downs and stairs. so you'll want to make sure you have all the right transitionfaces to finish your floor beautifully.
and that's all you'll need except for the laminate flooring itself. before you buy it, you'llhave to estimate how much you'll need for your room. we'll cover how in the next segment. to determine how much armstrong’s swiftlock laminate flooring material to buy. begin by taking themeasurements of the room in which you plan to install it.
and convertingthose measurements into square feet. take that number anddivide it by the square footage contained in a singlebox of swiftlock flooring. check your carton. we'll use 21 as an example. once you have thatnumber, round up to the nearest whole number. and then add, one more box for every two
hundred square feet of flooring. rolls of underlayment covers 100 sq ft bottles of glue also covers 100 sq ft in a standard installation. there's very little wastein a laminate flooring installation, but you will need alittle extra flooring material. that extra carton per 200 sq ft should cover it. when you bring your new flooring home,
place the cartons flat on thefloor before installation. not on edge. during installation theroom temperature should be 65 - 100 degrees fahrenheit and the humidity should be 65% or less. this is important for theoverall stability of the floor installation. and its necessary for anywood base flooring product. one of the nice things aboutarmstrong’s swiftlock
laminate flooring, is thatyou can install it over virtually any existing floor. wood and wood underlayment, concrete, ceramic and resilient tile. resilient sheet flooring, even carpet if its fully adhered to a wood sub floor and no more than 1/4" thick. also radiant heated subfloors are acceptable, as long as the surfacetemperature does not exceed
85 degrees fahrenheit that means! you don't haveto pull up old floors and deal with the mess or the hassle of repairing most sub floor damage. just make sure the old subfloor meets building codes and is structurally sound, dry, clean and flat fill in major gaps, holes or cracks in wood or concrete floors withthe appropriate patch
concrete must be fully cured and must not show signsof moisture or alkali. we recommend you test formoisture in concrete before installation. take 3 foot by 3 foot pieces of polyethylene to the sub floor. after 24 hours if moisture condensation appears on the film or the concrete appears dark colored,
it's likely excessive moisture is present. and you'll want to consult a professional to run a calcium chloride test to determine whether laminate is the right choice for this environment. check out the existing baseboard moulding. if there is quarter roundyou'll want to remove it. and you'll probably want to replace it with the moulding thatmatches your new floor.
if the existing base boardmoulding will accommodate the addition of the quarter round to cover the one quarter inch gap that you'll create when youinstall the laminate flooring you can leave the baseboard in place. you will have to undercutdoor trims to make sure that the laminate floor floats freely under these trim pieces. use a piece of underlayment
and laminate flooring toguide the height of the cut. you may also find thatyou'll have to plane or cut the bottom of doors because ofthe increased floor height. ok! after you've cleanedup any dirt and debris you are ready to begin the installation. the next step is to beginthe layout of the floor. to decide where to begin,consider incoming light. it is usually best to installarmstrong’s swiftlock laminate flooring with the planks running
parallel to the light comingin windows or glass doors. for any installation thestarting wall should be long and as straight as possible. so find the longest straightest wall parallel to the incoming lightand that's where you'll begin we recommend a good quality carbide tipped cutting blade. the type designed for cutting composition and laminate materials
such as melamine or coreboard. be sure to put on yoursafety glasses and face mask before you cut. and followthe tools manufacturers safety instructions. when using a hand-held power saw keep the decorated side facing down to minimize chipping. cut the material in an area away from the installation site to control sawdust.
you can use a handsaw but cut with the decorated side of the board facing up use a square to keepyour cut line straight. if you have any rough or irregularlyshaped obstacles in your room, you may have to make a paper patternof the shape of the object. then transfer the patternto the flooring material. and cut it to fit. pipes passing through thefloor are no problem either. if the pipe is near theend of a board, measure,
locate and cut a hole1/2" larger than the pipe cut across the board throughthe center of the hole. glue the pieces in place. tighten the joints. and use spacers at theperimeter of the room to keep the board snugduring installation. if the pipe passes throughnear the edge of a board measure, locate and cut a hole1/2" larger than the pipe. cut at a 45 degree anglefrom the edge of the
board to the hole. and glue the pieces in place. tighten the joints and use spacersat the perimeter of the room. to keep the board snug during installation before you install your new floor, consider the placement andtype of the various mouldings and transition pieces you'll be using to finish the job. using 1/4 round doesn'trequire any pre-planning.
