Installing floating engineered wood floors one area at a time


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Old 03-17-17, 07:23 AM
R
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Question Installing floating engineered wood floors one area at a time

Hi all,

First time (almost) home owner here. I'm about to go into contract on a co-op that needs to be renovated. I don't have the budget to do all the renovations at once.

Currently the whole kitchen, living area and hallway is covered in some vinyl or laminate tile. The bedrooms are covered in black (probably asbestos) tile. I want to put in a floating engineered wood floor throughout the entire apartment, and I want to do it before we move in. However, in a few months we will be gut renovating the kitchen.

Can I have the floating floor installed everywhere up to the kitchen area and then finish the floors once we've moved on to the kitchen project?

See image below. I'm hoping I can just install the floors up to the red lines.

Name:  floorplan.jpg
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Thanks
 
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Old 03-17-17, 08:09 AM
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I suggest you stop at the edge of the living/dining room and leave the kitchen, the area in front of the closets and entrance door undone. If you try to stop along the short red line you will have to weave the pieces in to avoid a straight seam which would look lousy. And it may not be easy to do a weave anyway, depending on specific flooring. If you stop at the end of the hallway, you can put a short transition strip there and it will look OK. If you don't want a strip there, then you would have to leave the entire hallway undone. But having a transition strip there is probably a good idea anyway as it will allow minor adjustment. Getting everything to line up and stay lined up over such a large space is very difficult given that walls are rarely perfectly aligned and square. The flooring manufacturer will usually specify the maximum area that can be covered without transitions.

The edge of floating engineered flooring is fragile when exposed. So I would screw down a pine 1x4 or the like next to the open edge to protect the edge from getting kicked or stepped on during the reno of the kitchen area.

Finally, make sure you lay the flooring in the right direction so that you can continue joining pieces where you left off.
 
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Old 03-17-17, 12:49 PM
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Thanks for your advice. Makes sense.
 
 

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