PERGO LAMINATE TECHNICAL HELP

[mpoland33]

Hello everyone, I need some help and advice!...2 q in uestions/scenarios.

1. I have a fireplace and built in shelves that look to be on top of the carper...so naturally the sliver in between them also has carpet. How can I remove the carpet in between and what do I put in its place? I feel like I can't get the Pergo back there either

2. This picture shows the transition but not a full problem. I will be transitioning from the kitchen to the family room, here is the subfloor to the family room. The problem I have it the transition threshold runs about 14 or 16 ft...probably 2 or 2 1/2 pieces of the transition. I'm concerned that, because nothing in my house is level, that this will be the same way and the transitions will not match up perfectly. I'm trying to avoid dips and lips on this particular piece.

Any ideas??

 

[DarisMulkin]

I'd see if I could get a moulding lifter under that tackstrip and see if you could pry it up. Try getting ahold of the carpet with a pliers and see if you can pull it out. Other than that leave the carpet there and burn the house down. No, don't do that. I'm being a smat a$$.

 

[mpoland33]

haha, thanks. The wife is convinced we can get some of the carpet out. Wants to take a long handled hand saw to see if it will cut down. I just dont know what to do with it once I get it out. Sliding a piece of laminate back there seems worthless to make but dont know how else to hide the hole

 

[highup]

In that gap I just fit a piece of trim to the stone on the fireplace and make the gap go away.
You say nothing in your house is level. The areas where you will be installing the Pergo does not need to be level but it needs to be very, very flat. If there's dips, humps or bumps or ridges in the underlayment those need to be fixed.
If the transition area changes heights between your underlayment and that tile floor, you might end up needing a piece of metal type of trim.

 

[mpoland33]

In that gap I just fit a piece of trim to the stone on the fireplace and make the gap go away.
You say nothing in your house is level. The areas where you will be installing the Pergo does not need to be level but it needs to be very, very flat. If there's dips, humps or bumps or ridges in the underlayment those need to be fixed.
If the transition area changes heights between your underlayment and that tile floor, you might end up needing a piece of metal type of trim.

Thanks for the response. Everything I had read going into this project says 1/4" bumps or uneveness is okay. I believe I am below 1/4" now on everything. In one room we used Maipai patch- hated using it. In the other two rooms we were able to jack the joists from below and put sister joists in. The joists they had in originally were not a true 2x12 and were about 10 7/8 or 11". I have one more problem area I'm working on today. I have a smaller valley but one in a traffic area. The problem, for me, is the bookcases and built in and go floor to ceiling. Jacking isn't working there so I'm trying to figure out another way.

ON the transition area, I'm going to be around 1/4" higher on the new floor side vs the kitchen floor ( tile remaining the same). I was given a tip to stray from the pergo 4 in 1 and look for a hardwood option that might be able to work

 

[highup]

You definitely want to be less than one quarter inch in deviation especially in the main walking areas. Let's say in between two floor joists spaced at two feet when you lay a straight edge across that span and there's one quarter inch deviation the floor is going to flex a lot every time you walk on it. That is not good.
If the floor has a 1/4 of gradual deviation over an 8 ft wide span this less of a concern. If the floor dips down one quarter inch two feet out from the wall will recover by a couch or other furniture again and that's less of a concern. In the main walkways and in places where you will make a transition, I get mine to under 1/8 of an inch in 5 feet.
This might help paint a better picture.
Let's say that you have a 1/4 in dip over a span of 3 ft. If you lay a single plank on that area, it will bend nicely into that shape. However, once you start clicking more and more boards together it behaves as a much more rigid structure. That rigid structure will not flow or lay into that dip or depression anymore. It will span over the depression. Each time you walk on it the flexing of the floor will flex all of the joints. Over time, that is not good. That's why the manufacturers specify a specific deviation. Usually it's not more than 3/16 of an inch and 6 ft.
If I screed filler across 5 or 10 low areas, often I will need to do a second screed of filler. Just add a tiny bit more water on the second screed to make it flow easier.
When you pull a screed of filler, for trowel it, you most likely will have a few ridges. Left the material set up for 15 minutes to half an hour to firm up. Now take a drywall spreader or a handheld razor scraper and shave off those ridges. If you wait a few hours until the material is totally dry it's much harder to scrape.