but in areas where you'lluse other transitions such as reducer strips, baby thresholds or t-mouldings you may need to expandthe gap to accommodate the base of the transition piece. in rooms that are longer than 40' or wider than 26' or when the laminateflooring continues through a doorway to another room,
you'll need a t-moulding. there's an optional metaltrack system that can be used with reducer strips, baby thresholds and t-mouldings. begin the installation by rollingout a strip of underlayment along the starting walland cutting it to length. you'll roll out additionalpieces of underlayment as the installation progresses being careful not to overlapthe edges of the underlayment
you'll want to avoid narrowpieces at the finish wall. check it out by measuringthe distance between start and finish walls. divide the distance by thewidth of your flooring. that's normally 7 1/2" but check your carton for dimensions. if the remainder is less than 2-1/2" cut of 2-1/2" from thetongue side of each board in the starting row.
armstrong’s swiftlock flooringis packaged very carefully. but you should inspect each piece prior to installation for damage and we recommend you mix boards from 3 open boxes of flooring at a time. begin in the left hand corner and place the tongueside of the first board against the wall. place one 1/4" wide spacerat the start of each row
and 3 spacers along thelength of each plank as you lay them down. working from left to right, join the tongue and grooveon the short edges, or end of the boards at an angle. and then lock them together. continue laying pieces in the first row until you come to the end. you'll almost certainly haveto cut this last piece.
measure the space. if this distance is less than 8" go back to the first plank in the row and cut off 8" reposition the pieces in the row. and then remeasure. subtract 1/4" for the gap on that side. and mark the board witha pencil and a square. cut the last piece in the first row.
lock it in place. and use a spacer or 2 at the end. don't worry if the gap isa little more than 1/4" you can use 2 spacers together lying on there sides as a wedge to keep the whole row together. begin the second row withthe piece left from the end of the first row, if it is 8" or longer otherwise cut a new board inhalf to begin the second row
lock together the longedge of the first board in the second row to the first row leaving it raised up off the subfloor at its natural angle. angle the end joint of thesecond board in the second row to the end of the first boardand lock them together then angle up slightly andpush the second board forward, until its long edgelocks into the first row. the first two boards inthe second row should still be angled up off the sub floor.
follow the same angle,angle procedure with the remaining boardsin the second row. when all the boards in thesecond row are in place, lock or press that entirerow flat to the sub floor. you may need to use a pullbar to tighten the joints. use gentle pressure and tapping and use a spacer or 2 at the end. continue building rows of flooring until you've worked yourway across the room.
you may have to cut the lastrow of boards length wise just place a row of boards on topof the last row you installed. then use dividers or a pieceof the flooring material with the bottom ofthe groove cut off to trace the contour of the wall. use a spacer between thepencil and the piece of board to add the 1/4" gap that's needed at the finish wall. cut the boards and lockthem in place using a
pull bar if necessary to make the joints tight. installation of lockinglaminate through a door jamb may require reducing the size of the lip of the groove. using a small plane or utility knife, plane or shave off 75% of the ledge of the groove. after the groove ledge has been trimmed
place the board in position laterally. and lightly tap the board into place using the pull bar. sometimes more than onepass may be necessary in order to trim the ledge of the groove to the correct height. apply a thin 3/32" bead of glue on top of the tongue at this juncture to ensure joint integrity.
now you can remove the spacers from around the perimeter of the room. and install the transition pieces. if you pre drill coordinated transitions before nailing or screwingthem to the sub floor. you'll find them easier to install. and you'll make a neater job of it. and to make sure you letthe laminate floor float freely, fasten the transition
pieces to the wall or sub floor. not the laminate floor or underlayment. you can easily fill nail holes using a laminate floor touch up kit or wood filler. you can also installthese transition pieces using a good qualityconstruction adhesive. apply to the wall or sub floor not the laminate floor or underlayment.
if you have a step downor landing in your room depending on the flooring you've chosen you may use either overlap step nosing or flush stair nosing. with overlap step nosing, cut a temporary wooden block 1-1/2" wide. screw or nail it in placewith one edge flush with the edge of the step down.
install swiftlock flooring up to the blog using 1/4" spacers tocreate an expansion zone. remove the spacers and blog and pre drill the stepnosing for finishing nails. apply a 3/16" bead ofconstruction adhesive in a serpentine pattern tothe back of the nosing. and adhere it in place. then fasten the step nosing in place with finishing nails.
