Laminate flooring - last row dimensions question

[tomres]

Hi,

Decided to lay our first laminate flooring (Pergo Drammen), and we have so many questions

But let's start with one question.

We are laying laminates in the dining room and lounge, and the laminates will flow between the rooms (without a trim/transition).

The laminate planks are 19cm (7.5 inches) wide.
We're starting in the lounge and laying the planks left to right.
The length of the lounge room divided by the width of the plank = 33.67
So its 33 full planks, and 67% of the width on the last plank.
So this last plank's width is OK, based on my limited understanding of laminate flooring.

As mentioned, we are flowing the laminates through to the dining room, which has different dimensions.
This means that we might land up with planks that may only be 5cm (2 inches) wide.

Now we get to our question: what is the minimum width of a laminate plank that's allowed?
Is 5cm (2 inches) too thin?
Is there a recommendation on the minimum allowed width of a plank?
And what are some recommendations if you do land up with this dilemma that your last laminate is narrow (as is bound to happen when laminating across different rooms and hallways)

Looking forward to hearing from this great community

Thank you,
TR

PS. below is an example picture - what is the recommended width of that last plank (as depicted via the red strip)?
What if I land up with something smaller than 5cm (2 inches) do to adjoining room proportions?

 

[Incognito]

Now we get to our question: what is the minimum width of a laminate plank that's allowed?
Is 5cm (2 inches) too thin?
Is there a recommendation on the minimum allowed width of a plank?
And what are some recommendations if you do land up with this dilemma that your last laminate is narrow (as is bound to happen when laminating across different rooms and hallways)
********************************************

Rather than thinking about what is "allowed" we're really looking for what is optimal or ideal. So we're really just trying for the most appealing image that's still practical. A 2" lengthwise cut (known as a "rip" cut) is not ideal nor is it very practical. But they do happen if you want a coninuous layout and not transition at doorways. Unless you can use the piece on the other side somewhere in the house it can be very wasteful to allow that.

You kinda started out wrong. If the room dimensions are 33 an 2/3 of a unit (plank) rather than a full unit on one wall and 2/3 unit on the opposite wall we will want to make those opposing sides equal by shifting the starting point one half a unit. So the .67 of the 19cm (12.73cm) dimension is added to the 19cm dimension to give you 31.73cm. Divide that in half and your cuts on each side of that room ought to be 15.865cm.

Obviously no one will measure the two sides with a micrometer so lets round that up or down to whatever you like. This type of flooring is mostly decoration. It does not add structure to the home like hardwood flooring so there's no critical decisions. So THAT is where your initial layout starts. I typically snap the chalkline on the floor throughout here immediately. We have equal borders, both MORE than half a unit (width of the plank) centered off the longest two parallel walls.

From this point you check all the smaller, less significant walls into any contiguous area to see how this falls out. If you can shift that layout to improve the overall layout and avoid the unsightly and difficult narrow cutting. It just takes time to measure off that starting line to see any possible improvements.

 

[tomres]

Hi @Incognito

Thank you for that great advice.

As per your suggestion, I have centered the laminate in the lounge, ensuring each end is the same (rip) width - however, this has the following flow on affect:
- in the entrance hall, I now have a 36mm wide laminate (rip) against the south wall and a 21mm rip against a north wall
- at the end of the hall way, I land up with a 8mm rip laminate

Which appears to make things even narrower than the original plan.

I have attached some spacing calculations, and based on the layout of the house, and to line up all the laminates between the rooms to create flow (even between rooms with transitions), that first set of calculations might be the approach I might have to go with?

The numbers in the attached picture are the rip width of the laminate against the North and South walls per area, in mm.

Thank you
TR

PS. the second picture is a quick draft of the house plan, with dimensions of the length / width of the walls in meters.
There's apparently no need for a transition/edge/trim between the lounge and dining room (as that is a double sliding door and the gap is wide enough).
But there is a transition/edge/trim (inzico) between the lounge and hall (that 45 degree line).
And my partner wants all the laminates aligned...hence my calculations dilemma

 

[Incognito]

Hi @Incognito

Thank you for that great advice.

As per your suggestion, I have centered the laminate in the lounge, ensuring each end is the same (rip) width - however, this has the following flow on affect:
- in the entrance hall, I now have a 36mm wide laminate (rip) against the south wall and a 21mm rip against a north wall
- at the end of the hall way, I land up with a 8mm rip laminate

Which appears to make things even narrower than the original plan.

I have attached some spacing calculations, and based on the layout of the house, and to line up all the laminates between the rooms to create flow (even between rooms with transitions), that first set of calculations might be the approach I might have to go with?

The numbers in the attached picture are the rip width of the laminate against the North and South walls per area, in mm.

Thank you
TR

PS. the second picture is a quick draft of the house plan, with dimensions of the length / width of the walls in meters.
There's apparently no need for a transition/edge/trim between the lounge and dining room (as that is a double sliding door and the gap is wide enough).
But there is a transition/edge/trim (inzico) between the lounge and hall (that 45 degree line).
And my partner wants all the laminates aligned...hence my calculations dilemma

Boy, I'll tell you this much. It's no layout there that's obvious. Not even which direction, let alone where to center the layout. So let me tell you what "Industry Standard" would be-------what probably 9 out of 10 professionals would do in today's residential laminate installation market. They're JUST looking for the easiest and fastest starting point. They do exactly understand what I said about how UNcritical it is in a case like this diagram because you will certainly get some unhappy rip cuts here and there.

MY focus points off your drawing would be the corridor and the dining room walls parallel to the longer dimension of the kitchen tiles. So I want good "rip" cuts down that hall, good rip cuts in the dining room and then=========it's just gonna go as it goes. I would certainly take 20-30 minutes to figure where to put that first row. But that's it. OK? There's no PERFECT starting point here and if I took the 10 best installers on God's Green Earth and forced them to commit to the best layout I'd get at least 6-7 different ideas.

The best advice that can be offered is to do the math to avoid something like a 1" rip cut or less---ESPECIALLY where a wall is out of square and that 1" devolves to zero or negative. God forbid.


Good luck and try to have fun. That's really the whole point of life.

 

[tomres]

Thank you @Incognito

On the house plan, North is the top of the plan (lounge and dining room).
The laminates will run left to right across all areas, and since 'someone' wants flow, the laminates will also run left to right across the passage (bottom left of the plan), else we'd need another transition.

Thank you again!