Installing Flooring

[aweilba]

DH and I are thinking about re-doing our downstairs, replacing the tile and carpeting with a high quality laminate.  We'd love hardwoods, but wouldn't see the return in our area when we go to sell the house in 2 or so years.  I'm fairly handy, but have never torn out or installed flooring before.  The rooms where the laminate would be installed are a long and skinny entry and a huge bonus room, so no tricky corners or anything.  The most difficult part would probably be the doorway between the entry and the bonus room.   Is this a project that we should be able to do ourselves? 

[kaylie]

Laminate is a doable DIY project if you have the right tools (miter saw and probably a table saw). Are you planning to take up the tile or put the laminate down over it?

[aweilba]

Jan 21, 2013 14:09:30 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Laminate is a doable DIY project if you have the right tools (miter saw and probably a table saw). Are you planning to take up the tile or put the laminate down over it?

We probably need to take up the tile because it sits higher than the carpeting in the adjoining room.

[kaylie]

Pulling up carpet is pretty easy, but removing tile is tougher. I think there's dremel attachment that can help you cut between the pieces to remove it. You can also rent an electric chisel at HD which would probably make it easier. From there you'd need to make sure the floor was even and put an underlayment down. HD offers some classes on how to install laminate.

[aweilba]

Jan 21, 2013 14:13:20 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Pulling up carpet is pretty easy, but removing tile is tougher. I think there's dremel attachment that can help you cut between the pieces to remove it. You can also rent an electric chisel at HD which would probably make it easier. From there you'd need to make sure the floor was even and put an underlayment down. HD offers some classes on how to install laminate.

Hm... this sounds a little more complicated... I know if we had somebody do the work for us, it would nearly double our cost, at least this is what it seems like from the flooring places I've met with so far.  

[kaylie]

I think that's pretty typical. I've been doing a lot of research on the costs because we're planning to replace our floors with hardwood. It's usually $1/sq ft for them to remove the old flooring, a bit more to repair any subfloor that needs it, an additional cost for the actual installation and then more if you want them to put in the baseboards. We're going to DIY the hardwood because I think it's doable for us and the number I get if I price in full service installation is just unfathomable to me.