with floor stair nosingon a step down or landing start by cutting the nosing to length. if you need more than one length of nosing cut the ends at a 45 degree angle. apply construction adhesive in a serpentine pattern and adhere it in place. over wood sub floors pre drill and nail the nosing as well. then install the underlayment
and the laminate flooring from the nosing into the room. match the factory tongue on the boards to the factorygroove on the nosing if you're installing armstrong’sswiftlock flooring on stairs you'll need to fully adherethe flooring to the stairs without using underlayment. this is the only time you adhere boards directly to another surface.
begin by cutting off the bull-nose of the existing stair treads flush with the risers. beginning at the bottom riser, measure and if necessary cut a piece of laminateflooring to fit flush with the top of the existing riser. be sure to measure fromthe top of the flooring to account for the 1/4" gap between
the flooring and the first riser. apply construction adhesive in a serpentine pattern to the back of the flooring and adhere it in place. be sure that the piece doesnot slip down into the 1/4" expansion gap. dry fit the stair nosemoulding to the front edge of the first tread and measure the distance to the riser.
cut a laminate board to length and to the measured width. and apply construction adhesive to the existing tread. spread the adhesive evenly with a 1/16" square notched trowel. adhere the board in place leaving the factory tongue exposed, to be joined with the groove
in the stair nose moulding. apply construction adhesivein a serpentine pattern to the back of the stair nose moulding. then apply a bead of laminate floor glue to the top of the tongue of the board. push the pieces togetheruntil the joint is tight. drill and finish nail thestair nose moulding in place there are many differentstairway installation situations which are more intricatethan the one we're showing
if your stairway installationdiffers from the one shown in this section. we recommend you hire a professional to install laminate on your stairs. if you're installing armstrongswiftlock laminate flooring in a full bath, you'll haveto use laminate flooring glue to ensure water seal. you'll have to remove the toilet first then start the first row with the tongue
of the boards against the starting wall. apply a 3/32" bead of glue to the top side of thetongue on the short side of the boards before locking them together. in the second andsubsequent rows you'll have to apply a 3/32" bead of glue to the top side of the tongue on both theshort & long sides of the boards. angle and join the boards atthe ends of the boards first. then the long sides asyou did without glue.
as you lock the boards together a fine continuous line of glue should ooze to the surface at the joints. this ensures the jointswill be water resistant after drying. remove the excess gluewith a plastic scraper or credit card and damp cloth. follow up with a clean dry cotton cloth to remove any residue before it dries.
clean up the glue within an hour. it will be much moredifficult and time consuming to remove it if it dries on the surface of the laminate. leave an expansion zone between the laminate flooringand the toilet flange as well as around theperimeter of the room. you can use a babythreshold moulding if you have a straight tub or shower base.
if it's not straight justbuild in an expansion zone when you install the laminate flooring. then completely fill in the zone with 100% silicone caulk when the floor is completed,fill in all the other expansion zones with 100% silicone caulk to seal out moisture. while armstrong’s swiftlocklaminate flooring is durable, no floor is indestructible.
but you can easily makeminor nicks or scratches disappear, with a laminatefloor touch up kit. in case of a major problem with swiftlock it is possible to replace anentire piece of the flooring. in most cases all youhave to do is remove the quarter round mouldingfrom the walls nearest the damaged board. and remove the boardsby unlocking them carefully working backto the damaged one.
then replace the damagedboard with a new one. and re-assemble the floor. that's it! now you can relax andenjoy your wonderful new floor. and you don't have to tell anyone how easy it was to do it yourself. oh! and if you glued your floor together don't worry if you notice some swelling
at the seams for the first 6-8 weeks. you didn't do anything wrong. some swelling is perfectlynormal until the floating floor settles comfortably into place. it's easy to keep your newarmstrong’s swiftlock laminate floor looking great too. you don't have to polish or wax it in fact you shouldn't, just vacuum. but avoid beater bars. use a dust mop
or wipe with a damp cloth. for spills, just wipe up or squirt and wipe with a laminate floor cleaner. for stubborn stains use nail polish remover with acetone on a clean cloth and wipe with a damp clothwhen you're finished. never pour nail polish removerdirectly on the floor. we recommend using felt floor protectors on furniture legs to prevent scratching.
floor protectors, floorcleaner, all the accessories and tools you need toinstall your new floor. as well as a broad selection of beautiful swiftlock patterns are available at your neighbourhood lowe's store. armstrong’s swiftlock laminate flooring it's beautiful durable, easy to install and easy to live with. it's a floor you can believe in.
from the most trusted name in flooring. armstrong