Laminate flooring problem?
Question:I considered my options of pulling off the baseboards or using shoe molding and decided to pry off the baseboards after finding some were a little warped. But after prying them off I found a half-inch space between the bottom of the wall and the concrete floor. Now when I put the spacers between the wall and the planks, they just slip under the wall. I'm afraid the moisture barrier won't be able to do its job and there won't be room for expansion if I don't get this right. Any suggestions?
Answers:
With the drywall comming down to 1/2 inch of floor level the drywall has been protected from moisture off of the floor, you will be able to cut the floor laminate to the wall without the spacers and do Just fine, the moisture barrier will work as long as you make sure it goes under the drywall to the studs just behind it. actually makes your job easier. Enjoy the new floors!
You need to replace your old baseboards with new, since you took the old ones off. Get a baseboard that is deeper at the bottom and thinner at the top. The wide thick bottom will cover the space.
I had tile put into my kitchen, it left an opening similar to what you are talking about. I purchased new base boards, wood and I cut them and put them on my self. They covered the gap and there is no problem, they look great and you no longer see the gap.******ADDED TO WHAT I TOLD YOU: On mine I didn't need to use the quarter round at the bottom of the baseboard since my baseboards were just the right size to cover it. Over all I did a great job with cutting and fitting my base board, it was my first attempt at doing this. If you do this your self you can get a mider box/saw and that will help you to be able to cut the boards your self, it will help you to be able to get the right angle for the baseboards.
Buy all wood, as it will not suck up any moisture when you wash your floor, you don't want them to warp again.
Measure the gap between where the tile ends and the wall starts. That is the amount of with at the bottom you will need to cover the gap so that you can not see it, if there are any areas where it is worse you may have to put a shim in there behind to help it totally cover it. Another thing that you could also do is after you put the base boards, if there is still a small gap showing you can put a piece of quarter round at the bottom and that should help cover it up.
Ask them at the hardware store in the lumber dept. and they will show you what I mean.
Good luck, they will look nice you just have to pick the correct one to cover what is there.
The whole point of the spacer is to assure 1/4 inch space around the edge of the flooring to allow for expansion. You can use the space under the wall for this purpose. Just let your vapor barrier and underlayment go into this space (cut is just a little long and tuck it in under the wall). As long as you have 1/4 inch for expansion you are OK. A shoe mold should cover the opening then as it will ride on top of the laminate and leave about 1/4 inch of the 1/2 inch opening to cover.
usually you do want room between your sheetrock and floor...not unusual to have that much gap...set your underlayment down use wood shims they are longer than the generic shims you get at the store. this should work for you...once you set your laminate flooring down install your baseboard and finish it with some quarter round
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