I had to do a laminate floor job this weekend that came as a kit. The customer bought it with the intent of installing it himself. He called me in a panic Sunday morning because he couldn’t figure out how to make it all work. Long story short… I made it work but it came with base board made from some kind of plastic composite with a photographic phony wood coating. I found it almost impossible to do an inside miter and it followed the imperfections in the wall so closely that almost every cut ended up short.
I told the customer that it looked like junk and he agreed so we replaced it with oak based board to match the floor. The oak went in smooth as silk with nice tight miters like one would expect.
So, my question is…. Has anybody else had to try to make that plastic junk work and if so, what are the tricks. I have no doubt that I’ll run into again if this is what they are selling people now.
Thanks
Replies
One thing we used to do in situations where the plaster rolled away at the bottom of the wall was to put a blob (technical term) of costruction adhesive on the wall as a filler behind the straight piece. That way you had firm backing on that piece to get your cope to fit better.
Just have to be carfeful so you don't use so much that it oozes out the top. If it is plastic, you may have to do some testing as to whether or not the adhesive will destroy the baseboard. We never ran into that, so I cannot offer any insight.
Jay
Just say no! That's what I did when I had Pergo put in. I just made my own base and put in after the Pergo was installed.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
Jay, I thought of that but held back. I never liked using adhesives on trim because it makes any future changes such a bear. My other fear was that it would ooze out of the bottom and fill in the gap between the floor and wall which would defeat the float of the floor and possibly cause buckling during humidity changes.
I agree with John....but if you have to do it, don't do inside corners. If you cope the joint, it'll look much better, and you don't have to worry about the two joints having to be at 45 degrees.
Len (Len's Custom Woodworking)
Len, I tried to cope it but the dang plastic kept tearing. You can't sand the stuff either, all it does is gum up the paper.
Tell them that plastic is for bread wraps, and keep using oak.
Jeff
I should have told you the way I did it when the customer insisted on using his "great buy", ie; plastic molding. I used a small propane torch and heated up an exacto knife to cut the cope. I hardily agree that you need to use real wood, but sometimes the customer "knows better".
Len (Len's Custom Woodworking)
ROFLOL, Len, too funny, I was gonna mention that I tried that but afraid I'd be laughed off the forum. I wasn't happy with the results I got and it took to long for what I was being paid. This stuff seems like its recycled ABS DWV pipe. When I got the hot blade next to it, it just melted onto the blade and and left a gooey waste behind. I tried different levels of heat before I finally gave that idea up. This is the first time I'd seen this particular product so it might be different than what you have delt with.
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