Installing and How to Install Laminate over an Uneven Kitchen Floor

We tore it out in the fall- the carpet that is. We tore out the stinky nasty worn through carpet that was harboring who knows what in our temporary living room in the fall. You see, we’re moving rooms around in our house- and the living room is being replaced with the kitchen. Our flooring of choice was a Tarkett Laminate floor.

Now, when we bought this house, one of the things we noticed was that there was a sag in the house’s concrete floor in this particular room. It wasn’t hurting anything really, and old Summit County plans show a well right in the middle of the room! (Not sure how that worked!) Anyway, over the decades, the well or whatever got yanked, and we got some sag. Or maybe it was always like that and the previous owners didn’t care- who knows. You see, our home was built by a man who was a salesman for Cleveland Plumbing Supply. He was a SALESMAN, not a plumber, so he KIND OF knew some things about houses, enough to be dangerous. Lets just say there’s pipes all over the house and we still don’t know where they go!

Anyway, I’m writing this article, so let me get into the uneven floor: Droop!

Fill uneven floor with self leveling concrete or mortar

Simply, to fix an uneven floor, you have to MAKE it even. In our house- this required the use of about 800 lbs of concrete. Heavy, I know. We used a straight edge tool to GUESS the level that we needed, and kept moving and checking it all over the room.

Installing Tarkett Quiet-Cor

You can install laminate flooring directly over concrete, but in order to get the clickety clackity sound of hardwood, you have to add a little insulation between the two.  Tarkett offers their Quiet-Cor foam that lays out like thick thick tearable vinyl floor.  Because we had extra, and because the Quiet-Cor also acts as an insulator against a cold concrete floor, and because we were worried about some uneven spots in the concrete, we installed TWO layers of the Quiet-Cor- our doing so paid off.

Installing Laminate Floor

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As with any flooring product, the first corner and the last corner always seem to be the toughest.  Because our home has baseboard hot water heat (which I love) we had the added headache of installing the product underneath the pipes and their coverings!  It took some finagling, and some re-reading of the directions and adapting them to our situation, but it worked.  Oh, Find a great page from the manufacturer including instructions on how to install laminate floor from the manufacturer here.

My husband had his heart set on a particular pattern by Tarkett long before we moved into this house.  It was a Japanese Seagrass pattern.  It’s not a wood grain, but rather a pattern that suggests tightly bundled grasses all packed together.  It comes in a dark and light variety- with the room that is to be the kitchen facing the North, and the limited natural light, we chose the lighter pattern.  The pattern is definitely an alternate to wood grains in laminate, and one that can hide all sorts of dirt in case I don’t mop for a few…. weeks, I mean days.

In the end, we love the floor. Tarkett’s Laminate from their Cross Country division Seagrass Japanese is a simply stunning. We have received so many compliments on the design, it is unlike traditional wood grain yet still has the feel of wood.The room feels larger and more open.

My kids love running and playing on the flooring. It is a natural playground for them to ride their little ride-ons, push cars and trucks, or simply putting together a puzzle. Even though this room is primarily empty, my kids spend a lot of time in the room just playing. Right now, we have only the dining room table in the room that will be our kitchen and dining room once we get the kitchen remodel project underway!

As a mom, I really like how I can keep the flooring clean with ease. I don’t have to worry about whether the floor is clean or not when my kids and younger niece comes over to play and crawl around. I cringed every time they played on the previous carpet that was stained and smelled of cat urine (my guess).

Click here to find the nearest location that carries Tarkett brand products, including the Seagrass Laminate. Tarkett provides affordable, stylish products with excellent warranties.

Thank you Tarkett for supplying Seagrass Laminate for our project.

This was not a paid post. My own opinions were used based on my perceptions and experience. Thank you to Tarkett who supplied the product for review and the ongoing relationship with AkronOhioMoms.com. Check out the great selection of products at http://www.tarkettna.com.

Cindy

Founder and Lead Blogger at Akron Ohio Moms

Cindy is the top Akron Blogger with her own take on awesome brands for families, where to vacation for families, a beat on local activities and family fun, a knack for getting moms to share , and a house that is always 2 weeks away from a complete remodel!