Undercutting door jamb

[Msamuels]

With the vinyl plank flooring that I have, you have to put planks together at an angle and then push down to lock the pieces together. That’s easy enough to get under the door jamb on one side of the room. I have doors on both sides of the room. I don’t see how I can get the plank under the door jamb on the other side of the room. Has anyone ran into this before?

 

[havasu]

This is one of the downfalls of this click lock product. As much as it pains me to say, sometimes it is better to just shave off the lower tongue, then glue it down to the adjoining plank. Another option is to remove most of the jamb, get the plank warm and really pliable, then try to get it to lock in place. Then again, many will use a threshold between the rooms, so you don't have to deal with this issue.

 

[Msamuels]

This is one of the downfalls of this click lock product. As much as it pains me to say, sometimes it is better to just shave off the lower tongue, then glue it down to the adjoining plank. Another option is to remove most of the jamb, get the plank warm and really pliable, then try to get it to lock in place. Then again, many will use a threshold between the rooms, so you don't have to deal with this issue.

Thanks for the reply. I have a heat gun, I’ll try that first.

 

[highup]

If you have one of those small hand planes, those chrome Stanley planes that are about two and a half inches long, you can make a very exacting cut removing that small part of the lower tongue. Adjust the plane to barely remove a paper thin amount from that tongue.
All you need to do is play with a couple of scraps until you're able to remove exactly the amount you need and no more.
Lay the two pieces on the floor, side by side as if you were going to lift and lock them together.
Take your plane and make one even pass across that lower raised portion of the tongue. Now with both pieces flat on the floor, try and slide them together.
If that doesn't work, make a second pass with the hand plane. Try sliding them together again. At this point put a tapping block on the back side of the piece you're trimming and give it a very gentle tap. If it clicks together, you've probably removed the right amount.
If the piece will tap together, you will still need some additional help with glue, but you haven't totally removed the locking mechanism.
With that said, getting the piece into place can be a little bit of pain depending on how wide it is and how high you cut your door jamb. You may need to remove the plank that this one clicks into, then install the this doorway piece and slide it clear to the wall. Now install the next to the last piece and click it in a place before gluing and tapping in your doorway piece.
Many years ago, I had the same situation with an Armstrong click together floor. For situations like this they requested that you remove .016" off that lower tongue. They say this full well that one out of 10,000 flooring installers has a micrometer or a pair of dial calipers.
......well, that guy is me.
I adjusted my little hand plane and gave it one pass as a trial.
First pass, .016" ..........
.... Just don't ask me to do something like that two times in a row.
The glue can act as a little bit of a lubricant also so that's why you don't need to remove all of that lower tongue. You can actually leave it somewhat tight and it will still tap together with both pieces laying flat. This just takes a little trial and error.
Instead of a hand plan, I'm sure a sanding block would achieve the same result. You do the same as the hand plane. Swipe across the locking mechanism two or three times and test how easy it is to click together. Take note as a number of passes with the sanding block on your test piece and apply that to the locking mechanism on the one that goes into the doorway.

 

[Tile Tom]

For a diyer you should shave & glue.

Personally I haven’t shaved a plank in over 10 years. With the proper tools and a little know how you can get them locked in no problem. A good 60% of my work load is floating floors these days.

 

[Msamuels]

For a diyer you should shave & glue.

Personally I haven’t shaved a plank in over 10 years. With the proper tools and a little know how you can get them locked in no problem. A good 60% of my work load is floating floors these days.

Thanks for the help

 

[MSLI]

Maintenance man / contractor dude has been installing LVP in newly updated apartments, leaving me with 2 BR’s and stairs for Carpet. Anywho, what do you think about the work. Photo 1 , is showing a transition strip between kitchen and DR. ( is that really necessary? )
And photo 2, is showing the Johnsonitte baby threshold I had to install because they provided nothing
( is that normal? )

 

[C.J.]

The transition between the 2 LVP areas looks dumb but it matches the stagger. It was prolly ordered for the carpet transitions anyway. Forget the reducer and tuck the carpet tight to the LVP. Z-bar it if you really want to go overboard but it’s still just an apartment at the end of the day.

 

[highup]

I can't tell from the looks of the image, but do the planks in the kitchen line up with the planks in the dining room area?
Maybe the apartment owner wants that kitchen part separate because they know it's going to be damaged and they can replace it separately?
.........naw, I don't believe that either
I noticed there's a pencil line on the floor next to one of the door casing trims. You don't need to market that heavy and even if you do, you can rub it off with your finger before you put the piece in place. It always looks better when you undercut the door jambs to slide the material all the way underneath it....
...but that's just my view.
Around here, installers won't even use the trims, they do just like CJ said.
Most of those trims aren't user friendly installation wise that is.
Does trims have a track or did you glue those in?

 

[MSLI]

The transition between the 2 LVP areas looks dumb but it matches the stagger. It was prolly ordered for the carpet transitions anyway. Forget the reducer and tuck the carpet tight to the LVP. Z-bar it if you really want to go overboard but it’s still just an apartment at the end of the day.

The Apartment owners / management company has decided to upgrade some of the units. An almost full renovation of kitchen, bath, new 5.50” baseboards throughout the two BR unit and crown molding in LR,DR …. A real class act and I would like to help them up their game a little as it relates to the LVP.

I’m trying to get the main installer to join here, ask and learn, but in the meantime,
do you really need the transition between the kitchen and the LR/DR ?

 

[MSLI]

Maybe the apartment owner wants that kitchen part separate because they know it's going to be damaged and they can replace it separately?

That makes sense, but couldn’t you just add the transition at that point in time, then again if you’re looking to the future, the transition now would create a consistency down the road.

Does trims have a track or did you glue those in?

The LVP Installer finished the planks on the outside of the door jam on this job, with no baby threshold. The previous unit was finished on the inside and I used a tackless “ T “ - track with insert to give a finished look. Back to this one, I found a 2.50” Threshold in the shop, attached using the special peel and stick tape. I had to modify it on the carpet side to get the proper profile. I hate “ Z” bar

 

[highup]

That makes sense, but couldn’t you just add the transition at that point in time, then again if you’re looking to the future, the transition now would create a consistency down the road.



The LVP Installer finished the planks on the outside of the door jam on this job, with no baby threshold. The previous unit was finished on the inside and I used a tackless “ T “ - track with insert to give a finished look. Back to this one, I found a 2.50” Threshold in the shop, attached using the special peel and stick tape. I had to modify it on the carpet side to get the proper profile. I hate “ Z” bar

Z bar 30 years ago was thicker than the stuff we get now. Today, it's like heavy duty tin foil.

 

[kwfloors]

I try to lay the planks out so on the opposite jamb I put a butt joint in the doorway. Sometimes easier to install that way.