Laying Swiftlock, Pergo type flooring

[Ricman]

Is an exercise in frustration until you get the trick to do it.
The directions would lead you to believe the planks merely lock together using nothing more than your hands. Wrong! I finally figured out that you start at one end of a run and holding the planks at not quite a 45 degree angle, you tap them in using a rubber mallet. Once this simple truth was realized, the rest of the job was simple.
I'm finishing in the basement of my new house and put this in two rooms (the rest will be carpeted). Looks nice, but my goodness I was beginning to wonder what was going on at first! And I'm a very competent handyman. Just had never installed this stuff before.

[ACfixer]

I just put down 550 sq. ft. of it on a 45 degree Jim, the devil is in the details/finish! The 45 degree install presented a set of challenges and a LOT more cuts but the end product was worth the effort.

http://acfixer.com/Pics/Floor1.jpg

[Ricman]

^^^

That looks really nice, my friend!

[Dickie Fredericks]

Wow, good job Lance.
Dang that looks great!

[goneracin]

I just put down 550 sq. ft. of it on a 45 degree Jim, the devil is in the details/finish! The 45 degree install presented a set of challenges and a LOT more cuts but the end product was worth the effort.

http://acfixer.com/Pics/Floor1.jpg

:aok
Im going to put this stuff in the room I used to use for my amp building at the house. Ive destroyed the carpet in there :jo and I thought this would look good in that room. That looks great man.

[ACfixer]

Thanks guys! I'm feeling a little bad here for hijacking Ricman's thread. The pic also makes me realize how pathetically small my kitchen is but us single guys don't care that much about that stuff. :D

The most difficult part was undercutting the door jambs around the closet area etc and still getting the pieces to snap-slide into place. The closet took a good portion of the time... Sorry for the grainy cell phone pic.

http://acfixer.com/Pics/Floor2.jpg

[twinrider1]

Re: small kitchen.

Just wondering if there have been any issues having the fridge right next to the stove? I'm thinking about redoing my modestly sized kitchen and the new layout would put the fridge next to the stove.

[250Keith]

Good job guys! :aok

[Ricman]

Hey Lance, no highjack happened! You shared a stellar job in laying this stuff with us. Maybe you and I can share tips with guys that are having trouble with it. It takes a little bit of an "art" to get it to work just so, doesn't it? But the results are worth the trouble.

[FiestaRed]

I like the color & grain. Nice

[ACfixer]

Re: small kitchen.

Just wondering if there have been any issues having the fridge right next to the stove? I'm thinking about redoing my modestly sized kitchen and the new layout would put the fridge next to the stove.

TW, perspective is distorted a little there, the stove is actually two feet to the left of the fridge with a cabinet in between.

Some of what makes the final product look good IMO is tearing off the old baseboard rather than using the quarter-round stuff afterward, and using the trim pieces to meet up with the different floorings from room to room. You can see the vinyl in the bathroom and the carpet in the bedrooms ion this pic. Each require a different end molding based on the type and height of the floor etc... Obviously in this pic the baseboard hasn't been finished and caulked etc... I did some trade with a painter that's coming in to do all that next week. :)

http://acfixer.com/Pics/Floor3.jpg