Laminate flooring

[wavery]

5.  MFG does not recommend letting puddles of water sit.  Reason is that the water might seep through the cracks and loosen the glue holding the pieces together.  I don't think water would affect the laminate itself.

Standing water absolutely does damage the laminate.

One of our apartments developed a leak in the A/C condensation water drain line, located in the air handler in the hallway. Water got under the (fairly new) laminate floor. The laminate absorbed the water and blew up like a balloon. As we took up the floor to replace the effected pieces, they just crumbled to bits.

[SkipP]

I'm guessing the most challenging part of this will be all the door frames we have to deal with. (8 of them).

Ah! Door jambs...forgot about those. The best way to deal with them is to "undercut" them. You can rent a specialized power tool for this purpose (looks a lot like a sidegrinder) or buy an offset hand saw for the job. I know Lowes sells them in the flooring department.
 
Undercutting the jambs will give you a neater look and allow the laminate to be cut square.

[chasd60]

If you buy a high quality laminate you will not have some of the problems described. Some of them have a super thin laminate surface and it doesn't take too much to wear them down. Mine are glueless and are made by Dupont with a 30 year warranty. Not very inexpensive but very rugged. A friend installed some stuff from Sams Club and he could not believe the difference in quality when I brought a piece of mine over and we hit it with a hammer.

I did three rooms in my house that are all connected. I think the biggest thing to remember is to put them in the room they are going to be installed in for a few days so they can acclimate and make sure you maintain the 1/4" gap at all walls. If you go from room to room you may have to install a break at the opening. Some have that as a requirement depending upon the opening width.

[West Coast Canuck]

I install laminate flooring and yes it can be very tricky. When I install laminate, I measure the length and width of the room to insure I do not end up with a piece that is less than a foot. You can split the difference with the starter piece of the row. I usually install 1/4" spacers along the starter walls to insure that that I have a consistent gap. You can purchase a laminate tapping block and hook bar to make your installation easier. If you do it any other way, it can cause you more grief that you would care for. Trust me, it will make a difference if you have the proper tools. I also have compound mitre saw that I cut with and a table saw for ripping long lengths of laminate. Use a laminate saw blade.....laminate floors contain aluminum oxide that will dull any other 60 tooth blade. The tapping block has a groove that protects the laminate from chipping, I use it to tap the end of the laminate floor to lock it in as well as the leading edge to tighten up the gap. Make sure the floor stays square, it will help make the installation go easier. If you are not carrying it out the door you will need to get a reducer to transition between the flooring, there are different kinds of sizes. I just did a quote and will be installing another floor this coming weekend. I highly recommend new baseboard moldings, I try to reuse the old moldings but more often than not they will crack. I use a 18 guage air nailer, it makes the job simpler and then chaulk all the seams along the walls and white putty to fill the nail holes. I would suggest prepainting the molding before installation and touch up afterwards.