Ok folks, I did some additional research and I think I have a better understanding of this laminate installation business. I guess part of my problem is fear of screwing things up and wasting materials which isn't as though it is incredibly expensive, but I just hate wasting anything. One of my questions was concerning installing the laminate around a doorway. Seeing as I am not sure what that piece is called exactly that stops the door from swinging through the doorway, I'll call it the jamb for now. Now lets call this entire doorway five and a half inches wide. The reason I'm going through this entire explanation will be apparent in one second. See, I looked at how the tile was installed in the kitchen and upstairs bath. Seems they brought the tile to one side of that half-inch piece that the door rests against while closed, what I'm calling the jamb. The carpet starts on the otherside with a transition strip, but actually the carpet really does butt up against the tile and the strip is a transition piece. Now in our kitchen, the doorway of course is just a doorway so no door and no half-inch piece (assumed width) jamb so the tile and carpet meet half way. I gather this is all personal preference. Now down on the level where I'm starting this project, they really did a stupid thing. The problem where I was trying to deal with is they brought the tile up to the baseboard and door casing. In other words, they made a straight line across the width of the room and never cut in to the door way. So, the carpet came all the way through the doorway and I don't think that looks clean. Seems you'd want the transition from one floor surface to another to be mid-way with a transition strip which in this case they did not have, it went from carpet to tile. My problem is I can't possibly undercut the door casing, I'd have to cut into the frame itself so this means I either get some tile and cut it down to little squares to fill-in the area they neglected, find a very wide stransition strip that doesn't look bad, or notch the laminate out so it'll fill in that gap and still use a stransition strip. I won't have as much a problem with the other two doorways since I will be replacing the carpet in both places and I can do what I want with them. If I choose to cut the laminate by notching it and I also have to cut some in order to make holes for the vents in the floor, would a zip saw do the trick? I don't have a jig saw.
Thanks guys for putting up with my ramblings etc. This is one of those projects you really want to look nice. The one thing I did learn is that you may at times have to rip a piece down the middle to make it fit properly on either side of the room. It also seems that if you had two ends of two separate planks butted up against one plank it still would look just fine. Seems there's nothing you really can't do. I know the point is not to make it look uniform. tnx Scott Howell [EMAIL PROTECTED]
